To celebrate the release of Burn Notice Season 4 which is available to buy on DVD from 26th December, we have put together a list of the Top 5 Prison-based dramas in both film and TV that hooked hundreds of thousands of viewers over the years. We thought we would save you the hassle and choose the best ones for you.
5) Burn Notice
Burn Notice is a strange one; not many people have heard of it but whoever has seems to be an avid fan. Now in its’ fourth season, Burn Notice is definitely one to watch. Starring Jeffrey Donovan, as a blacklisted spy who finds himself “prisoned” in sun-soaked Miami, mixed in with legendary Bruce Campbell and Emmy Award Winner Sharon Gless, Burn Notice will have you hooked in no time.
4) Bad Girls
A Seven year TV drama which capsulated thousands of followers starring Victoria Alcock and Helen Fraser, Bad girls is an old school ITV favourite. Never letting you forget the dark side of prison life, Bad Girls manages to smuggle in some humour to make life behind bars seem not all bad.
3) Prison Break
Prison Break running for 81 Episodes and nominated for two golden globes is much more than your usual TV show prison drama. With Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell) being sentenced to Death Row for a crime he didn’t commit. Its Lincoln’s brother played by the handsome Wentworth Millar who makes it his mission to get himself inside prison walls too, in order for both brothers to get out.
2) Midnight Express (1978)
With Midnight Express winning two Oscars, Brad Davies and Irene Miracle put in legendary performances. The story is about a man who is caught for Drug smuggling out of Istanbul while about to board an international flight. Billy (B Davies) is caught and tries to make a run for it – in which he ends up in a Turkish prison for more mental and physical torment.
1) The Shawshank Redemption
Nominated for 7 Oscars, Shawshank redemption is the best in Prison Drama. Starring Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins, the duo bond over a number of years as Red (Morgan Freeman) is the prison expert who helps Andy (Tim Robbins) become a very unconventional prisoner.
