Waiting for the Out review: Sensational drama tackles masculinity, the justice system with welcome nuance

Is it too early to make a call on the drama of the year for 2026? Almost certainly. It's still 2025 – just about – and Waiting for the Out will air just three days into the new year.

However, it has to be said that upon finishing this stellar new six-part series, I immediately went to purchase a copy of the book on which it is based, Andy West's The Life Inside: A Memoir of Prison, Family and Learning to Be Free. That has to give you a clue as to how profoundly I enjoyed the experience of watching it.

Now, of course, that also gives you a sense as to how I'm coming to this drama. Prior to watching it, I had never actually heard of West's book, let alone read it.

I am therefore not going to be able to advise book readers as to how effectively it works as a page-to-screen translation, although I do know that some substantial changes have been made by writer Dennis Kelly and the team behind the programme, which also includes West.

All that aside, for my money Waiting for the Out is a fascinating, informative, funny, poignant, piece of work, one which stands out amongst the overwhelming crowd of scripted series viewers now face choosing between.

As already noted, the series is based on West's memoir, although the central character has been renamed Dan, to signify the wider changes made in the adaptation process.

Dan, played by Josh Finan, is a philosopher whose family is filled with men who have been sent to prison. His father, played by Gerard Kearns, ended up inside, as did his brother Lee, played by Stephen Wight, and his uncle Frank, played by Phil Daniels.

Dan's life has thus far gone down a different path, so it is therefore a matter of curiosity that he himself chooses to leave academic teaching to lead a class of men in prison.

During his sessions with the men, Dan leads conversations on dominance, freedom, luck and other topics, as he also gets to know each of them personally.

However, as Dan spends more and more time in prison he begins to worry obsessively that he belongs behind bars too. In his personal life, he also begins to develop compulsive behaviours, and all of this starts to threaten both his own future and his family’s.

Just in describing the bare bones of the plot, it becomes clear what a rich cocktail of ingredients this series contains. None of the topics it discusses are easy or simple to understand or 'solve', and tackling them all at once is a bold undertaking.

It therefore makes sense that this is not a visually showy series. There are no real camera tricks, innovative filming styles or distinctive flourishes that have come to dominate the looks of so many dramas.

However, what Waiting for the Out reminds you of is that these really aren't always necessary. That's not say they can't be useful or effective. I think Adolescence, another series examining some weighty topics, including masculinity, proved they very much can be last year.

But the drama here takes a different tack, and that is to focus solely on the characters involved, the discussions they're having and the performances of the cast.

The philosophical discussions the prisoners have are riveting. If you have an active interest in philosophy, then that's obviously an added bonus, but if not, it won't inhibit your enjoyment of them. This is really an opportunity to explore each character's different takes on these themes, and the ways in which different individuals think about such big, existential, purposefully ambiguous topics.

This also gives the series an opportunity to explore masculinity in all of its various forms. Dan so obviously stands out from the prisoners in his version of maleness, but they themselves are not homogenous, and they don't all have the same thoughts on the topic.

This isn't an opportunity for Kelly to lecture viewers on how they should think, more to open up a discussion about what being a man can mean in modern society. This is something which permeates the entire series, well beyond the confines of the prison classroom.

Of course, the prisoners also discuss the nature of justice, the British justice system and prisons themselves. Once again, there are no easy answers to be found here, but it's the nuance itself which is welcome in a series that refuses to reach for simplicity.

The presentation of Dan's inner turmoil is also expertly handled. It never feels exaggerated or out of character. We don't see scenes of Dan suddenly exploding in a fit of rage, or breaking down in anguish. Instead, it's almost all under the surface, a quiet internal battle that he is mostly able to shield from public view.

The way it manifests visually for us is often through the hallucinatory appearance of his father (played as a young man by Gerard Kearns), someone he hasn't seen since he was a boy. Dan clearly has unfinished business with his dad, and its something both we and he come to understand more as the series progresses.

Special praise should also go to the show's presentation and examination of compulsive behaviours and intrusive thoughts. For those who have experience of them or who know someone that has, it will hopefully be affirming to see these being presented sensitively and with real insight.

It's something which is so unexplored on screen and so widely misunderstood, with this cultural lack of comprehension itself being presented in the series, that the decision to explore it thoroughly and with a real sense of purpose is very welcome.

Of course, when you're dealing with so many knotty, complex topics and discussions, you're only going to succeed with some seriously good actors putting in some exemplary performances. Thankfully, Waiting for the Out has those in spades.

Most of the attention and praise surrounding this series will no doubt go to Josh Finan, and rightfully so. He is front and centre in almost every scene and manages to carry the audience effectively through each of the different levels on which it is operating.

It's not a showy performance at all, it's impressively understated. Everything is beneath the surface with Dan, because, as the series itself explores, he is a specific vision of masculinity.

It's one which may not fit into a neat categorisation, but one that will chime with so many viewers. He's a character so many of us will either relate to personally or see reflected in others around us, and it's thanks to Finan that this presentation works so successfully.

Finan's impressive work shouldn't be understated, but neither should those of the supporting cast surrounding him – all of the actors playing the prisoners in Dan's classes are compelling across the board, which each of them bringing something very different to the table. Without any one of them, the balance would be off.

Special praise should go to Francis Lovehall, who puts in a hugely affecting performance as his character Dris, most notably in a heartbreaking sequence mid-way through the series.

It should also be noted, given the weightiness of some of the subject matter it is tackling and the emotional resonance of some of the scenes, just how funny this series can be. The tone is not in any way grim or downbeat, and it's not what I'd describe as a difficult watch.

It's contemplative for sure, and there are moments of real anguish. But there's also a lightness to the series overall, and a winning sense of humour which prevails throughout.

There is also something to be said for the drama's pacing and its episode lengths. Each instalment clocks in at 45-minutes - a runtime which is popular on channels with advertising, but rarely seen on the BBC unless in the case of family-oriented or younger skewing series like Doctor Who or A Good Girl's Guide to Murder.

I'm not saying Waiting for the Out couldn't have worked with hour-long episodes – it might well have – but given the combination of a weighty subject matter yet with a lightness of tone, the 45-minute feels like a good fit, and makes it all the more of an enjoyable watch.

It also doesn't in any way limit the scope of the show's ambitions. Even with all the complexity of Dan's professional life and the extent of his individual, internal dilemmas, there is still plenty of attention given to his home life, his romantic relationships and his family dynamics.

In fact, some of these scenes are the most impactful, particularly the conversations between Dan and his brother Lee, who in so many ways is now in a more stable situation than Dan, but whose past and whose addiction continue to overshadow that.

It's probably important to stress at this point that this series will not be for everyone. It feels to me like something remarkably new and unique, and for someone who watches a lot of TV, that's exciting in and of itself.

For others, I would like to think, or at least hope, that from my description you will have a sense of whether this will be to your taste. If you're interested in philosophy, internal conflicts and/or character dramas then this may well be for you.

On the other hand, if you're looking for something with action, visual spectacle or huge twists, then you're probably best looking elsewhere. There are plenty of series out there that fit that bill, but this isn't one of them.

This is a quiet series, and one that I worry may not get the attention it is due. Arriving so early into the new year, there's a chance viewers will be too caught up in The Night Manager or The Traitors, or busy attempting to stick to their resolutions, to give this a look in.

That would be a crying shame. Waiting for the Out deserves to be seen and appreciated by those who can get on its wavelength. And let's just say, if it isn't on my own personal list of the best shows of the year come the end of 2026, then it will have been an historically good 12 months for drama. That sounds like a win-win situation to me.

Waiting for the Out will premiere on Saturday 3rd January at 9:30pm on BBC One.

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