A run down of who’s who in Channel 4’s prison drama Screw. Check out the links for interviews with the main players.
Supervising Officer Leigh Henry- Nina Sosanya
The most senior officer on C Wing, energetic and enigmatic Leigh joined the prison service aged 20 and has been here ever since. She lives and breathes the job – she’s never had a day off sick and is deeply committed to her wing and to the prisoners in her care. But that certainly doesn’t mean she’s a soft touch: Leigh is absolutely of the mindset that prison is a necessary sanction for criminal acts – but she also knows first-hand just how overstretched our prison system is. So she feels it’s her responsibility as an officer to try, as far as possible, to save the men in her care from the ills of the system – to help them stay out of trouble and survive their sentences, as best she can. As such, Leigh is often magnificent in the ways she goes above and beyond for the prisoners, regardless of what kind of rule-bending (and even breaking) it involves. And in a prison system that Leigh sees as a train-wreck of broken bureaucracy, funding cuts, and identikit staff, she is yet to meet another officer she trusts to care as much about the inhabitants of this “human warehouse” as herself.
For reasons, we’ll reveal across the series she only truly feels at home on the wing. We’ll tease the whys and wherefores of her deep connection to this place. These questions create a palpable sense of intrigue around our lead character – compounded when we start to feel a sneaking suspicion that there’s something in Leigh’s past she’s determined to keep hidden.
Officer Rose Gill – Jamie-Lee O’Donnell
Rose lives on a notorious estate with her father and younger brother, and has become a young matriarch of sorts. So it would initially appear that to Rose, ‘prison officer’ is only the latest in a long line of poorly paid jobs. She’s clever but has no focus or – despite her outward swagger – confidence in her ability to be or do anything of any real value. We’ll chart Rose’s stuttering progress as a probationer, starting with the same attitude as most people about prison (i.e. she’s never really thought about it and when she does, she shrugs: they get what they deserve – who cares?). It’s a disconcerting, alien world and Rose’s every move is under constant scrutiny beneath the too-bright lights of the landings, where apparently small things become magnified and take on huge significance in the closed environment. But Rose is no clichéd ingénue quivering at the prospect of being surrounded by dangerous men. Very little fazes her. Rose is a fast learner and a survivor; and as she adapts to this new world, she quickly sees that’s the name of the game for everyone on the landings, irrespective of uniform: survival, physical and psychological And so Rose’s journey across the series is inextricably bound up with Leigh’s; as the two women begin to form a fragile but powerful bond, Rose finds herself caught in a struggle that is no longer simply practical – but also ethical and emotional… Just what – or who – will bear the cost?
Officer Jackie Stokes – Laura Checkley
Jackie is a foulmouthed mother figure to the hundreds of men who pass through her idiosyncratic care. With a wicked sense of humour and nerves of steel, Jackie never runs from a conflict and is usually the first to jump into the fray when a fight breaks out on the wing – living proof that female officers can absolutely hold their own in a male prison. She’s sweary and brutally frank but, almost without exception, she finds something to like about every prisoner. Jackie’s brand of well-meaning tough love stems from her experiences of actual motherhood: she and her (much derided) husband are raising five children of their own, several of whom are fostered. This hectic home life has also taught Jackie to be firm and forthright about drawing clear boundaries between her life in and out of uniform; she has real kids to look after and so, whilst she does care about the prisoners, she leaves her work as an officer squarely at the gates when she returns home to the ‘real world’… Nevertheless, Jackie genuinely cares – and this is the foundation of her close working relationship with Leigh. Indeed, Jackie is the closest thing Leigh has to a friend. Jackie considers herself the Supervising Officer’s unofficial Number Two, and feels protective of her… Yet despite her repeated attempts to reach out to Leigh on a deeper level, Leigh keeps Jackie firmly at arms’ length emotionally.
Officer Gary Campbell – Stephen Wight
Everything is black and white to wannabe-alpha Gary: all cons are scum, no exceptions. This is partly why ultra-competitive Gary sees every day as a battle: it’s us against them, goodies versus baddies. He believes he’s a different species to the inmates, superior to them in every respect, and thus he despises liberals as much as cons. He’s vocal about officers’ rights and the heroic role of the prison officer; Gary resents being seen as second-class to the Police (at least partly because he applied to join twice and failed both times). He riles the prisoners for sport; he won’t let a slight or a loose comment pass, ever. He works hard in the gym and can be a little too keen in Control and Restraint situations… The gym for Gary is also about looking good. Being married with two young children doesn’t stop his eye wandering… The arch-enemy of the #metoo movement, Gary will regularly say (and do) things utterly out of step with the times (as defined by the ‘liberal media’) . Officer Ali Shah – Faraz Ayub British Muslim Ali lives with his mum and sisters. He’s an expert on true crime and fond of a conspiracy theory; he loves to debate with colleagues and prisoners alike about anything and everything – but particularly the fascinating facts he always has on the tip of his tongue. And he doesn’t always know when to shut up. He loves his flashy car (it leaves no space for a girlfriend, according to Gary), which takes a ridiculous amount of his monthly salary to own and run – and indeed, debt might become a real problem for Ali at some point… Often the butt of jokes and wind-ups, Ali is quite naive – but very decent and totally loyal. He can struggle with boundaries and get too ‘pally’ with some of the prisoners; sometimes he’s a little too impressed for Leigh’s liking by the notoriety or reputation of an inmate. But Ali makes everyone smile, is good with people and, like Rose, has the heart of a lion.
Officer Don Carpenter – Ron Donachie
Don is the officer most people think of when they think about prison officers at all: he did a bit of time in the Forces (actually went to the Falklands but mostly hid), drifted into security work and, about twenty years ago now (he can’t actually remember), he met a guy on holiday in Spain who was a prison officer and thought: sounds easy, I could do that… And he can, with his eyes shut (if possible); it’s very simple – if you don’t bring anything to it… Don is lazy and a miserabilist, he’s Victor Meldrew in uniform – and as such, he’s often (mostly unintentionally) funny. If it wasn’t for prison officers’ retirement age being (controversially) raised to sixty-eight, he’d be long gone by now. Don is counting the hours as much as any prisoner and does all he can to avoid any form of conflict, especially physical – Don’s excuses for being late into the fray whenever it kicks off become legendary.
