David Tennant’s Near Perfect ‘Adolescence’ Replacement Officially Returns for Season 3

David Tennant is back on screen with the third season of Time, and the latest season continues the show’s streak of incredible performances and filmmaking. Created by Jimmy McGovern, the prison anthology sees Tennant play a veteran custodial manager in a juvenile institution, and the show follows a young offender.

The series has consistently been rated well, with a critics score of 96% and an audience score of 90% on Rotten Tomatoes (as of October 13, 2026). With the latest season looking at juvenile offenders in the UK prison system, there have been some much-deserved comparisons to Netflix’s award-winning series Adolescence.

David Tennant Delivers a Restrained Performance in Time Season 3

David Tennant in Time | Credits: BBC

The latest season of Time premiered on October 11, 2026, on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, with a three-episode run much like its other seasons. It is written by the showrunner Jimmy McGovern and Samuel Bailey, and all three episodes are directed by Paul Whittington. The highlight of this season is, of course, veteran star David Tennant as Bobby Bailey.

Tennant plays a custodial manager in the juvenile institution, HMYOI Alderwick. After a serious incident about which he knows more than meets the eye, he gets pulled into it, not entirely prepared for its ramifications. The Good Omens star has been praised for his incredible and restrained performance, with many calling it his career best.

The timing of the show is also incredibly on point, as it dropped only a few weeks after a report was published about child custody institutions and poor management issues, which add extra pressure on the young offenders (via HM Prisons).

The show has been exploring different facets of the prison system in the UK, with the first season showing the moral dilemma of a good prison officer, while the second series showed the poor conditions of a women’s prison. Tennant spoke about the prison system in an interview and how he viewed the show (via Radio Times).

It’s a necessary part of a civilized society, I suppose, but what does that do to the human beings that are incarcerated?

Tennant joins a long list of incredible actors in the series. Seasoned performers like Sean Bean, Stephen Graham, Siobhan Finneran (the only actor to be featured in all three seasons), Jodie Whittaker, Bella Ramsey, and more have acted in the series across the other two seasons.

Time Earns Adolescence Comparisons By Looking at the Prison System

Owen Cooper in Adolescence | Credits: Netflix

Time has been praised throughout its run since its debut in 2021. However, the third season seems to be particularly interesting as it examines the juvenile system in the UK. It is similar to another British series that swept the world with its incredibly personal story and performances, as well as its noted use of a long take in each episode: Adolescence.

Stephen Graham, who starred in the first season of Time, co-created Adolescence and also played the lead role in the four-part miniseries. The show followed a young boy accused of killing a fellow female student, and through him examined topics of the manosphere, juvenile prison systems, and family dynamics. While the show is not based on one real story, many real-life cases were reportedly its inspiration.

Time and Adolescence, in a way, act as bookends of each other. While the Netflix series looks at the pre-arrest and trial procedures and the investigation, Time looks at how life is inside the prison and how the system functions for the benefit of the employees’ convenience and not the rehabilitation of the inmates.

The third episode of Adolescence is set inside a juvenile centre while the accused, Jamie, undergoes a psychiatric exam. Important elements of the system are revealed in this episode, which Time seems to delve deeper into, with the entire show focused on the rehabilitation program. The show, thus, earns its comparisons with the Emmy-winning Netflix series.

What did you think of the latest season of Time? Comment below.