The upcoming BBC drama Waiting For The Out is based on Andy West’s memoir The Life Inside.
Tianna Corbin TV Reporter
14:36, 21 Dec 2025
TX DATE:,TX WEEK:,EMBARGOED UNTIL: 00:00:00,DESCRIPTION:,COPYRIGHT:BBC Studios,CREDIT LINE:BBC Studios/Sister Pictures/Sane Seven(Image: BBC)
This week, the BBC released the first trailer for its upcoming drama Waiting For The Out, a six-part series which is inspired by Andy West’s highly praised memoir, The Life Inside.
It follows the life of Dan (played by Josh Finan), a philosopher who starts teaching to a class of men in prison. The series was filmed earlier this year in and around Liverpool.
In the short trailer, people get to see his first day on the job as he tells the prisoners in the group: “I want you to imagine two fictional worlds. The first is called the ‘just’ world. The other, the ‘luck’ world.”
As he’s speaking, a compilation of clips appears on-screen, including a conflict with someone in the outside world who clearly doesn’t agree with Dan teaching in prison.
A close-up of one of the convicts then appears on screen, admitting he doesn’t think about being a good person while locked up. However, he confesses to feeling bad about not being a good man.
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The series will focus on Dan leading philosophical discussions with a group of men about dominance, freedom, luck and other topics that gain new meaning when seen through the prisoners’ eyes.
A synopsis for the show reads: “Through his work, Dan begins to dig deeper into his own past – growing up with a father (Gerard Kearns) who ended up in prison, as did his brother Lee (Stephen Wight) and uncle Frank (Phil Daniels).
“Dan’s life has taken him down a different path and his time working in prison begins to make him worry, obsessively, that he belongs behind bars just like his father. As Dan’s personal crisis deepens, his actions begin to threaten both his own future and his family’s.
The upcoming six-part series will star the likes of Josh Finan(Image: BBC)
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The series, which began filming earlier this year in various locations in and around Liverpool, will air on the broadcaster on January 3.
Written by the multi-award-winning writer Dennis Kelly, the upcoming drama has been created by those behind the likes of Black Doves and Chernobyl, SISTER.
Alongside Josh, actors Stephen Wight, Phil Daniel, Alex Ferns, Ronkẹ Adékoluẹjo, Nima Taleghani, Sophia Brown, Neal Barry and Jude Mack.
Josh called working on the show a ‘pinch me’ moment
Speaking about the show, actor Josh Finan commented: “Having the chance to work with writing of this quality, inspired by such a rich real-life story, alongside such talented creatives, is a genuine gift.
“A real pinch me moment. Every stage of the process so far has been both a joy and a welcome creative challenge. I’m itching to get filming and can’t wait for people to get the chance to watch this hugely sensitive, empathic, hilarious and at times deeply emotional story.”
Waiting for the Out will premiere on Saturday, January 3 2026, at 9:30 pm on BBC One.