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Even the grittiest TV depictions of life behind bars seem lightweight compared with this menacing series, which makes celebrities share cells with ex-inmates – including a contract killerWell, my goodness, here’s a thing: a reality show that feels real. I can’t remember the last time something felt real (including reality), but Banged Up strikes out against the tide. I suspect the makers would prefer their series in which celebrities do a week in the decommissioned HMP Shrewsbury with former inmates – instructed to behave exactly as they would have done while serving their sentences – to be referred to as a social experiment. But it is a reality show, albeit one with far less fake tan, no expensive breasts or dental work and with an air of genuine violence hanging over the whole.The opening episode introduces three of the seven celebrities who have volunteered for this odd experience. First up is Sid Owen, formerly Bianca’s Rickaaaaay! in EastEnders. He credits acting with saving him from ending up in prison like most of the men in his family. His dad has done time for armed robbery, one of his brothers for theft and another for drug trafficking. His mum was, he says, a petty thief. “We were poor but we didn’t want for anything because we’d just go out and nick it.” He seems to be there partly to understand his father and brothers better, partly to make up for not visiting them enough when he was little and scared of the place and partly to do some strange penance for his good fortune. He is cellmates with money launderer Reece McCoy, who tries to entertain the new boy with memories of prisoner scaldings with hot water and sugar. “His face was bubbling!” Continue reading...