The Governor is an ITV television drama series that began in 1995 and ended in 1996, with just two series being broadcast. It was devised and written by Lynda La Plante, known for her hit television series Prime Suspect, which went on hiatus in the same year.
Each episode is forty-five minutes long, with the exception of the first episode which was double-length. La Plante felt that the series had reached a natural end and decided not to write any further episodes, therefore the last episode was broadcast on 27 April 1996, and ended with a cliffhanger that was not resolved. The series starred Janet McTeer and Derek Martin as prisoner governors Helen Hewitt and Gary Marshall. The second season was shot in Ireland at various locations around Dublin including Wheatfield prison. The complete first series was released on DVD on 28 March 2011. The complete second series was released on 4 June 2012.
Contents
Cast
Prison officers
Janet McTeer as Governor Helen Hewitt
Derek Martin as Deputy Governor Gary Marshall
Ron Donachie as Officer Russell Morgan
David Nicholls as Officer "Jumbo" Jackson
Paul Kynman as Officer James Mallahide (Series 1)
Idris Elba as Officer Donny Chiswick (Series 2)
John Forgeham as Temporary Governor Ronald Wrexham (Series 2)
Prison inmates
Eamonn Walker as Snoopy Oswald
Terry O'Neill as Victor Braithwaite/Tarzan
Adrian Scarborough as Walter Brinkley (Series 1)
Anthony Higgins as Norman Jones (Series 1)
Robert Cavanah as Anthony Kelly (Series 1)
Tim Meats as Alan Fisher (Series 1)
Ian Curtis as Howard Webster (Series 1)
Craig Charles as Eugene Buffy (Series 2)
Other prison staff
Christine Moore as Mavis O'Connell
Sophie Okonedo as Moira Levitt (Series 1)
Jeremy Sheffield as Dr. Thomas (Series 1)
John Blakey as Dr. Cameron Williams (Series 2)
Episodes
Each episode of The Governor is generally sixty minutes long, however episode one of the first series was a feature-length episode, running for 102 mins. A total of twelve episodes of The Governor have aired to date. The list is ordered by the episodes' original air dates.