When is 60 Days in Jail on Channel 4, what’s the series about and who is in it?
American docu-series sends seven innocent people to jail and follows them around the clock with hidden cameras
HIT US documentary series Making a Murder, podcast Serial and dramedy Orange Is the New Black have fuelled a public fascination with the American justice system.
Now Channel 4 has acquired A+E Networks' 60 Days In, to be renamed 60 Days in Jail — a 12-part docu-series that follows seven ordinary people, who have been charged with no crime, posing as inmates in an Indiana county jail.
Here's what we know about 60 Days in Jail.
When is it on and where can I watch it?
You can watch 60 Days in Jail on Thursday, November 10, at 10pm on Channel 4.
What's it about?
The seven fake inmates live among the general population of Clark County Correctional Jail in Jeffersonville, Indiana, whose 500 or so prisoners include drug dealers and murderers.
Neither their fellow inmates nor the jail's staff know their secret as hundreds of hidden cameras record the volunteers' daily (and nightly) activities, giving viewers a first-hand look at life behind bars.
The idea for the show came from Sheriff Jamey Noel, who wanted to expose crime, corruption and other critical issues within the prison system.
He said: “It was no secret that the Clark County Jail had problems and we needed to take quick control.
"The only way to truly understand what was going on in the jail was to implement innocent participants into the system to provide first-hand unbiased intelligence.”
Captain and public information officer Scottie Maples helps prepare the participants before they're placed in jail. They're given backstories, taught the rules of inmate culture and given instructions on how to stay safe.
Who are the volunteers?
The fake inmates, who were handpicked by Sheriff Noel, include Barbra, a stay-at-home mum; Isaiah, a 19-year-old whose brother is incarcerated; Jeff, an aspiring correctional officer; Maryum, a social worker and the eldest daughter of Muhammad Ali; Robert, a substitute teacher; Tami, a former police officer; and Zac, an ex-marine.
Each has their own reason for participating in the programme — Zac, for example, aims to become a DEA agent and thinks his time in the jail will provide useful insight; Robert wants to use the experience to teach students about the consequences of their decisions; and Isaiah wants to understand what his brother is going through.
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