Out Of Control

Press release . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Cast and production credits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Interviews

Dominic Savage, Director/Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Ruth Caleb, Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Tamzin Outhwaite plays Dean’s mum, Shelley Richards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9David Morrissey plays Mike . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Introducing Bronson Webb, Danny Young, Akemnji Ndifornyan and Leo Gregory . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Contents

Out Of Control

Out Of Control, winner of the prestigiousMichael Powell Award for Best British FeatureFilm at the Edinburgh Festival, is DominicSavage’s third film about the lives of youngpeople in Britain today. BBC One’s first whollyimprovised drama, transmitting in September aspart of BBC One’s Cracking Crime Day, OutOf Control stars four relative newcomersopposite Tamzin Outhwaite and DavidMorrissey. The story follows the lives of threeteenagers sent to a young offenders’ institutionand how the experience affects them.

Jane Tranter, BBC Controller of DramaCommissioning, says: “Out Of Control followsin the tradition of BBC One’s Warriors and Care,tough films tackling controversial issues for amainstream channel. This new project from theacclaimed, award-winning film-maker DominicSavage, who previously brought his uniquevision to BBC Two, gives his work a wideraudience, and demonstrates BBC One’scommitment to highly original and innovativemainstream drama.”

Out Of Control, which is produced by RuthCaleb, follows Dominic Savage’s two previousfilms for BBC Two, Nice Girl (for which he wonthe Bafta Award for Best New Director) andWhen I Was 12 (which won a Bafta Award forBest Single Drama), both of which were madewith unknown actors improvising dialogue inworkshop sessions before filming began.

Dean (Danny Young), sensitive and intelligent,lives with his mum (Tamzin Outhwaite) on anestate out of town. They’re very close and she’sdoing everything she can to ensure that hedoesn’t end up like the other kids on the estate.But when Dean’s friend, Charlie-boy (played byBronson Webb), is released from his latest spell

inside, it’s not long before the two of them arein trouble again. Dean is arrested for being in astolen car, and is given two months in a youngoffenders’ institution.

Meanwhile, when Sam (Leo Gregory) plans anarmed robbery on a South London estate, hismate Danny (Akemnji Ndifornyan) goes alongwith it. But later they’re arrested and are each sentdown for two years. Once inside, Sam becomes abully and joins in the ritualistic taunting of theweaker, new inmates. He targets Dean, who hasbecome weak and vulnerable - and although theprison officer, Mike (played by David Morrissey)tries to help Dean and keep an eye out for him asmuch as he can, it ends in tragedy.

Lorraine Heggessey, Controller of BBC One,says: “It’s absolutely the role of BBC One tocommission challenging contemporary dramasuch as Out Of Control, and to schedule it inprime time for a mainstream audience. I amproud to have Dominic Savage working on BBCOne and to have his drama as part of thisautumn’s line up.”

Out Of Control also stars Jamie Foreman as another warder, Jim; and Frank Harper as Sam’s dad. The executive producer is David M Thompson.

Dominic Savage, who carried out severalmonths of extensive research in youngoffenders’ institutions across the UK, says:“When you go into these institutions, there arethose who need to be aggressive from the off,otherwise they become victims themselves; andthere are those, some of whom are as young as15, who are extremely vulnerable to them. OutOf Control is about the criminal mentality, it’sabout what’s going on inside their heads.”

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Press release

Out Of Control

The first BBC ONE drama to scoop top film prize atthe Edinburgh International Film Festival

David Thompson, Head of BBC Films, says:“Out Of Control follows on from Dominic’slast two extremely successful collaborations for BBC Films, Nice Girl and When I Was 12. He makes powerful stories come to life withtotal realism, taking actors right to the edge,drawing them out in a remarkable way.”

Ruth Caleb’s recent credits include DominicSavage’s Nice Girl and When I Was 12, andLast Resort (also for BBC Films), all of whichfollowed a similar process of development andproduction. In addition, Caleb also producedCare, which recently won the Prix Italia for BestDrama (singles) as well as the BAFTA Awardfor Best Single Drama. At the same awards,Caleb received the Alan Clarke Award forCreative Contribution to Television.

BBC One’s Cracking Crime Day aims to dispelthe myths and give a true picture of crimeacross the UK. See TV listings for a full scheduleof programmes, which include: Don’t HaveNightmares; To Catch A Thief; Anatomy Of ACrime; The Philadelphia Experiment; and YouThe Judge.

August 2002

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Press release

Edinburgh Film Festival – Reviews

Screen International:

“Out Of Control confirms writer/directorDominic Savage as the standard bearer forthe raw, social realist traditions established

and refined by Ken Loach and the lateAlan Clarke.”

“A largely improvised story intended fortransmission on UK TV station BBC One nextmonth, the film completes a trilogy of dramasby Savage portraying the wasted lives andbleak futures facing a generation of youngBritons. An intensely emotional piece, Out OfControl paints a powerful vision of youngsterswho have rejected the values of a society thathas nothing to offer them and no way to reachthem. Danny Young is entirely believable as thebaby-faced teenager singled out as a victim, andLeo Gregory brings a lacerating, De Niro-likeconviction to the psychotic bully Sam.Meanwhile, Tamzin Outhwaite’s gutsyperformance as the loving, care-ravaged mothershould allow her to take further strides forwardfrom her former status as TV soap star.”

Allan Hunter, Screen International

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Cast and production

Out Of Control

Starringin order of appearance

Tamzin Outhwaite as Dean’s mum

David Morrissey as Mike

Jamie Foreman as Jim

Frank Harper as Sam’s dad

and introducing

Danny Young as Dean

Bronson Webb as Charlie-boy

Leo Gregory as Sam

Akemnji Ndifornyan as Danny

Directed by Dominic Savage

Produced by Ruth Caleb

Executive Producer: David M Thompson

Director Dominic Savage is renowned for histrue-to-life portrayals of young people in Britaintoday, following the success of both Nice Girland When I Was 12, and it was his work on thelatter which gave him a glimpse of youngoffenders and spurred him to make Out OfControl. “My experience on When I Was 12,which touched on youth crime, gave me aninsight into that area. It seemed like the obvioussubject to tackle next.

“What the film tries to encapsulate is differentkinds of stories at the extremes. Out Of Controlshows the one who wasn’t bad but who gotsucked into it and the good boy who realises theerror of his ways.”

Dominic, who graduated from the National FilmSchool in 1991, undertook months of researchfor the film, including visits to young offenders’institutions at Huntercombe, Feltham, Cardiffand Stoke, where he met both the youngstersand the prison officers. It proved to be a realeye-opener. “All the people in the film are anexpression of what I found – good and bad.With the prison officers there were those whoreally wanted things to get better and who still

believed that they could make a difference.However, in some cases, there were those whofelt that they were fighting a losing battle.

“I talked to lots of the boys and that made mefeel even more that this was a film that I had tomake. It’s always that way for me – theinspiration and information comes from themouth of those whose story you want to tell.

“What struck me was the realisation that whatwas more frightening was not life in prison butlife on the streets. I wanted to balance the twoin the film – I wanted the audience to befrightened by both and realise what the attitudewas like on the streets and what the options are,as well as seeing what happens on the inside.”

As well as visiting some of the UK’s best-knownyoung offenders’ institutions, Dominic’s researchtook him to some of the country’s toughestestates, too. “In some places, the choices arethat you are either a criminal or you become avictim, and most people would rather be acriminal than a victim. That’s rather depressing,if that’s all you’ve got in your life.

“There’s a whole generation and class andculture of kids who’ve got no values and theydon’t know what’s good or bad. They’ve had noguidance and so this culture of crime seems tobe getting worse.”

During his research, Dominic discovered that upto 80 per cent of boys who leave prison re-offend– leaving some 20 per cent who succeed inmaking something of their lives. “Some of theprison officers tell me that they were doing thejob for that 20 per cent,” he says.

One of the most touching cases he came acrosswas that of a 16-year-old lad who was inside forarmed robbery. “He ended up in Feltham but Imet him when he came out. There was a realpositivity about him. He really believed thingswould change for him.

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Dominic SavageDirector/Writer

Dominic Savage with Tamzin Outhwaite

“What I found – which was very similar toWhen I Was 12 – is that these young people dowant to talk about their experiences. If you goin with a certain attitude, with an interest intheir stories, then they really relate to that. It’samazing how much depth you can reach if youhave a certain kind of approach.

“I think they’re used to adults who just tellthem to shut up and that’s just the same inprison – they’re told what to do. I asked themsome quite personal stuff and managed to buildup trust over a few visits and that wasincredibly useful.”

Despite the crimes some of the offenders hadcommitted, Dominic says that mostly he cameaway feeling sorry for the boys. “No matterwhat they’d done, I felt sorry for them. I wanted to make a film which was sympatheticto their lives. Yes there are some evil buggers out there, which society needs to be protectedfrom. But by the same token we need to makesure that we take care of young offenders beforethings get out of hand.”

Dominic believes that the money spent onlocking up young offenders could be better spenton finding a solution, a way of rehabilitatingthem, rather than punishment. “Locking themup costs about £20,000 a year, but if you spentthat on a social worker, who would work withthem on a long-term basis, surely it would bebetter, and possibly cheaper?” he says.“Unfortunately, whatever you do inside,whatever you offer them, the majority of themstill go back to the same problem they hadbefore they went inside, and that’s the crux of it.

“A lot of them come from situations wherethere’s no love and there’s nothing else apartfrom crime – they feel shunned by society.”

Dominic, whose credits also include RogueMales, the Grierson award-nominated TheOutsiders and Channel 4’s Cutting Edge – TheComplainers, as well as commercials for BritishGas and Oxo, is the father of a one-year-old

daughter and admits that making Out OfControl has opened his eyes to theresponsibilities of parenting. “It is a worry, butyou need to be sensible about it and not beoverbearing or overprotective. You’ve just got togive them a firm foundation,” he concludes.

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Interviews

Award-winning producer Ruth Caleb has onceagain joined forces with Dominic Savage tomake their third film together about the lives ofyoung people in Britain today: Out Of Control.

Caleb, who collaborated with Savage on bothNice Girl and When I Was 12, believes thatthe new film paints a stark picture of Britain’syouth. “It started off as the story of three boyswho are in a young offenders’ institution, howthey got there and what happens to them oncethey’re there. As it has developed, it hasbecome a film about young people in Britaintoday; it’s about people living below thepoverty line, kids on estates and about crimeand how you deal with it.

“It’s hard to think of a film which is moretimely – hardly a day goes by when youth crimeisn’t in the news. Out Of Control absolutelykeys in with all those concerns people haveabout what you do with young offenders andwhat happens to young people on estates.”

Dominic Savage visited a number of youngoffenders’ institutions before embarking on theproject and, says Caleb, he discovered that lifeinside mirrors life on some of the UK’s mostdeprived council estates. “The overriding feelingthat he emerged with is that life on the estates issimply transposed into the young offenders’institution, so all the tensions and relationshipson the estates simply continue inside.”

Caleb believes that there’s more to sortingproblems out in young offenders’ institutionsthan just “imposing fines or short, sharpshocks” and says, “They’re just one way ofattempting to tackle the problem. If you dealonly with the young offenders’ institutionsyou’re dealing not with the problem but withthe results of the problem.”

She also believes that poverty plays a large partin why such problems exist in the countrytoday. “There are a lot of people who are poor,a lot of people who feel completelydisenfranchised. They don’t feel part of thepolitical system of the country. They don’t careabout it; it’s doing nothing for them.

“There seems to be a considerable number ofpeople who feel let down by Government, whodon’t feel that they are part of society and whodon’t have much. They look at people who dohave and they want it themselves. Young peopleon the estates want their nice trainers, they wanttheir nice jackets. They want what other peoplehave got but they don’t feel inclined to workhard to get it, because the jobs aren’t there.”

Caleb says that Dominic’s style of film-makinghas an inclusive feel to it, partly because he usesyoungsters from the estates to play extras, anexperience which was an education in itself.

“It’s like going to a foreign language film.There’s a lingo, a jargon, a street talk which isalmost impenetrable. You don’t know whatthey’re saying and they’re children. They may beanywhere between the ages of 12 to 19 but theyare basically children. They’re children whohave access to drugs, children who have accessto guns. There are children who will kill anddon’t feel that somehow it’s meaningful.”

Caleb believes that Dominic has a gift formaking compassionate drama and that he justgets “better and better”. “The first time youwork with a new director each of you is gettingthe measure of each other. Trust builds upbetween producer and director and, for me,after the initial talks, I know the cast and storyoutline and I feel comfortable.

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Ruth CalebProducer

“Dominic has a great compassion for people. So even kids who do terrible things are treatedwith compassion.”

Out Of Control portrays a cross-section ofwrongdoers – one who can’t cope and anotherwho is seriously criminalized by it. Caleb is fullof admiration for the three youngsters who playthe young offenders. “The lads are fantastic.Each of them equally holds their own. AkemnjiNdifornyan (Danny) possesses great composureand sweetness which comes through on screen.Dean, played by Danny Young, manages tobring great vulnerability to his role. It is achallenging role and he performs withconsiderable maturity. Leo Gregory gives aperformance alive with raw emotion as Sam. Asever it is a joy working with David Morrisseywho brings a truthfulness and integrity to everypart he plays.”

She is equally full of respect for TamzinOuthwaite, who plays Shelley Richards, themother of Dean. “Tamzin is very, very good.She really became the part. She had a goodrelationship with the lad who played Dean –they’re very convincing as mother and son. She really should win a number of awards forthis portrayal.

“On the first day of filming in the youngoffenders’ institution, Tamzin came in andnobody recognised her because of the way she’dbeen made up. One particular prison officer haddifficulties and he was heard to say to the seniorofficer on the wing, Mick Wright: ‘Is she hereyet?’ ‘That’s her over there,’ Mick nodded inTamzin’s direction. ‘Is that her? She looksdreadful,’ he replied.”

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Tamzin Outhwaite has been a busy womansince walking away from Albert Square in June,following two weddings, a kidnap ordeal and afuneral. After playing Melanie Owen for threeand a half years in EastEnders she filmed RedCap for BBC One, in which she plays SergeantJo McDonagh in the gripping military drama;she has a role lined up in a new ITV thriller;and she recently finished filming one of themost disturbing and emotional projects she has ever been involved with: Dominic Savage’sOut Of Control.

“Out Of Control is the very harrowing accountof four young boys from different backgroundswho are faced with temptation,” says the 31-year-old actress, who won Best Newcomer at

the National TV Awards in 1999. “It’s aboutwhat’s really going on for teenagers and it’sabout a mother’s struggle to ensure her childrenknow right from wrong.”

Tamzin plays Shelley Richards, the mother ofDean (Danny Young) who, despite being a goodlad who loves his mum, becomes involved withthe wrong crowd. Shelley is a long way from theglamour of EastEnder Melanie and, says,Tamzin, she wears “tasteless, tacky goldjewellery”. “There’s a lot of love in their familylife. Shelley has a great relationship with her sonand Out Of Control is about her struggle tokeep him on the straight and narrow, out ofcrime and away from temptation, away fromdrugs, car crime and mugging.”

Single-mum Shelley has devoted her life tobringing up 15-year-old Dean and his sister,Jade, but, as many single mums would attest to,it can sometimes be a struggle. “She’s workingthrough the night in a biscuit factory and shecan’t be there all of the time,” says Tamzin.“She’s spent time in hopeless relationships andwas probably a battered wife before now and,at this stage in her life, she wants to devote herlife to her kids. She knows that for Dean it’s areally important time to have care andattention. She’s trying to convince him thatworking at school and getting his head down isgoing to be the best option, rather than goingout, thieving and smoking weed.”

Despite Shelley’s best efforts, when Dean’sfriend, Charlie-boy (Bronson Webb) is releasedfrom his latest spell inside, it’s not long beforeher son is caught up in Charlie-boy’s waywardways. When Dean’s arrested for being in astolen car, the judge comes down hard on himand sentences him to two months in a youngoffenders’ institution.

“No matter how much you love your child youcan’t always protect them 24 hours a day, you

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Tamzin Outhwaiteplays Shelley Richards,

Dean’s mum

can’t lock them up,” says Tamzin. “They still have to go out to school, they meet other people.”

All too often the parents are blamed for theirchildren’s actions but, says Tamzin, everybodyhas to take responsibility. “You can’t blame it allon parents – it’s everyone’s responsibility to makesure that children are being brought up in to abetter world; parents, teachers, social workers.

“We could all benefit from parenting classes andcounselling of some kind because some of uswill be responsible for bringing human beingsinto this world and we’re not taught how tocarry that responsibility. We’re taught maths,history, English and French but not about thetreatment of others, or right from wrong andlove and mutual respect. We’re mainly taughtthat by our parents, or it comes instinctively.”

Tamzin has fond memories of her ownchildhood and says that she will be eternallygrateful to her parents for their devotion whenshe was young. “When I compare my childhoodto Dean’s it’s very different. It made me feeltruly thankful to my own family who dedicatedtheir lives to my upbringing until I was 18.

“Filming Out Of Control has made me realisethat it doesn’t matter how much money you’vegot, you cannot necessarily keep your kids outof trouble. Whatever class, whatever area youlive in, it doesn’t give you protection and safetybecause it is still a pretty wicked world and it’sstill on your doorstep.”

Tamzin believes that both peer pressure andabsent parents can contribute to someoneturning to crime and she feels that sometimes,adults don’t set the best example. “Kids watchTV and image is very important. They see popgroups, soap stars and footballers and some ofthem are dripping in diamonds. These are rolemodels that kids aspire to be like and they wantthose football boots or trainers or that musicand it doesn’t matter to a lot of them how theygo about getting it. How do you teach your kidsthat image doesn’t matter, when we, as adults,don’t set great examples? We go about in

designer clothes and put lip-gloss on so wheredo you draw the line? I really don’t know…”

Although Tamzin has no children of her own,she instantly took to motherhood on screen and,she says, became a second mum to Dean. “Deanand I were very close. I was like a surrogatemum to him.”

Her closeness to Dean and the tragic storylinemade filming Out Of Control an emotionalexperience for Tamzin and, she admits, she shedmore than a few tears when watching thefinished film for the first time. “I cried throughthe whole film when I saw it. Dominic[Savage’s] use of music is very moving and afterI saw it, it made me think much more deeplythan I have done in such a long time. When Iwent to work the next day, on Red Cap, I criedall day. To stir all those emotions from just atelevision film is quite an achievement.

“For an actor to be part of a process that movespeople and makes them think about themselvesand their role in society, one couldn’t wish foranything else.

“The whole process took a lot out of me – it was an intensive three weeks in which Iimmersed myself; inhabited the role and became very affected by it, but I was able towalk away. For Dominic, though, he was stillthere, working on it, still getting affected by itand it still moves him to this day.”

Tamzin’s a big fan of Dominic’s previous work –he made Nice Girl and When I Was 12 – andshe describes him as “a passionate genius whocares about society. He has an amazingunderstanding of the human psyche and is a real inspiration.”

Dominic’s way of using improvisation was also an“eye-opener” for Tamzin. “It still blows me awaynow, thinking about the process because it wasunlike anything that I’d ever done before. Everyonewas nervous because you don’t feel preparedenough but Dominic just said that he didn’t wantus to be prepared, he wanted us to be in thatsituation so I became myself as Dean’s mum.

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Interviews

Despite not having pages of scripts to readthrough to prepare for the role, Tamzin didspend some time at the institution in which thefictional drama was filmed, Lancaster Farms inLancaster, which made a lasting impression onher. “When I arrived the boys had theirwindows open and were shouting sexuallyoffensive things – many of them don’t get to seewomen often, apart from family members. Thatwas a bit weird – en masse they appeared quitethreatening but once I got inside and met themon a one-to-one basis I didn’t feel threatened atall. It’s all peer pressure and bravado and theneed to be the big ‘I am’.

“Some of them told me the reasons why theywere there and it’s really strange to look at thembecause you wouldn’t actually believe it, thatsomeone with a sweet elfin face could committhose crimes.”

Tamzin got on so well with the inmates that sheended up playing table tennis with a group ofthem. “I was playing table tennis with one of thelads and suddenly the doors to the cells opened.I was surrounded by 20-30 young men but Ididn’t feel intimidated. We had been warnedpreviously about taking care while we were therebut I was absolutely fine. The lads just took it inturns to play table tennis with me!”

One boy in particular was thrilled to meetTamzin and couldn’t wait to tell his grandmotherabout his celebrity friend on his release from theinstitution, two days after her visit. “He said thefirst thing he would do is see his nan, and thatshe wouldn’t believe he’d met me! He told me hewas going to make a really big effort when heleft and at one point I had to turn away becausemy eyes just filled with tears.”

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Interviews

Having spent weeks researching the role ofprison officer Mike in Dominic Savage’s Out OfControl, actor David Morrissey is convincedthat it’s not the life for him, despite being full ofadmiration for the officers he shadowed.

David’s character, Mike, befriends Dean (DannyYoung) in the drama, who receives a two-monthsentence to a young offenders’ institution forbeing caught in a stolen car. When Dean arrives,the other offenders bully him and Mike tries tokeep an eye out for him, but soon realises thathe can’t watch over him 24 hours a day.

David is used to playing thought-provokingroles – his CV includes a role in Hollywoodblockbuster Captain Corelli’s Mandolin andparts in Our Mutual Friend, Clocking Off,Between The Lines and Murder on TV – but therole of Mike in Out Of Control brought a new

challenge: it’s wholly improvised. “Because thisis an improvised piece there’s an addednervousness because all the dialogue is Mike’s,it’s what I made up on the day, so I’m nervousabout how it will come across.

“I’ve done things like that for the theatre before but not on camera and not in that type of environment.”

David went to young offenders’ institutions atHuntercombe, just outside Henley inOxfordshire, and Lancaster Farm, where OutOf Control was filmed, to help prepare him forthe improvised role in the fictional drama. Hesays that he “takes his hat off to those guys”who spend their working lives trying to keeporder in the institutions. “I really could not dothat job day to day. Not only do they have todeal with the boys but they also have to dealwith the pressure of bureaucracy coming downon them all the time, not to mention the hoursthey have to work, the conditions they workunder, the overcrowding and the constantpressure of being attacked.

“I shadowed a wing offer at Huntercombe andspent a lot of time with him and other officers.They were amazingly accommodating and veryopen to me coming in and I have so muchadmiration for them.”

David spent three days and one night in total atHuntercombe and said that the buildingbrought back memories – not necessarily fondones – of his old school, in Liverpool. “The onlydifference was the bars on the windows. Ofcourse the atmosphere at Huntercombe wasmuch more violent with things kicking off allthe time but there were similarities to myschool, which is a very depressing thing to say.

“There was a structure and orderliness at myschool but there was also a lot of noise andindiscipline – my school was a very indisciplined

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David Morrisseyplays Mike

place to be, with little learning going on. LikeHuntercombe, there were a lot of young boyswith a lot of energy – there’s a lot oftestosterone and sexual frustration.”

Luckily, the RADA-trained 38-year-old, whowas brought up on a housing estate inLiverpool, came out of his schooling unscathedand, thanks to his parents, had a very happychildhood. “My parents used to warn me andtell me not to talk to strangers and not to go tocertain places. My mother would even point outmurders in the paper and warn me to be careful.I remember having to grow up quickly and bestreetwise quickly.”

Now a father of two himself, David realises thestresses he put his own parents under in hisyouth. “There were times as a teenager when Iused to stay out all night and my parents hadno idea where I was. As you become a parentyou have a shift of focus and I now understandwhat I put my own parents through.”

David’s a firm believer that locking up theyoungsters will not get to the route of theproblem, especially as up to 80 per cent ofyouths re-offend once they’re released back intothe community.

“A blind man on a galloping horse knows thatto lock up a kid of 15 for 16/17 hours a day isnot a good thing. The frustrations have got tocome out somewhere and it makes for a volatileatmosphere.

“It obviously isn’t the answer because ourprisons are overcrowded and the re-offendingrate is just through the roof. These places arenot seen as a place to rehabilitate the kidsbecause there really isn’t enough time. Prison isblatantly not working.

“When I spoke to the young offenders they allhad mixed stories as to why they ended up inthe institutions. There were a few people therefrom middle-class backgrounds but the commondenominator was their social circumstances.They were all boys who had had a very roughstart in life. And in Huntercombe, there were afew kids with mental health problems, which I

thought should have been treated elsewhere.“It was a real eye-opener for me. There has tobe a case for young offenders having medicalchecks and then presumably being placed insecure mental health units, treating mentalconditions before they manifest themselves intocriminal activity.”

As well as spending time with the offenders andthe officers, David also went to West LondonMagistrates Court so that he could be involvedin the whole process between offending andbeing put away. “It was important for me toknow where these kids came from and whereMike was in the line of the judicial system.

“The important thing that both Jamie[Foreman, who plays fellow prison officer Jim]and I wanted to express in the film is that itwasn’t a good cop, bad cop thing – it’s two guystrying to deal with a situation, and dealing withit very differently.

“I think the system is getting to Jim but I don’tthink it’s getting to Mike in the same way. It’sjust the way the cards fall; it’s getting to Jimquicker than it’s getting to Mike. Mike likes tobe someone the boys can talk to, or come to ifthey have a problem, and when he came intothe job he had great ideals and came in to makea difference. Now he just wants to get from thebeginning of his shift to the end of it – hedoesn’t want to impart any wisdom or helpanybody, he just wants to get through the daywithout someone having a go at him and I thinkthat’s a sorry state to be in.”

David believes that some of the officers he spoketo can empathise the way Mike feels – an attitudewhich, no doubt, contributes to the high sick ratefor prison officers. “From the officers I spoke toduring my research I got the sense that if theyhad ideals and ambitions for their jobs, thesehave been superseded by the necessity of dealingwith the day-to-day pressures and shortage ofstaff. All they wanted to do was to get to the endof their day.”

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Introducing...

Danny Young plays Dean

Besides various commercials, this is one of 15-year-old Danny’s first major televisionprojects (he played the part of Sean in The Billand a bully in Deep Sleep for ITV in 2000). Heis currently filming a new BBC Children’s drama, Rudeboy.com.

Bronson Webb plays Charlie-boy

Bronson trod the London Palladium boards asCharlie Bates and then the Artful Dodger inOliver! and his television credits include TheFamous Five, The Bill and Harry And Cosh. Healso played Jake in the second series of HopeAnd Glory for BBC One.

Akemnji Ndifornyan plays Danny

Fifteen-year-old Akemnji’s recent theatre creditsinclude Reggie in The Acrington Pals at TheAndrew Sketchley Theatre, Sheriff ofNottingham in Robin Hood at The EmeryTheatre and Scott in Lost at The Wall Theatre.Out Of Control is his first major television role.

Leo Gregory plays Sam

Leo has just finished filming Octane, a general-release movie also starring Madeline Stowe andJonathan Rhys Myers, to be shown at cinemasnext year. He starred in The Jury on ITV and issoon to be seen in Menace on Channel 5. Leo isno stranger to Dominic Savage’s techniquehaving starred in BBC Two’s When I Was 12.He also appeared in Drag On at the RoyalCourt theatre in 2000.