Waiting for the Out’s writer shares update on show’s future: ‘I could write tons for them’

Have you already watched all six episodes of Waiting for the Out? The BBC’s latest prison drama arrived on iPlayer on 3 January and HELLO!’s Acting TV and Film Editor, Nicky Morris called it “your New Year TV binge-watch”.

Fans will no doubt be interested to know whether the series, which is based on Andy West’s acclaimed memoir The Life Inside, will be returning for a second season, and the show’s writer Dennis Kelly, who is known for hits like Matilda: The Musical and Utopia, provided an encouraging update.

Speaking to media about the show’s future, he explained: “The truth is, I talked, literally yesterday, to an executive producer and asked the same question. Because when we conceived it, we were talking about the next series, and we’ve been so focused on getting this down that no one’s actually put their head up. But I’d love to do it. I’d love to do it again.”

He added: “If people like it, if there’s an appetite for it, if Andy wants to again, if Josh [Finan] wants to do it again, I’d love to. Because I really liked being with those characters. And the actors were amazing. I got fond of everyone that was doing it, but mostly I think I love those characters. I feel like I could write tons for them.”

However, one issue in future seasons would be that most of the book was adapted during the drama, with Dennis conceding that Andy’s story is “probably exhausted”.

He then continued: “It’s not that we couldn’t find more or talk to Andy about more. It’s a difficult question, because we’d have to collaborate on what that next thing would be, because there isn’t something you can just pull out and go, ‘It’s that’. But the other side of that is, there’s loads of prison scenes in that book that we haven’t even touched on, there’s a ton of them.”

What is Waiting for the Out?

The series follows Dan, a philosopher who begins working in a prison, where he leads classes on philosophy. But through his work, Dan begins to dig deeper into his own past – growing up with a father, brother and uncle who all ended up behind bars.

The synopsis continues: “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.”

Who stars in Waiting for the Out?

Josh Finan (Baby Reindeer) leads the cast as Dan. He’s joined by Gerard Kearns (The Last Kingdom) as Dan’s father, Stephen Wight (Screw) as Lee and Phil Daniels (House of the Dragon) as uncle Frank.

© CREDIT LINE:BBC Studios/Sister Pictures/Jessica Sansom

Also starring in the series are Samantha Spiro (Sex Education) who plays Dan’s mother, alongside Sophia Brown (The Capture), Ronke Adekoluejo (Rain Dogs), Neal Barry (Rain Dogs) and Jude Mack (Such Brave Girls).

Meanwhile, playing the prisoners in Dan’s classes are Alex Ferns (Andor), Francis Lovehall (A Thousand Blows), Josef Altin (Top Boy), Steven Meo (House of the Dragon), Ric Renton (One Off), Tom Moutchi (Gladiator II), Nima Taleghani (Heartstopper), Sule Rimi (The Day of the Jackal) and Charlie Rix (Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power).