Chris Atkins’ Prison Memoir Optioned for TV Treatment

Eleventh Hour Films has optioned Chris Atkins’ prison diaries A Bit of a Stretch for TV adaptation.

Atkins—a documentary-maker whose work includes Taking Liberties, Starsuckers and UKIP: The First 100 Days—became embroiled in a dodgy tax scheme to fund a film and wound up with a five-year prison sentence. He chronicled the reality behind the locked gates of HMP Wandsworth, one of the oldest, largest and most dysfunctional prisons in Europe.

Paula Cuddy, creative director for Eleventh Hour Films, said: “Hilarious, horrifying and heartbreaking. This book is a wake-up call, a shocking and surprising insight into modern prison life. I read it in one sitting. With Chris, EHF is delighted to have this exciting opportunity to redefine the prison TV drama.”

Atkins said “I am thrilled to be working with Paula and her excellent team at Eleventh Hour Films. Prison was a dark and traumatic place, but it was also full of humor, humanity and fascinating characters. I can’t wait to bring this surreal and dysfunctional world to screen.”