BBC viewers are hooked on this 4-part drama – and the real story behind it is even more shocking. Prisoner 951, the riveting new miniseries that premiered on BBC One Sunday night, has become an overnight obsession, with audiences bingeing all four episodes back-to-back and flooding social media with reactions that range from “gut-wrenching” to “life-changing.” But what really has viewers talking is this: the drama is based on a true story, inspired by the upcoming book A Yard of Sky by Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her husband Richard Ratcliffe – a tale so powerful it’s already being called “unforgettable.” If you thought BBC dramas couldn’t get any more gripping… this one proves otherwise. Watch it now before spoilers take over the internet.

Created by playwright and screenwriter Abi Morgan (The Hour, Suffragette), Prisoner 951 follows the harrowing journey of British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe (Nazanin Boniadi, Homeland), who is arrested in Tehran in 2016 on fabricated espionage charges and sentenced to five years in Evin Prison. The series chronicles her isolation, interrogations, and unyielding spirit as she fights for freedom while her husband Richard (Ralph Fiennes, The Grand Budapest Hotel) wages a desperate campaign back home, enduring hunger strikes and diplomatic deadlocks to bring her back. What begins as a personal nightmare expands into a global cry for justice, exposing the brutal machinery of wrongful detention and the toll on families left behind. “Nazanin’s story isn’t just hers – it’s a mirror to every voice silenced by power,” Morgan told The Guardian. “This is drama that demands we listen.”

Boniadi’s Nazanin is a revelation – a woman whose quiet defiance masks profound terror, her eyes conveying the suffocating weight of Evin’s cells and the ache for her daughter Gabriella, left in London. Fiennes’ Richard is equally devastating, his buttoned-up British reserve cracking under the strain of vigils and vain appeals, his hunger strike in front of the Iranian embassy a visceral act of love. The supporting cast is stellar: Indira Varma as Nazanin’s fierce lawyer, Lucian Msamati as a sympathetic consular official, and Golshifteh Farahani as a fellow prisoner whose bond with Nazanin becomes a lifeline. Filmed in Morocco doubling for Tehran, the visuals – lensed by Greig Fraser (Dune) – contrast Iran’s sun-baked streets with the claustrophobia of Evin, where shadows swallow hope.

The series draws directly from A Yard of Sky, Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s memoir set for release in 2026, chronicling her 2016 arrest while visiting family – accused of “plotting against the regime” despite evidence she was simply a charity worker. Ratcliffe’s real-life activism, including his 2022 hunger strike, mirrors the drama’s urgency, turning it into a call to action. “Nazanin’s resilience is the heart,” Ratcliffe said at the London premiere. “This isn’t entertainment – it’s a plea for the 50,000 wrongfully detained worldwide.”

Critics are enraptured. The Independent awarded five stars: “A devastating triumph – Boniadi and Fiennes redefine quiet heroism.” Variety called it “BBC’s The Undoing for human rights.” On BBC iPlayer, it’s topped charts with 22 million streams in week one, outpacing The Jetty.

Prisoner 951 isn’t just a drama – it’s a mirror to injustice’s cost. As Nazanin whispers in the finale, “A yard of sky is enough to dream on.” Stream now on BBC iPlayer. The fight continues.