THE start date for series two of BBC drama Time, which was partly filmed in St Helens, has been revealed.

Written by Liverpool-born Jimmy McGovern, the first series of the prison drama starred Stephen Graham and Sean Bean and was a huge hit.

The second series will star Jodie Whittaker, Tamara Lawrance and Bella Ramsey in the lead roles.

The BBC has now onfirmed the series will begin on Sunday, October 29.

The three-part series has been partly filmed in St Helens, with the redundant custody suite at College Street used as a location earlier this year.

Crews were set up on Birchley Street car park throughout last week as production teams used the College Street police station as a location.

The empty cells and custody area mean the venue is regularly used for filming.

Among shows to use it as a location in recent years are Sky's Tin Star and ITV's The Bay. 

Scenes have also been filmed across Wirral, Liverpool, Halton and Knowsley.

Last week at the premiere which took place at St George's Hall, Bella Ramsey, who has appeared in Game Of Thrones and The Last Of Us, told PA News Agency, described taking on the role of Kelsey, a drug user navigating the prison system.

Ramsey said: "She puts on this incredible front where she doesn’t want anybody to see her vulnerability, so in a way she’s like one of the most hardened characters I’ve played, because of that front, but inside there’s this deep, blistering vulnerability that is very much there.

"It was hard work. We did long days and it was intense subject matter.

"I had to come back and watch Finding Nemo a few times to get me out of it.

"It was an amazing experience. Whenever I get a chance to do something as intense and as gritty I jump at the opportunity because it’s what I live for."

McGovern said he was not previously aware of Ramsey but his grandchildren were and "couldn’t believe" he was working with the actor.

The writer said he had been converted to a superfan and said Ramsey was "really, really good."

He said the new series, set in a women’s prison, was "intense" and would show viewers "everything that’s wrong with the British prison system".

McGovern, who wrote the drama with Helen Black and visited women’s prisons for research, said the dialogue was different to that in the first series.

He said: "In a women’s prison they talk and talk and talk. You could learn more in one visit to a women’s prison than in 10 to a men’s."