Holloway Prison: Women Behind Bars (Female Prisoners Documentary) | Real Stories

Dec 22 2022

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From a Moors Murderer to suffragettes and even a suspected witch, this true crime documentary delves deeply into the history of the North London jail as it prepares to close after 164 years. Once Europe's largest women’s prison, this is HMP Holloway. A hard-hitting documentary presented by renowned criminologist and former prison governor, Professor David Wilson, Holloway: Women Behind Bars investigates the extraordinary story of the prison and profiles some of its famous female inmates. Since it was first established in 1852, the infamous institution has housed some of Britain’s most notorious female murderers; from the last woman to be hanged, Ruth Ellis, who killed her abusive lover, to the Moors Murderer Myra Hindley, and serial killers Rose West, and (most recently) Joanne Dennehy. During its reign as one of the biggest women’s prisons in Western Europe, Holloway was the setting for the highest number of female executions during the 20th Century in England and Wales. It has also had its fair share of controversies, from audacious escapes and bullying, to sex scandals with guards and the abolition of the death penalty. As the documentary was being filmed, there are around 90,000 prisoners in England and Wales, but only 4,000 were women. With interviews from criminologist Dr Elizabeth Yardley, historian Kate Williams and those who worked and served time at Holloway, Professor David Wilson investigates the history of the prison from the very beginning. Want to watch more full-length Documentaries?