Chukwubuikem Molokwu Explores Tragic Prison Story in Time Season 3

Actor Chukwubuikem Molokwu portrays Christopher, a vulnerable young inmate whose severe stammer complicates his life behind bars in the third season of the BBC prison drama Time. Created by Jimmy McGovern and co-written with Samuel Bailey, the series follows young offenders at the fictional Alderwick institution, where Christopher faces a difficult reunion with his birth mother before a fatal attack changes his story.

Molokwu's performance centers on the physical and emotional challenges of speaking with a stammer. In interviews with Radio Times and TV Guide, the actor explained how he prepared for his first television role, working with voice coach Amy Morrison to develop a speech pattern that reflected Christopher's experiences.

Christopher's storyline also explores his separation from his Kenyan birth mother, Amara, who sent him to the United Kingdom when he was a young child in the hope of giving him a better life. His Nigerian father accompanied him but later died, and Amara subsequently lost contact with her son.

The character eventually learns his birth name, Ushindi, a Swahili word meaning victory or overcome. Their reunion is complicated by a language barrier: Amara speaks Swahili, while Christopher can speak only English, leaving him struggling to communicate with her.

Molokwu told Radio Times that preparing for the role required him to learn a speech difficulty he does not have in real life.

"It was a bit nerve-wracking," Molokwu said. "But I don't think that's a bad thing at all. I think it just shows you care."

His preparation included approximately a month of work with Morrison, who normally helps people reduce their stammers. This time, the coach had to help him develop one convincingly for the screen.

"It's quite funny because my voice coach Amy Morrison had to work in reverse this time," Molokwu said. "She helps people lose their stammer, but she was training me to get one, so it was a new process for her, too."

The actor also watched online videos of people who stammer and tried reproducing the experience in everyday situations. He said the research helped him understand that the condition involves more than facial movements or difficulty forming words.

"That was crazy and scary, but I wanted to see what it was really like to live with a stammer, off the screen," Molokwu said. "What does a real person with a stammer actually go through?"

He described the experience as physically demanding, particularly when Christopher struggles to express emotions or communicate under pressure.

"I thought it was a facial thing, but I realised that's almost the last thing. There's so much physicality involved. It goes all the way down to your feet and your legs because it's like you're trying to– I don't know if this is the best way to word it, but it's like you want to vomit, you want to get something out from deep inside," Molokwu said.

The actor also adjusted Christopher's speech according to his surroundings and the people he encounters. He explained that the character's stammer becomes more pronounced when he feels threatened or emotionally overwhelmed.

"There are multiple types of stammers: silent, explosive, repetitive," Molokwu said. "For Christopher, we decided that the more intense he's feeling in a moment, the more intense his stammer will be. And so when he's speaking to someone like Marie-Louise, she's a calm soul, so his stammer would be more relaxed. Versus speaking to someone like Bobby, who's angrier and stricter, so Christopher is going to feel much more tense and the stammer is going to be more explosive."

Marie-Louise, played by Siobhan Finneran, provides emotional support to the young inmates, while prison officer Bobby Bailey, played by David Tennant, is responsible for maintaining order. Their contrasting approaches help shape Christopher's responses throughout the series.

Christopher's reunion with Amara carries additional emotional weight because he has spent years imagining the mother he barely remembers. Molokwu described the encounter as overwhelming, particularly because the pair cannot easily understand each other.

"It's a surreal moment. Christopher is a thoughtful character, so I can just imagine him spending all of these years curating this image of his mother in his head – what does she look like? What does she sound like?

Is she as kind as I remember? So it's a shock," Molokwu said.

He added that the language barrier intensifies the character's confusion during their meeting.

"And they don't even speak the same language. She speaks Swahili, he can only speak English, so it's intensified. 'I don't understand her. What is she literally saying?'" Molokwu said.

The actor also connected the storyline to his own background. Of Nigerian heritage, he recalled visiting Nigeria when he was six and being unable to communicate with relatives in Igbo, a language he had not learned as a child.

"I remember when I went back to Nigeria when I was six years old [his one and only visit to date, although he hopes to go back] and not being able to communicate with them in Igbo," Molokwu said. "I wasn't taught that when I was a kid but making this did make me think, how great would it be to actually speak to them, in my mother tongue; to be able to communicate with my grandmother."

Christopher's story takes a devastating turn when he is stabbed in the neck by fellow inmate Patsy Flynn during a reconciliation meeting. Christopher had requested the meeting in the hope of speaking to his mother face to face rather than through a screen.

Molokwu told Radio Times that he did not know his character would die until he received the script. The revelation came after Christopher had finally reconnected with his heritage and met his birth mother.

"I was heartbroken, especially after seeing his birth mother for the first time, after finding out about his heritage and where he's from; after these good moments in his life, I want to say for once, and then that happens," Molokwu said.

He added that the character's fate was especially difficult to accept after the progress Christopher had made.

"It's just, it's heartbreaking. It is," Molokwu said.

Molokwu also described the challenges of performing the death scene, explaining that he needed additional guidance from Daniel Ryan, who plays prison officer Freddie Jennings, before reaching the emotional level required for the sequence.

Co-writer Samuel Bailey said Christopher's stammer makes an already hostile prison environment even more difficult to navigate. The character's vulnerability and efforts to reconnect with his birth mother form a central part of his storyline.

Bailey also linked the character to McGovern's personal experiences. The series creator had a severe stammer during childhood, which significantly affected his ability to speak and led him to observe people closely, an experience that later influenced his work as a writer.

Molokwu secured the role after auditioning alongside approximately 1,000 other actors and undergoing several months of casting. His portrayal places Christopher's speech difficulty, family separation and vulnerability at the center of one of Time season 3's most tragic storylines.