Inside the World's Toughest Prisons

{{Series overview

| color1 = 88B944

| link1 = #Season 1 (2016)

| episodes1 = 4

| start1 = {{Start date|2016|04|12}}

| end1 = {{End date|2016|05|04}}

| network1 = Channel 5 & Netflix

| color2 = 4C5F33

| link2 = #Season 2 (2018)

| episodes2 = 4

| released2 = {{Start date|2018|07|06}}

| network2 = Netflix

| color3 = 444444

| link3 = #Season 3 (2018)

| episodes3 = 4

| released3 = {{Start date|2018|12|14}}

| color4 = 000000

| link4 = #Season 4 (2020)

| episodes4 = 4

| released4 = {{Start date|2020|07|29}}

| color5 = 9F9F9F

| link5 = #Season 5 (2021)

| episodes5 = 3

| released5 = {{Start date|2021|01|09}}

| color6 = #FF5F5F

| link6 = #Season 6 (2022)

| episodes6 = 4

| released6 = {{Start date|2022|09|28}}

| color7 = #7B4C51

| link7 = #Season 7 (2023)

| episodes7 = 4

| released7 = {{Start date|2023|09|15}}

}}

Season 1, hosted by Paul Connolly, was aired in 2016 on Channel 5 in the United Kingdom. It is now available on Netflix along with Seasons 2 to 7.

{{Episode table |background=#88B944|total_width= |overall= |season= |title= |airdate= |episodes=

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 1

| EpisodeNumber2 = 1

| Title = Honduras

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|2016|04|20}}

| ShortSummary = Connolly spends a week inside Danli prison in Honduras. Distinguishing features of the prison: the toughest inmates are armed and act as enforcers for the overwhelmed guards.

| LineColor = 88B944

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 2

| EpisodeNumber2 = 2

| Title = Poland

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|2016|04|27}}

| ShortSummary = Connolly spends time in Poland's Piotrków prison. Distinguishing features of the prison: prisoners have to stay in their cells 23 hours a day, and the prison experience is quite claustrophobic.

| LineColor = 88B944

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 3

| EpisodeNumber2 = 3

| Title = Mexico

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|2016|03|03}}

| ShortSummary = Connolly spends time in Mexico's El Hongo prison.

| LineColor = 88B944

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 4

| EpisodeNumber2 = 4

| Title = Philippines

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|2016|05|04}}

| ShortSummary = Connolly spends time in two prisons in the Philippines. Distinguishing features of the prison: overcrowding, gangs, and intimidation are a way of life.

| LineColor = 88B944

}}

}}

Season 2, produced by Netflix with host Raphael Rowe, was released on July 6, 2018 on Netflix.

{{Episode table |background=#4C5F33 |total_width= |overall= |season= |title= |airdate= |episodes={{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 5

| EpisodeNumber2 = 1

| Title = Brazil: The Gang Prison

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|2018|07|06}}

| ShortSummary = Rowe spends a few days as both a guard and as a prisoner in Brazil's Porto Velho penitentiary. Distinguishing features of the prison: constant tensions and risk of violence and riots between Brazil's two leading drug gangs, the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and Comando Vermelho (Red Command), due to which the prison guards attempt to segregate the prison based on gang affiliations.

| LineColor = 4C5F33

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 6

| EpisodeNumber2 = 2

| Title = Ukraine: The Prison in a War Zone

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|2018|07|06}}

| ShortSummary = Rowe spends time in Ukraine's Zhytomyr prison. Distinguishing features of the prison: a skeleton crew that allows prisoners to freely roam around the grounds, often with potentially dangerous weapons.

| LineColor = 4C5F33

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 7

| EpisodeNumber2 = 3

| Title = Papua New Guinea: The Breakout Prison

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|2018|07|06}}

| ShortSummary = Rowe visits the short-staffed Bomana Prison in Papua New Guinea. Distinguishing features of the prison: near-constant food shortages that keep the facility on the brink of chaos.

| LineColor = 4C5F33

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 8

| EpisodeNumber2 = 4

| Title = Belize: The Prison that Found God

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|2018|07|06}}

| ShortSummary = Rowe spends time in Belize Central Prison in Belize. Distinguishing features of the prison: an approach to rehabilitation based on evangelism (God).

| LineColor = 4C5F33

}}

}}

Season 3, produced by Netflix with host Raphael Rowe, was released on December 14, 2018 on Netflix.

{{Episode table |background=#444444 |total_width= |overall= |season= |title= |airdate= |episodes={{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 9

| EpisodeNumber2 = 1

| Title = Costa Rica: Prison on a Knife-Edge

| OriginalAirDate= {{start date|2018|12|14}}

| ShortSummary = Rowe spends time in Costa Rica's La Reforma Prison, including a visit to the maximum-security part and time spent in the medium-security and low-security parts. Distinguishing features of the prison: the medium-security part of the prison is quite overcrowded and depressing, but the low-security part of the prison feels much more welcoming.

| LineColor = 444444

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 10

| EpisodeNumber2 = 2

| Title = Colombia: Narco Prison

| OriginalAirDate= {{start date|2018|12|14}}

| ShortSummary = Rowe spends time in the fortress-like prison in Bogotá, Colombia. Distinguishing features of the prison: claustrophobic conditions and problems of drug use in the prison despite a lot of monitoring and searching by the authorities.

| LineColor = 444444

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 11

| EpisodeNumber2 = 3

| Title = Romania: Gypsy Prison

| OriginalAirDate= {{start date|2018|12|14}}

| ShortSummary = Rowe spends a week in a maximum security prison in Craiova, Romania. Distinguishing features of the prison: very little outdoor space, so prisoners are kept locked in their cells most of the day. Also, the Romani people make up over half the prison population, significantly overrepresented relative to their share of the overall Romania population.

| LineColor = 444444

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 12

| EpisodeNumber2 = 4

| Title = Norway: The Perfect Prison?

| OriginalAirDate= {{start date|2018|12|14}}

| ShortSummary = Rowe spends time in Halden Prison in Norway, a maximum-security prison. Distinguishing features of the prison: Halden is experimenting with a radically new prison structure based on the principle of normality: try to make prison life closely approximate life outside prison, so as to rehabilitate prisoners and prepare them for successful reentry into society.

| LineColor = 444444

}}

}}

Season 4, produced by Netflix with host Raphael Rowe, was released on July 29, 2020 on Netflix.

{{Episode table |background=#000000 |total_width= |overall= |season= |title= |airdate= |episodes={{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 13

| EpisodeNumber2 = 1

| Title = Paraguay: The Most Dangerous Prison on Earth

| OriginalAirDate= {{start date|2020|07|29}}

| ShortSummary = Raphael Rowe spends a week behind bars at Tacumbú prison in Paraguay, where inmates scrounge in the trash in order to pay their own way.

| LineColor = 000000

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 14

| EpisodeNumber2 = 2

| Title = Germany: The Therapy Prison

| OriginalAirDate= {{start date|2020|07|29}}

| ShortSummary = Schwalmstadt, a 12th-century fortress surrounded by a moat, houses some of Germany's worst offenders, many of whom attend intense therapy sessions.

| LineColor = 000000

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 15

| EpisodeNumber2 = 3

| Title = Mauritius: The Extreme Punishment Prison

| OriginalAirDate= {{start date|2020|07|29}}

| ShortSummary = The tropical island of Mauritius is home to Melrose maximum security prison, where even the smallest infraction is met with extreme punishment.

| LineColor = 000000

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 16

| EpisodeNumber2 = 4

| Title = Lesotho: Confronting Sexual Violence

| OriginalAirDate= {{start date|2020|07|29}}

| ShortSummary = An unnerved Rowe contends with aggressive cellmates at Maseru prison, where a high number of inmates are behind bars for rape.

| LineColor = 000000

}}

}}

Season 5, produced by Netflix with host Raphael Rowe, was released on January 9, 2021 on Netflix.

{{Episode table |background=#9F9F9F |total_width= |overall= |season= |title= |airdate= |episodes={{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 17

| EpisodeNumber2 = 1

| Title = South Africa: The Number Gangs Prison

| OriginalAirDate= {{start date|2021|01|09}}

| ShortSummary = At Brandvlei Correctional Centre in South Africa, nearly all the convicts belong to dangerous gangs known for lethal stabbings.

| LineColor = 9F9F9F

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 18

| EpisodeNumber2 = 2

| Title = Philippines: The War on Drugs Prison

| OriginalAirDate= {{start date|2021|01|09}}

| ShortSummary = Once again, Raphael Rowe volunteers to go behind bars, this time in the Philippines at Manila City Jail, one of the world's most overcrowded prisons.

| LineColor = 9F9F9F

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 19

| EpisodeNumber2 = 3

| Title = Greenland: Prison in the Ice

| OriginalAirDate= {{start date|2021|01|09}}

| ShortSummary = Greenland's Nuuk maximum security prison houses extremely dangerous men, many of whom grew up alongside the guards now watching over them.

| LineColor = 9F9F9F

}}

}}

Season 6, produced by Netflix with host Raphael Rowe, was released on September 28, 2022 on Netflix.

{{Episode table |background=#FF5F5F |total_width= |overall= |season= |title= |airdate= |episodes={{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 20

| EpisodeNumber2 = 1

| Title = Moldova: The Lifers Prison

| OriginalAirDate= {{start date|2022|09|28}}

| ShortSummary = At Penitentiary 17 in Moldova, nearly 100 of the convicts are life sentence inmates.

| LineColor = #FF5F5F

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 21

| EpisodeNumber2 = 2

| Title = Cyprus: The Utopian Prison

| OriginalAirDate= {{start date|2022|09|28}}

| ShortSummary = Once again, Raphael Rowe volunteers to go behind bars, this time in Cyprus at the Central Jail of Nicosia.

| LineColor = #FF5F5F

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 22

| EpisodeNumber2 = 3

| Title = Bosnia: The Mafia Prison

| OriginalAirDate= {{start date|2022|09|28}}

| ShortSummary = In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Rowe volunteers to go inside Zenica prison.

| LineColor = #FF5F5F

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 23

| EpisodeNumber2 = 4

| Title = Greece: The People Smugglers Prison

| OriginalAirDate= {{start date|2022|09|28}}

| ShortSummary = This time, overcrowding is the main focus inside a prison in Greece housing many of the worst offenders in the prison system.

| LineColor = #FF5F5F

}}

}}

Season 7, produced by Netflix with host Raphael Rowe, was released on September 15, 2023 on Netflix.

{{Episode table |background=#7B4C51|total_width= |overall= |season= |title= |airdate= |episodes=

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 24

| EpisodeNumber2 = 1

| Title = Finland: The Free Choice Prison

| OriginalAirDate= {{start date|2023|09|15}}

| ShortSummary = At Finland's Kylmäkoski prison, Raphael meets violent offenders in the general population wing and bonds with the inmates, while a newcomer is attacked.

| LineColor = #7B4C51

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 25

| EpisodeNumber2 = 2

| Title = Czech Republic: The Crystal Meth Prison

| OriginalAirDate= {{start date|2023|09|15}}

| ShortSummary = Surrounded by many inmates who struggle with crystal meth addiction, Raphael enters the Plzeň prison and discovers that some habits are hard to break.

| LineColor = #7B4C51

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 26

| EpisodeNumber2 = 3

| Title = Indonesia: The re-programming drug prison

| OriginalAirDate= {{start date|2023|09|15}}

| ShortSummary = Raphael gets a rare look inside Bangli prison, where drug offenders are forced to join a rehabilitation program and isolation is used as punishment.

| LineColor = #7B4C51

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 27

| EpisodeNumber2 = 4

| Title = Solomon Islands: God’s Own Prison

| OriginalAirDate= {{start date|2023|09|15}}

| ShortSummary = At the Rove maximum security prison, many of the inmates serve time for sexual offenses while navigating grim conditions and extremely limited resources.

| LineColor = #7B4C51

}}

}}

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{Netflix title}}
• {{IMDb title}}

{{Netflix original continuation series}}

Category:Channel 5 (British TV channel) documentary series

Category:Netflix original documentary television series

Category:2010s British documentary television series

Category:2020s British documentary television series

Category:2016 British television series debuts

Category:British English-language television shows

Category:Works about prisons