Prisoner 951 is a British factual drama television series, starring Narges Rashidi as British-Iranian citizen Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe imprisoned on spying charges for six years in Iran, and Joseph Fiennes as her husband Richard Ratcliffe. The series premiered on BBC One on 23 November 2025 in four parts, and was released in five parts on SBS Television in Australia in March 2026.
Synopsis British-Iranian citizen Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested at Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran as she was returning to the UK from a family visit in 2016. Forced to leave her 22-month-old daughter with her mother, Zaghari-Ratcliffe was held for six years on spying charges prior to her release and return to the United Kingdom. The series is critical of the British Government's response.
Cast and characters Narges Rashidi as Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe Joseph Fiennes as Richard Ratcliffe Bijan Daneshmand as Baba, Nazanin's father Behi Djanati Atai as Mamani, Nazanin's mother Ella Varavipour, Mana Sayyah and Ava Rose as Gabriella, Nazanin and Richard's daughter Nicholas Farrell as John Ratcliffe, Richard's father Marion Bailey as Barbara Ratcliffe, Richard's mother Farzana Dua Elahe as Tulip Siddiq MP Sam Troughton as Oliver Denton, Siddiq's assistant Catherine Bailey as Rebecca Ratcliffe, Richard's sister Kavé Niku as Mohammad Zaghari, Nazanin's brother Astrid Whettnall as Monique Villa Claudia Harrison as Penny Madden Ash Goldeh as Interrogator Darvish Alastair Mackenzie as Tobias Ellwood MP Christopher Colquhoun as James Cleverly MP Vivienne Gibbs as Liz Truss MP Armin Karima as Seyed, Nazanin's guard/escort Melika Foroutan as Narges Mohammadi
Production The series was directed by Philippa Lowthorpe and written by Stephen Butchard, based on the upcoming book A Yard of Sky by Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Richard Ratcliffe, about their experiences of the arrest and the campaign for her release.
The cast was led by Narges Rashidi as Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Joseph Fiennes as her husband Richard Ratcliffe.
The series was produced by Fremantle's Dancing Ledge Productions, with Fremantle handling international sales. Filming took place in Greece and the United Kingdom.
Episodes
Release The series aired in four parts on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on 23 November 2025.
It aired on SBS Television and SBS on Demand in Australia from 4 March 2026, in five parts of 45 minutes each.
Reception Phil Harrison of The Guardian gave the series 4 out of 5 stars, praising the "excellent" performances as well as the script.
RadioTimes described Prisoner 951 as a "powerful, unflinching piece of drama". The Observer and The Independent praised both Fiennes' and Rashidi's performances.
In her detailed review of the series, Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert, who was herself imprisoned in Iran under similar circumstances from September 2018 to November 2020 and had met Zaghari-Ratcliffe briefly in prison, wrote: "Objectively, as a piece of television, Prisoner 951 is well-acted and thoughtfully shot—intimate when it needs to be, and appropriately expansive when exploring the broader themes of Zaghari-Ratcliffe's story".
Accolades For her role, Rashidi won Best Actress at the Royal Television Society Programme Awards in March 2026. She also won Leading Actress at the British Academy Television Awards. Úna Ní Dhonghaíle won for editing at the British Academy Television Craft Awards.
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