When a Family Holiday Became Six Years in Hell: The Story Behind Prisoner 951

You’re at the airport with your baby daughter on your way home from a New Year’s visit to see your parents. Someone grabs you. Takes your passport. Separates you from your child. Says you’re a spy.

It happened to Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in April 2016 at Tehran airport. She had spent the past few weeks visiting family with her 22-month-old daughter, Gabriella. Now the Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe BBC drama Prisoner 951, which aired on 23rd November, tells that story across four episodes that are genuinely difficult to watch.

Why Was Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe Imprisoned

The official accusation was plotting to overthrow the Iranian government. Complete rubbish. She was employed by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, where she worked on grant applications and trained coordinators. Nothing remotely connected to Iran.

But Iranian authorities said she was running a BBC Persian journalism course to disseminate propaganda. In September 2016, the Iranian authorities sentenced her to five years. For eight and a half months in the beginning, she was placed in solitary confinement. Barely saw daylight. Couldn’t get a lawyer.

The real reason? Money. Britain owed Iran roughly £400 million for tanks that the Shah had ordered in the 1970s but which were never delivered after the revolution. She became a bargaining chip. Both governments denied any such connection for decades, but when Britain finally paid off the debt in March 2022, it was released within hours. Funny how that worked.

What the Drama Got Right

Narges Rashidi plays Nazanin. The actor Joseph Fiennes portrays her husband, Richard Ratcliffe. The reality is that the BBC drama cast of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe did fact-checking in its proper place because the series is based on A Yard of Sky, a book written by Nazanin and Richard. This isn’t made-up drama. It’s what actually happened.

Stephen Butchard wrote it. Philippa Lowthorpe directed it. She’s won three BAFTAs previously, so she knows the drill. They didn’t even cast an actor to play Boris Johnson. Only featured real news footage of him because, as Butchard put it, “he’s almost a caricature already.

The prison scenes are brutal. In the book, Nazanin speaks of little things that got her through. The way it was when she shifted from solitary to the women’s wing and could at last speak with fellow prisoners. Or seeing Andy Murray win Wimbledon in 2016, on a small telly. Murray invited her to the Royal Box in 2023, which is nice.

She went on hunger strikes at least three times, demanding medical attention. She wore an electronic tag after spending time during COVID at her parents’ house, where the only place she was allowed to walk was 300 metres around their building. Could video call Richard and Gabriella for a few hours daily, which must’ve been torture. So close but so far away.

Growing Up Without Your Mum

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s daughter Gabriella was 22 months old when her mum got arrested. She stayed in Iran with her grandparents initially because her British passport was revoked. Eventually, she came back to Britain to live with her dad.

By the time Nazanin got released, Gabriella was seven. Most of her childhood was without her mother. When they reunited, there was shyness between them. Richard described it as getting to know each other again. You don’t get those years back.

Richard filmed their daily lives while Nazanin was away. Said at some point they just started documenting everything because they didn’t know what else to do. Sunlight as safety, he called it.

The Boris Johnson Mess

This bit’s infuriating. Boris Johnson was the Foreign Secretary in November 2017. In November 2017, Boris Johnson informed a parliamentary committee that Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been engaged in journalism education in Iran. Which wasn’t true. She was on vacation, visiting family.

Four days later, Iranian officials took Nazanin to court, and Johnson’s words were presented as evidence that she had been spreading propaganda. His words literally served as evidence against her.

Johnson apologised, sort of. Indicated that his comments “should have been clearer.” Johnson never properly took responsibility for his actions. When Nazanin met him in 2022 after she’d been released, she told him she’d lived in the shadow of his words. He didn’t explicitly apologise then either.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe – Boris Johnson is a whole chapter in this story of government failure. Iranian authorities kept bringing up his comments right until her release, using them whenever it suited. Various ministers got sent out to defend Johnson rather than clarifying that the government knew she was on holiday. Made it feel like it was about Brexit and Boris rather than a British citizen being held hostage.

Richard’s Fight

Richard had been working as an accountant in London. Suddenly, he was a full-time campaigner. Staging protests. He went on hunger strikes himself. Camping outside the Iranian Embassy.

In November 2021, when Nazanin’s original sentence had ended but she’d been given another year plus a travel ban, Richard went on hunger strike outside the Foreign Office. Demanding Boris Johnson, who was Prime Minister by then, deliver on promises to settle the debt and bring her home.

The campaigning kept them going, Richard said. Knowing people cared about their story. That’s what got them through.

The Book and What Happened Next

A Yard of Sky, the Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe book written by both of them, forms the basis of the drama. It includes Nazanin’s account of prison life, which they didn’t have whilst she was detained. That’s why the series got richer after her release. They had both sides.

Since coming home, Nazanin has become a spokesperson for people wrongfully imprisoned by foreign states. She’s been critical of how Britain handles these cases.

At a conference in November 2025, she said the government has a moral duty of care for every citizen detained abroad, but its policy is discretionary. If you’re not made a priority, you risk being left behind.

Richard’s been advising other families going through similar situations. Earlier this year, he met with Lindsay and Craig Foreman’s family, a British couple detained in Iran. Told them to confirm where their relatives were and that they were alive. Said there’s no road map for this.

Why It Matters

Prisoner 951 isn’t easy viewing. People on social media called it almost unbearable at times. But it’s brilliantly written and performed. Gets inside what it feels like to be used as a political bargaining chip.

The series went up on BBC iPlayer in full on 23rd November, with episodes also on BBC One the following week. Response has been strong. Powerful. Devastating. Necessary.

What makes it work is that it doesn’t sensationalise anything. Just shows what happened. A woman was arrested at an airport. A husband fighting for her. A daughter growing up without her mum. A government that should’ve done more, faster.

The focus stays on the human cost. What it does to a family when someone gets taken hostage. How do you keep hoping when everything seems hopeless?

Where They Are Now

Nazanin’s back home but dealing with trauma. Has nightmares. The family’s working on healing. Richard said he didn’t realise he’d been in battle mode until she came home and he could finally come out of it. They’re laying the past to rest and building a future. Work in progress.

The £400 million debt got paid, ring-fenced for humanitarian use. Nazanin’s travel ban was lifted and she flew home on 17th March 2022. Six years after being arrested.

But other people are still detained. Still being used as pawns. That’s why Nazanin and Richard wanted this drama made. To show what hostage diplomacy looks like. What solitary confinement does to someone. What fake trials feel like. What it’s like watching your child grow up through video calls.

What the Drama Achieves

The series treats the story seriously. No cheap emotional manipulation. Just facts through brilliant performances and careful direction.

Butchard said this shows how incredible people can be under pressure. How do we find the strength to keep going? Some of the women still in Evin Prison are looking towards the light, he said. Finding hope despite everything.

Lowthorpe called it devastating but also about love and hope. She wanted to highlight not just Nazanin’s situation but all hostages taken for political reasons worldwide.

The series has done its job. Got people talking about state hostage-taking. Made viewers understand what Richard and Nazanin went through. Kept focus on the human beings at the centre rather than just the politics.

Should you watch it? Yeah. But prepare yourself. It’s not background viewing. It demands attention and won’t let go. Which is exactly what stories like this need to do.