The heaviest lift here is getting you to subscribe to BritBox to begin with. I know, I know, you’ve already got Netflix and maybe you even watch the lowbrow stuff on Paramount and Peacock, do you really need to pay extra for one more service?

Yes. At least for a month. And if you watch really fast, you can complete all three seasons of “Time” in the seven-day trial period, canceling before you get charged. Then again, you’ll probably want to stay for “Blue Lights,” whose latest season is now rolling out.

So I’m thinking if this is an American show…does it work?

The problem we have with American shows is the actors transcend the story. Especially since those who used to work in films now work on the small screen. It’s hard to divorce them from their roles.

Then again, there are major stars in “Time” too. The first season features Stephen Graham, one of the U.K.’s best, who you might now be watching in Apple’s “Nocturne.” And season three features David Tennant.

For me the breakthrough was “Broadchurch.” Which is presently on a multitude of services. Go to justwatch.com to find out where to see it. And you’ll want to. “Broadchurch” is one of those series that will convert you from films, it has enough time to develop.

And we think of Tennant as being dark, only working in dramas. But right now he’s in “Rivals,” which crosses the line from comedy to drama and back, which is completing its second season on Hulu.

But “Time” is a prison drama. Appealing to Tennant’s classic side. Then again, he can be somewhat of a heel, oblivious to how others perceive him in roles, how will he play it here?

Now I’ve written about “Time” before, and after two seasons I was wondering where they could go, where they could take it, since season one was in a men’s prison and season two in a women’s, but… Season three is in a juvenile prison. For serious offenders. Young boys, teenagers, who if they ever are going to see the light of day again will be middle-aged at least when it happens.

And it’s an unruly, uncontrollable lot. One can only imagine working there, imagine living with a teenager, then imagine living with one cooped up for a crime you can’t fathom anyone committing.

And that’s what Tennant does, work in this prison.

And the issue is how much compassion you express, how much you play by the rules. And at first, Tennant is completely by the book. Because he’s an a**hole or he knows better is unclear.

But what is different from the first two seasons is the amount of action/story that happens outside the prison. Starting with Tennant’s marriage.

I guess I’m giving something away here, as much as I don’t want to, so be forewarned, it’s just that the experience of being blind-sided in a relationship, thinking things are if not exactly hunky-dory, at least good, and finding out the other person does not feel this way is portrayed so well in season three of “Time.” We rarely see personal torture, internal angst, it’s hard to convey, never mind dwell upon.

And then there is the issue of options. This season made me think of the public at large. For everybody going to college looking to climb up the economic ladder, there are those who finish high school or don’t even do that, they’re full of piss and vinegar, they’re testing limits, having babies, then they wake up one day and find…they’ve got no upward mobility, no way to get ahead, they’re stuck, literally, for if they give up the job they’ve got, they’re going to go backwards.

And then there’s the issue of going along to get along. You may be a crusader, a true believer, but you will not only not be accepted by your co-workers, you will be ostracized and undermined. Classically it’s when someone comes in and works efficiently when the usual suspects have been lackadaisical. They don’t want to work that hard and you should not, and if you do…watch out.

It’s about keeping a job, surviving. Even up to the top. The institution must survive. Watching this show made me think we can never root out corruption, it’s inherent in human nature. Forget billions being skimmed by officials, it’s just that there’s the rulebook and then there’s how people really behave, and they’re not the same.

And this three episode season (they’re all three episodes) is packed with different story lines and emotions. No one is a cardboard character. There’s so much hard core reality.

“Time” season three is vivid and visceral. It’s not for the light-hearted. If you see entertainment as escapism, it’s not for you. But if you want truth, insight into the human condition, it will be right up your alley.

It’s a heavy watch. But in a world full of phoniness, it makes us confront real human issues, which we’d rather shunt aside.

I wish I could watch shows like “Time” on a regular basis. But they don’t exist. Instead we get high-concept tripe, or stuff made for a market. Streaming television started out as highbrow, now in many cases it’s no different from the network fare of old, made for the masses, quality is not put first.

Now “Time” actually is made for the masses. It was featured on the BBC. But this stuff floats over there, over here we’re more surface, more image-based, not really into the nitty-gritty. Oh, we have movies about criminals, but very rarely the world-weary, those not featured in the news who are just trying to get along and finding it a hard time to do so.

Watch it.