Chukwubuikem Molokwu learned to stammer for his role as Christopher in Time series 3, and the work came with a physical cost. He said the performance had to be repeated over and over again on set, making stamina part of the job rather than a side note.
Christopher in Time series 3
Christopher is one of the young offenders introduced in the fictional Alderwick institute, and his severe stammer puts him under unwanted attention behind bars. Samuel Bailey said Molokwu handled that responsibility well, while also pointing to Christopher’s attempt to build a relationship with his birth mother.
“Christopher is a teen who was abandoned at the age of around four by his mother. He didn’t have a role model. There wasn’t a father figure, and he didn’t have any siblings, or even friends really. He was very vulnerable.” Molokwu’s description gives the character a direct emotional frame: Christopher enters Time series 3 with very little protection and even less support.
Amy Morrison’s coaching
“Amy Morrison was my voice coach. We’d practise and practise because the main thing is stamina. It’s a physically tiring thing; you genuinely do feel tired. On set you have to be prepared to do the stammer over and over again.” Molokwu’s explanation is the most practical insight here: the role was not about copying a sound once, but sustaining it take after take.
That preparation also answers a useful question for viewers. Although Chukwubuikem Molokwu plays a character with a severe stammer, he said he learnt to stammer for the role rather than drawing on a condition from his own life, and he called Time his very first TV role. For a debut performer, that is a much harder brief than a standard first credit.
Jimmy McGovern’s stammer
Samuel Bailey said Christopher’s story was personal for Jimmy McGovern, who had a severe childhood stammer and still speaks today with a faint hint of one. Bailey also said living with something like that in a prison makes the environment even more hostile and difficult, which is why Christopher’s storyline carries more weight than simple character colour.
The sharper question now is what happens after Christopher is reunited with his long-lost mother. Time series 3 already places him in a vulnerable position, and the script has signposted tragedy just around the corner, so the reunion looks less like an ending than a pressure point for what follows.
