Waiting for the Out was released on January 3, 2026, on BBC One. Popular actors like Josh Finan, Stephen Wight, and Gerard Kearns featured in this show as Dan Stewer, Lee Gifford, and Dan's dad. Dennis Kelly is the writer of this series. The show is based on the book The Life Inside: A Memoir of Prison, Family, and Learning to Be Free.In Waiting for the Out, Dan is a philosopher who begins teaching some men in prison. He starts to worry that he would be locked up because of his memory flashbacks. The only reason for his uncertainty is that his family has spent time inside the prison.Keep reading more about the cast and characters of Waiting for the Out.Josh Finan as Dan StewerJosh is famous for his performances in The Gentleman, Say Nothing, The Responder, Black Mirror, and Baby Reindeer. In addition, he worked in films such as Hellboy and The Current War.In this series, Dan plays the character of a philosopher who starts a teaching job in prison. During his working hours, Dan starts to worry about his time in prison because his family was locked up in the prison. He starts to think that he, too, will be locked up.Gerard Kearns as Dan's DadWaiting for the Out on BBC One | Image via BBCGerard did an excellent job in playing his roles in shows such as The Town, The Smoke, The Shameless, Chernobyl, and The Last Kingdom. Kearns is a 41-year-old English actor, born in the UK.In Waiting for the Out, he played the role of Dan's dad. His dad was sent to prison, and Dan didn't see him for years. In the series, Gerard is a volatile man who bullied his family and struggled in prison. This imprisonment left a long-lasting impact on his son.Stephen Wight as Lee Gifford View this post on Instagram Instagram PostWight was shown as Uncle Lee and the brother of Kearns, in Waiting for the Out. In the show, he was shown as a drug addict trying to recover from it. He was also a former prisoner who is now clean and maintaining a stable relationship.The connection between Lee and Dan's father became the central part of the story.Supporting cast and charactersThe supporting cast and characters in Waiting for the Out include:Samantha SpiroShe played the mother of Dan. She performed extraordinarily in other TV shows like Grandma's House, Bad Education, Cold Feet, Doctor Who and Game of Thrones.Francis LovehallFrancis played the role of Dris, another prisoner and a student of Dan. He is one of the vital characters of the show and is closely connected to Dan. He has challenging philosophical ideas with real-world struggles.Other cast and charactersOther cast and characters include Greg Turner (played by Josef Altin), Alex Ferns as Keith McKellar, Steven Meo as Macca, Ric Renton as Wallace Robson, Tom Moutchi as Junior, Nima Teleghani as Malik Zahir, and Charlie Rix as Zac.Follow Soap Central to get important updates on TV shows.