With the abolition of capital punishment, the spectacle of public hangings, gallows, and the stocks, came the loss of the punishment of offenders that is visible to the public; punitive measures meted out to criminals have disappeared behind prison walls. This paper argues that although the public's ability to witness the punishment of criminals has disappeared, the desire to see such punishment has continued. In an effort to fill this need, television programmers have portrayed life behind prison walls as a substitute for the public's viewing of criminals on the gallows and in the stocks. In examining this thesis, the author analyzes three British television programs on life in prison. The technique of showing the viewing audience punishment in action, of making the invisible visible, is a constant theme in these programs. The programs have a visual emphasis on bars and fencing. The most common visualizations of prison, however, are stock shots of landings, stairwells, and inmates milling around, which emphasizes the mundane routine, the loss of liberty, and the inmate's lack of freedom of choice. Frequently, such techniques are used in conjunction with a voice-over that provides information about the prison, an inmate, or a situation. Much of the commentary is concerned with the regime of discipline and correction to which the inmate is subjected. The unruly crowd at the gallows has become the voyeurs on the sofa. 26 notes and a list of the 34 television programs reviewed