Orange Is the New Black revolves around Piper Chapmen. A woman imprisoned for being a drug mule. She gets placed in Litchfield federal penitentiary where…you guessed it...hilarity ensues!

What’s too bad for Chapmen is that her crimes were committed a flipping decade before she gets placed into the hands of the American justice system.

Thrust into prison life and leaving her dignity at the door (those strip searches are brutal) we follow her as she learns to adjust. We meet some animated characters along the way. Including Chapmen’s ex Alex Vause, the reason she is banged up.

As well as following the gritty day to day of the inmates you also catch glances of their past, suggesting many of these women landed in prison for doing what they had to in order to get by.

Season 1 sees a naive Chapmen struggling to adapt in her new harsh environment. It isn’t long before she finds her footing, even winning Alex back.

This leads to hostility between our protagonist and the deeply religious meth addict Pennsatucky. Which all comes to a head in the season final with Piper beating the living daylights out of her!

Along with the racy sex scenes and religious mania, this season also sees corruption in the prison ranks, drug trafficking, overdose, suicide and the Russian Mafia. Phew!

Season 2 is darker. We open on Piper being transferred to another prison after being kept in solitary for her assault on Pennsatucky. Time to meet a new cast of jailbirds...

Litchfield has a new inmate named Val, an evil heroin dealer who brings her poison with her. Don’t worry she gets hit by a van during her escape attempt. Other important themes include prison pregnancy, obsession, addiction and terminal illness. Grim.

Chapmen is pioneering her own panty selling business, simultaneously flirting with the new Aussie inmate. Don’t fret though, more rape, drugs, infidelity and the difficulties of being transgender in a prison environment keep the cast busy.

We end on a happy note with the inmates escaping through the fence to swim and enjoy freedom by the lake.