While prisoner FF8282 was speeding from Hollesley Bay back to a life of luxury, inmate BB9944 walked out of Reading young offenders' institution into a far less certain future.
Over the next few weeks Jeffrey Archer will no doubt become reacquainted with fine wines and sumptous meals in his flat overlooking Westminster.
Matt Bowler, on the other hand, will be hunting for a job with less than £100 to his name and staying at his sister's semi in Doncaster as he puts his life back together.
The contrast between the men's first taste of freedom could hardly be more marked. While Archer was greeted by a battery of cameras, Bowler, 20, was met by his mate with a couple of cans of beer.
Whereas Archer was driven away by his son in a luxury car, Bowler, sentenced to two years for stabbing a man after a drunken night out, struggled with all his worldy possessions up to Yorkshire on the train.
But the difference in the men's attitude was also dramatic. Archer is said to be defiant and distinctly unimpressed at life behind bars. Bowler believes his time inside was the best thing that ever happened to him.
Bowler only managed an hour of sleep on Sunday night and in the morning passed the time watching with amusement Archer's release on television. At last at 8.30am he was escorted to the reception area, where he was strip-searched.
He was given back the mobile phone he handed in on his arrival as well as his £37.50 discharge fee, £50 canteen money which he had saved rather than spend on little luxuries, and a rail warrant.
Twenty minutes later the gates of the jail where Oscar Wilde was held slid back and a beaming Matt, lugging a holdall and a plastic sack marked "HM prison service" walked free into the Monday morning drizzle.
He was greeted by his friend, Jim Kemp, whom he met while working at a local cafe on day release. Mr Kemp welcomed Bowler with a chorus of "Free as a bird" - and a cold can of lager. Bowler decided to save the beer until later.
Then it was straight down to the station. Bowler exchanged his travel pass for a one-way ticket to Doncaster, where he is planning to stay with his older sister, Alison, until he finds accommodation.
Over a coffee, Bowler considered his first taste of freedom. "Everything seems to be moving so fast," he said. "In prison, life went at a much slower pace." He is struck by the noise and bustle - and the sight of so many women.
Bowler admits he felt "sick with nerves" when the gates first opened. By 10am the sick feeling has passed enough for him to enjoy his first burger. "That's the best food I've tasted since last year - even better than I remember."
Bowler struggles to get used to the sense of space as the train races through the fields and hills of Oxfordshire.
"I used to dream about escaping - I imagined myself running through fields like those. It feels like I'm doing something wrong being here. I feel like an officer is going to come up and ask me what I'm doing."
At first, life inside was a struggle. He got into a fight within days of arriving at Reading and was attacked in the showers by a gang but gradually earned the respect of fellow inmates and officers.
He has done every course he could, including "enhanced thinking skills", an in-depth look at social skills. He said: "That course saved me." He was taught patience and tolerance.
Bowler, a scaffolder by trade, also learned practical skills and obtained a fork lift truck driver's licence. He plans to set up his own business.
Like many detainees he followed Archer's progress with interest. He said: "I was rooting for him to go to prison. He seems a slimy character who thinks he can get away with everything. It was good to see him not getting away with it."
When he read about Archer attending a champagne party he was angry. "He's had an easy ride. I doubt he's been on the courses I've been on. If he had he would be a better person. He could learn a thing or two about social skills."
Bowler changes trains at Birmingham New Street. Once in Doncaster Bowler races to the probation office, a good half hour walk from the train station, to check in.
After his interview at the probation office it's another rush to Denby Main, a former pit village 10 miles south of Doncaster. He has to be there by 3pm to have an electronic tag fitted.
He hugs his sister, Alison, whom he hasn't seen since he was detained, and begins to get reacquainted with his nephew, Luke, two.
Now finally he cracks open one of the beers Jim gave him - by now warm. It is his first drink for more than a year.
Until November he will have to stay at home between 7pm and 7am. He will report to probation until next summer.
Today he will be attending a job centre interview, which he set up himself. He has never claimed benefits and says he never intends to.
He said: "Prison was the best thing that happened to me, a godsend. I've come out of prison the person I always wanted to be. I've now got targets in my life. But it's great to be home."
Criminal career
Name: Matthew Bowler
Age: 20
Place of birth: Doncaster
School: Stantonbury campus, Milton Keynes
Qualifications: 11 GCSEs; CBT scaffolding licence; forklift truck driving licence; honours certificate in health and hygiene (last two earned while in prison)
Worldly wealth: £87.50
Offence: Admitted wounding with intent and GBH. Stabbed a man on drunken night out
Sentence: Two years. Spent one week in category A prison, Woodhill, Milton Keynes. Ten months in Reading young offenders' institution
Lows: Waiting to find out if the man he stabbed would survive; hearing in prison that a friend had been murdered and an ex-girlfriend was pregnant by one of his friends
Highs: Rebuilding life in prison, learning new skills
Ambitions: To go into business; settle down and have a family
