Prisoner: Cell Block H (1979–1986)
"Prisoner" (original title)

This Australian series has, after 692 episodes, received cult status all over the world. The series takes place in Wentworth, a prison in Australia. Wentworth is a high-security female ... See full summary »

Stars:

Elspeth Ballantyne, Betty Bobbitt, Sheila Florance

10 wins.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Elspeth Ballantyne	...	Meg Morris (669 episodes, 1979-1986)
Betty Bobbitt	...	Judy Bryant (429 episodes, 1980-1985)
Sheila Florance	...	Lizzie Birdsworth (403 episodes, 1979-1984)
Maggie Kirkpatrick	...	Joan "The Freak" Ferguson (389 episodes, 1982-1986)
Val Lehman	...	Bea Smith (376 episodes, 1979-1983)
Patsy King	...	Erica Davidson (353 episodes, 1979-1984)
Gerda Nicolson	...	Ann Reynolds (319 episodes, 1981-1986)
Colette Mann	...	Doreen Burns (293 episodes, 1979-1984)

Storyline

This Australian series has, after 692 episodes, received cult status all over the world. The series takes place in Wentworth, a prison in Australia. Wentworth is a high-security female prison. The women are there for all sorts of crimes. We get to follow how they got there, their life in the prison and what becomes of them afterwards. We also get to follow the staff, their work in the prison and their personal relationships.

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Plot Keywords:

prison | hypnotic | drug smuggling | marriage | judge | 

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Taglines:

The cult phenomenon from down under.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Official fan site

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 August 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

Caged Women

Filming Locations:

27 Howard Street, Box Hill, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Grundy Television Productions, Network Ten, The Grundy Organization

Technical Specs

Runtime:

50 min 50 min (692 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Janet Andrewartha originally auditioned for the role of Bobbie Mitchell before being offered the part of Reb Kean. Janet had to agree to cut her waist-length hair to a "'James Dean'" style for the character.

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Goofs

Bea Smith's husbands name changed varies from Harry to Jack.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Franky Doyle: She bumped into me.

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Connections

Featured in A Current Affair: Prisoner Reunion (2011)

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Soundtracks

"On the Inside"
(Prisoner theme)
Written by Allan Caswell
Conducted by William Motzing
Performed by Lynne Hamilton

User Reviews

Prisoner scared me as a kid, but now I'm addicted to it..

I must admit, Prisoner scared me as a kid when it was on Channel 10 at 8:30pm. I watch it now, and it's quite funny to watch.

I am very thankful that ALL 692 episodes have been put on DVD. So far I am up to episode 320 and I'm loving it. Sets that shake when a character gets roughed up against the brick walls of Wentworth. It is just classic. Locks on security doors that probably don't work, but characters spend time making noise with the keys.

Lovable characters, such as Bea Smith, Old Lizzie, Sandy Edwards, Meg Jackson/Morrison, Vera Bennett, Steve Falkner, Smart, Jim Fletcher, and many many others.

Based on what I have seen so far, Vera Bennett and The Freak Furgesson would not have played well together. They really are two very different types of characters who would have clashed at all levels. Vera may have been hard towards the prisoners, but she was brutally honest. As for the Freak, as the most bent officer so far, she causes a lot of the problems faced by Wentworth. Vera would not have stood for it.

It is good to see the camera work and lighting has improved over the years, in some scenes the lighting is actually quite bad. Sometimes it is actually hard to see what is going on in the dark scenes.

From time to time some of the same actors re-appear as different characters, but thats a soap opera for you.

If you have not had a chance to watch Prisoner yet, give it a shot. As badly made as it is, it is also addictive to watch. I plan on watching all episodes of Prisoner. I recommend you give it a shot too.