Prisoner (TV series)

Prisoner premiered in Australia on 27 February 1979.[nb 4] Its success prompted the producers to extend the series, first from 16 to 20 episodes and then indefinitely. The production schedule increased from one to two hour-long episodes per week; Carol Burns left the show after 20 episodes, feeling that she could not continue playing Franky Doyle with the tighter schedule. Her storyline, sees her as an escapee from Wentworth with fellow inmate Doreen Anderson and after being on the run for three weeks, she is shot dead by an officer[12]

New story arcs were introduced. Karen Travers appealed against her sentence and was eventually released, allowing her to resume her relationship with Greg Miller and becoming involved in prison reform. As original characters began leaving the series (Mum Brooks, Lynn Warner, Karen and Greg appeared beyond the initial sixteen episodes, but most had left by the end of the 1979 season; Greg left in early 1980), new characters arrived: hulking husband-beater Monica Ferguson (Lesley Baker), career criminal Noeline Bourke (Jude Kuring), troubled murdereress Roslyn Coulson (Sigrid Thornton) and imprisoned mother Pat O'Connell (Monica Maughan), in addition to shorter-term inmates with brief storylines. Prostitute Chrissie Latham, a minor character in the early episodes, returned in a more central antagonistic role and a male deputy governor, Jim Fletcher (Gerard Maguire), joined the female-dominated cast.

Ratings had been declining for some time, and when they continued to fall in 1986, Network Ten decided in July not to renew the series. Production ended on 5 September, and the final episode aired in Melbourne on 11 December 1986.[nb 5] The producers had several weeks' notice that the series was ending, enabling them to construct strong concluding storylines (including the ultimate defeat of Joan "the Freak" Ferguson). Prisoner's final episodes dealt with the redemption of the misunderstood Kath Maxwell and concluded the ongoing dynamic between Rita Connors (played by Glenda Linscott) and Joan Ferguson (Maggie Kirkpatrick)

A pilot for an unproduced American version of Prisoner was produced by Lorimar in 1980, entitled Willow B: Women in Prison. The cast included Ruth Roman, Virginia Capers, Carol Lynley, and Sally Kirkland. The pilot aired on ABC-TV on 29 June 1980.[15]

In March 2012, it was announced that Foxtel would produce a contemporary "re-imagining" of Prisoner, Wentworth, set in modern-day Australia. Wentworth recounts the rise of Bea Smith (Danielle Cormack) from her arrival at Wentworth as a remand prisoner to "top dog". The series is filmed at a new, purpose-built prison set in the Melbourne suburb of Clayton.

Wentworth features contemporary versions of vintage characters along with new characters. Characters and cast members include Bea Smith (Danielle Cormack), crime matriarch Jacs Holt (Kris McQuade), Liz Birdsworth (Celia Ireland), Doreen Anderson (Shareena Clanton), Franky Doyle (Nicole da Silva), Sue "Boomer" Jenkins (Katrina Milosevic), social worker Erica Davidson (Leeanna Walsman), officer Will Jackson (Robbie Magasiva), officer Matthew Fletcher (Aaron Jeffery), deputy governor Vera Bennett (Kate Atkinson), and governor Meg Jackson (Catherine McClements), as well as Linda Miles (Jacquie Brennan), Joan Ferguson (Pamela Rabe), Sean Brody (Rick Donald), Greg Miller (David de Lautour), Marie Winter (Susie Porter), Rita Connors (Leah Purcell).

None of the original cast was initially scheduled to return for the first series, but on 29 November 2012 it was confirmed that Anne Charleston (who appeared in the original series) would make a guest appearance, as well as Sigrid Thornton who was in the original series as Ros Coulson, Thornton would play Sonia Stevens.[16] Wentworth premiered in Australia on Foxtel's SoHo channel on 1 May 2013.[17][18][19] As of 2018, the series was still in production, with a sixth season premiering on 19 June 2018, while a seventh season had been announced and due to air in 2019. Season 7 aired in May 2019. While Wentworth was confirmed for a 2021 ending, it won't surpass Prisoner in episodes, but will surpass the show in years on air.[20]

In 1980 Saturday Night Live aired a parody of the series, "Debs Behind Bars". In the sketch, the inmates (including guest host Teri Garr) are spoiled debutantes who complain about "icky" living conditions in prison. During the early 1990s, Seven Network's comedy sketch program Fast Forward parodied Prisoner; Gina Riley (Bea Smith), Jane Turner (Lizzie Birdsworth), Magda Szubanski (Doreen) and Marg Downey as officer (Joan Ferguson) gave scenes from the series a comedic twist.

Other series to have featured Prisoner spoofs included The Paul Hogan Show, Let the Blood Run Free, Naked Video and The Krypton Factor.

In 1991, Prisoner was reprised for the American market as Dangerous Women. The US version borrowed heavily from the Australian original for characters and was created and written by Reg Watson, who had also created the original Australian series. In Dangerous Women, the emphasis was outside the prison, focusing on prisoner relationships in a halfway house. It is remembered now mainly for the early appearance of actor Casper Van Dien in the role of Brad Morris. In 1997, Prisoner was revised in a German-language version, Hinter Gittern – Der Frauenknast (Behind Bars). The series ran from 1997 to 2007 for 16 series and 403 episodes.

In 1980 the Prisoner cast, led by Equity representative Val Lehman (Bea Smith), went on strike due to the content of tie-in paperback novels published by Pinnacle Books in the United States: soft-core pornography at odds with the series. Six books were published: Prisoner: Cell Block H, The Franky Doyle Story, The Karen Travers Story, The Frustrations of Vera, The Reign of Queen Bea and The Trials of Erica.

Two behind-the-scenes books were published in the UK during the early 1990s. Prisoner: Cell Block H – Behind the Scenes was written by Terry Bourke and published by Angus & Robertson Publishers, who published similar books about Neighbours and Home and Away. Bourke documents the show's genesis and development, and the book has many stills and character profiles. Hilary Kingsley's Prisoner Cell Block H – The Inside Story emphasises plot and characters.

A limited-edition book, The Inside Story, was published in 2007 as part of the full-series DVD release in Australia. Written by TV journalists Andrew Mercado and Michael Idato, the commemorative book has the series' background, year-by-year storylines, character details and quotes by cast and crew. It was available as part of The Complete Collection DVD set.

In 2011, Betty Bobbitt self-published From The Outside, her memoirs of her career which included playing the role of Judy Bryant on Prisoner.[21]

The complete series of Prisoner is available on DVD format in both Australia and the United Kingdom. On Region 4 in Australia, distribution company Shock Records released the series over forty volumes, and a complete collection, comprising these volumes; the UK editions, from FremantleMedia, made the series available over twenty volumes (doubling-up on the Australian sets). In 2016, ViaVision acquired the rights to re-release the series in Australia and made the decision to release the series in their original season formats. See above for a full listing of VHS and DVD sets available. The following is an overview of Prisoner releases in their seasons formats.

The show was shown in Sweden on TV4 beginning on 7 September 1994 as Kvinnofängelset (The Women's Prison).[23] A fan club organises an annual get-together, and collected several thousand signatures (including that of actress Elspeth Ballantyne) to convince TV4 to repeat the show in 2000. After the series ended that year, work began to persuade TV4 to air the show again. TV4 originally screened the series in a late-night (1am) slot three times a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays,[23] airing the final episode on 3 February 2000. During a repeat run from 2000 to October 2004, Prisoner aired at 2:15am four times a week: Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. The episodes were repeated over the weekend: the Monday and Tuesday episodes on Friday and the other two on Saturday. In May 2014 TV4 Guld began rerunning the series again Monday to Thursday at 10pm, with episode 32 shown on 3 July. The broadcast schedule was later changed to five nights a week at midnight. Season 8 started airing on Sjuan in September 2017 at 3pm.

A stage version of Prisoner, based on the original scripts, was produced in 1989 and toured the United Kingdom. Elspeth Ballantyne (Meg Morris) and Patsy King (Erica Davidson) reprised their characters and Glenda Linscott (Rita Connors) played a new character, Angela Mason. A second tour, with Fiona Spence (Vera Bennett) and Jane Clifton (Margo Gaffney), followed in 1990; Jacqui Gordon (Susie Driscoll) played new character Kath Evans.

A musical version followed, with Maggie Kirkpatrick reprising her role as Joan (the Freak) Ferguson and Lily Savage as an inmate. The musical, a parody of Prisoner's kitschier aspects, toured and had a West End run in 1995 and 1997. Val Lehman (Bea) was critical of the production, questioning why a drag queen would be in a women's prison.[24]

Due to Prisoner's popularity in the UK during the late 1980s, its British fan club organised personal-appearance tours for several actresses including Val Lehman (Bea Smith), Carol Burns (Franky Doyle), Betty Bobbitt (Judy Bryant), Sheila Florance (Lizzie Birdsworth), Amanda Muggleton (Chrissie Latham) and Judy McBurney (Pixie Mason). A TV special, The Great Escape, was produced in 1990. The programme, which featured Val Lehman, Sheila Florance, Amanda Muggleton and Carol Burns on their 1990 UK visit, includes extensive footage of their on-stage interview with TV presenter Anna Soubry in which the cast members discuss their time on the series. Recorded at the Derby Assembly Rooms in Derby,[25] it was briefly available in the UK on VHS video.[26]

Several Prisoner actors have appeared in British stage drama and pantomime, including Val Lehman (The Wizard of Oz, Beatrix Potter and Misery), Peta Toppano, Fiona Spence, Maggie Dence (Bev Baker), Debra Lawrance (Daphne Graham), Linda Hartley (Roach Waters), Ian Smith (Ted Douglas) and Maggie Millar (Marie Winter). In 1997 a Prisoner clip from its second episode (Franky Doyle and Lynn Warner's fight in the garden) appeared on the BBC sitcom Birds of a Feather, and the series was mentioned several times during Birds of a Feather's seven-and-a-half-year run.[27] The theme song was played briefly in episode three of BBC sitcom One Foot in the Grave.[27] Prisoner has also been referenced in British sitcoms 2point4 Children, Absolutely Fabulous and Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, as well as the soap operas Coronation Street, Brookside and EastEnders.[27]

Prisoner began airing on Yorkshire Television on 8 October 1984,[28] with the franchise cutting scenes involving hanging (including the attempted hanging of Sandy Edwards and the hanging of Eve Wilder).[29] Yorkshire also heavily edited the episode 326 fight scene with Joan and Bea. Several other regions also cut scenes deemed inappropriate despite its time slot, well past the 9 pm watershed.

The TVS region followed in October 1985. In 1987 Central, Thames, Scottish and TSW began the series; most other regions began broadcasting it in 1988, nearly two years after it finished production. Ulster began broadcasting Prisoner in late 1989, usually airing after their Friday night local talk show "Kelly" which aired at 10.40pm, would have a tradition of "Prisoner" following at 11.40pm. When the Kelly Show extended to a 90-minute version from the autumn of 1990, Prisoner would air at 12.10am. Maggie Kirkpatrick and Val Lehman both appeared on the Kelly Show on occasions, such was the popularity of the show airing after "Kelly" every Friday night.

Each ITV region decided when (and how often) Prisoner would be broadcast. Central Television screened three episodes weekly, finishing on 16 December 1991 before rerunning the first 95 episodes (from 1993 to 1995). Most other stations also completed the series: Granada Television and Border Television on 9 February 1995, Grampian Television on 11 March 1996, HTV on 25 April 1996, STV on 19 November 1996, Yorkshire Television and Tyne Tees Television on 7 April 1997. When Border, Grampian and Granada TV screened the final episode in the UK, continuity announcer John McKenzie conducted a telephone interview with Maggie Kirkpatrick (Joan "the Freak" Ferguson).[30]

Some UK regions did not see the entire series; Channel Television began the series on 16 January 1986 with episode 10, when it aligned its schedule with TVS; it was previously aligned with TSW, which did not broadcast the series in its own region until 1987. Regional alignment meant that around the end of 1992, some episodes were skipped; Tyne Tees skipped 293 and 294 and Border Television omitted 71 episodes, 477 to 547. Furthermore, in some regions, the series was discontinued prior to its final episode in later runs: in Ulster, Prisoner ended on Ulster Television with episode 562 on 15 December 1997. In London, where the series ran on Thames and Carlton Television, viewers were told after episode 598 on 20 August 1998 that the series would resume after a summer break however the series was then discontinued from screening in London. The last ITV Prisoner episode was shown on Meridian, which finished an initial run with episode 586 on 12 July 1999.

Early on 31 March 1997 Channel 5, which had begun broadcasting at 6pm the previous evening, began a full run of Prisoner[31] while later episodes were still appearing in many ITV regions.[32] Except for an airing of the fire episode (326), as part of a 1995 Channel 4 soap weekend, it was the series' first UK network broadcast and gave some areas their first full run of the series. Although the schedule varied during the Channel 5 run, episodes were typically shown about five times a week in the 4:40am slot.[31] It briefly moved to a late-night slot, usually around 11:30pm,[31] before returning to the 4:40am slot. The Channel 5 run ended on 11 February 2001, with a double bill of the penultimate and final episodes. Channel 5 have no plans to re-run the series, despite viewer requests. For most of the Channel 5 run the programme was sponsored by Pot Noodle, with humorous Prisoner-esque sequences (set in a prison cell and playing on the series' wobbly scenery and props) played before and after the episodes and in the leads into and out of commercial breaks.[33]

The Channel 5 broadcasts included commentary over the closing credits, usually from chief continuity announcer Bill Buckley[34] but sometimes from deputy announcers such as Stuart McWilliam. This began in the early-100s episodes (when Prisoner briefly moved to the late-night slot), when Buckley would deliver a quip about the episode before making continuity announcements. This developed into humorous observations about the episode just shown, and the reading of letters and depicting of trivia sent in by viewers (which Buckley called "snippets"). Due to its early-morning slot, when most viewers relied on VCRs to follow the series,[31] upcoming schedule changes were announced as part of the commentary.

The series was first aired in the United States on KTLA in Los Angeles on 8 August 1979, initially under the original name, Prisoner.[35] Shown Wednesdays at 8pm, it was the first Australian series broadcast in prime time in the United States. The series, whose first two episodes were screened as a two-hour special, was viewed by a quarter of all television viewers in the Los Angeles market and was in second place for the night, beaten only by ABC's Charlie's Angels.[36]

The series would later be repackaged into a daily half-hour format, as Prisoner: Cell Block H,[37] syndicated directly to local stations during the early 1980s (particularly 1980 to '81). Apart from KTLA, known stations to have aired Prisoner: Cell Block H included WPIX in New York City, WGN-TV in Chicago, KRIV in Houston, Texas, KTVT in Dallas/Ft. Worth, WLVI in Boston, KWGN in Denver, KSTP-TV in Minneapolis/St. Paul,[38] KYW-TV in Philadelphia, KPLR in St. Louis, MO, KTVU in the San Francisco Bay Area, KSTW in Tacoma / Seattle, KVOS-TV Bellingham, Washington, KOB-TV in Albuquerque, WTOG in St. Petersburg/Tampa, Florida, WTTV in Indianapolis, KPHO in Phoenix, WATL in Atlanta, WSVN in Miami, FL, WIVB in Buffalo, WDRB in Louisville, Ky., WKYT in Lexington, KY, KVVU in Las Vegas, NV and WTTG in Washington, D.C.. Under the half-hour format, the original episodes were broadcast in two parts, though some scenes were censored or removed for the US telecast. KTLA, however, continued to broadcast the series in a weekly hour format, though now Tuesdays at 8pm, and under the Prisoner: Cell Block H name.[39] Picked up in at least 38 markets in early 1980,[40] the program would leave the American airwaves by spring 1982, after the few stations that were still carrying the program, such as KOB-TV[41] and WGN-TV,[42] removed Prisoner from their schedules.

During the spring and summer of 1985, the series was screened nationally on USA Network,[23] weekdays at 11am ET, also in a half-hour format. It is unknown which episodes were televised.[43]

In Canada, Prisoner began on 10 September 1979[44] as Caged Women on Global Television Network, at the time a small television network serving southern and eastern Ontario;[23] the program was seen weekly on Monday nights at 9pm[45]

The show would move to Tuesdays at 9 p.m. in the fall of 1980, continuing with the Caged Women title.[46] The show would be off the schedule by the 1981–1982 television season,[47] but by the fall of 1982, Global would reintroduce the show to the schedule, still as Caged Women, in the half-hour format, weeknights at midnight and 12:30am.[48] The program would be off the schedule by the start of the 1983–1984 season.[49]

Curiously, Global's use of Caged Women would continue even after the show debuted in the United States as Prisoner: Cell Block H, which led to viewers in the communities along the Ontario / Michigan border to watch the same program under two different titles: Caged Women on Global, and Prisoner: Cell Block H on WKBD-TV Detroit.[50]

In Vancouver, Victoria and the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Prisoner: Cell Block H was telecasted under that title weekdays at 1pm during 1980 and 1981 on KVOS-TV, an independent station in Bellingham, Washington that included the greater Vancouver / Victoria region as part of its viewing area.[51]

The series began in New Zealand in May 1981 on TV One, showing twice a week at 2:30pm, and was later rerun on SKY 1.[23]

In South Africa, public television network SABC 1 began airing the series in 1998, screening Thursday nights at 9pm and a repeat showing Fridays at 10:45;[23] it was cancelled on 2 October 2000, after episode 156.

In Brazil, Prisoner aired around the end of 1980 and early 1981 by TVS (since renamed SBT), Sundays at 10 pm. The show was dubbed into Brazilian Portuguese locally by TVS and was cancelled after episode 82 had screened.