Prisoner: Cell Block H

I remember Prisoner Cell Block H first arriving on British TV in the 1980s. My late grandma used to be totally addicted to it, and used to keep us all informed about what was going on. When Prisoner returned to British TV on Channel 5 in the late 1990s, I too became a big fan of the cult drama. The programme is set in an Australian women's prison called Wentworth. It follows a selection of prisoners and the prisoner staff (nicknamed screws). Originally, the main members of the cast were the top-dog Bea Smith (nicknamed Queen Bea), Lizzie Birdsworth (a frail but amusing old lady), Vera Bennett (the original nasty prison officer) and the governer ...  Read the complete review

Picture the scene. Lyn Scully from ‘Neighbours’ as a duplicitous murderer with a fetish for large collared shirts. Alf Stewart from ‘Home and Away’ as a rapist prison chief with a fixation for wearing sunglasses indoors. The BT lady who politely asks you to put the phone back on the hook as a Governor of the most violent and flimsy prison in Australia, getting repeatedly kidnapped and having her noggin flogged whilst managing to look like Lady Penelope, only more wooden. No this isn’t fantasy land or even Holby City, but ‘Prisoner: Cell Block H’, one of the most avidly followed of all TV shows in the UK. The 692 ...  Read the complete review

although laughed at by many thesedays prisoner (call block h) was in its own era a aussie tv first... pre production took over two years many actresses who auditioned for roles thought they had been turned down and had long forgotten about the show before being called back for screen tests... the set for the show was built entirely from scratch and the lighting system cost grundy over a million dollars... the grundy studio back lot was clad with fake bricks and transformed in to "wentworth detention centre" making prisoner cell block h one of the most costly cereal dramas of its time. i feel that is is unfair for prisoner to be ...  Read the complete review

Prisoner Cell Block H is the best programme in the world in my opinion. It is about an Australian prison called Wentworth Detention Centre. The show is set inside it with the prisoners and screws. There were 692 episodes made and ran from 1979 until 1986. It has just finished it's run on Channel 5 and I hope it will be shown again on another channel. The 2 governors were Erika Davidson, not my favourite and Anne Reynolds, a good governor. Some of the screws were Joan Ferguson - a touch one that stuck to the rules, Meg Morris - a fair one, Joyce Barry - another good one and loads more. Some of the more memorable ...  Read the complete review

Where do I start on such a fine, well written series? It began in 1979 and no one knew what a phenomenon it was going to be. In the beginning there were only 13 cast members who were contracted for 16 weeks but, before a single episode had been broadcast they were offered another 6 months and it just snowballed from there. With it's gritty storylines and instantly recognisable characters Prisoner grabbed the imagination of the Australian audience. Despite this early success at home a year later the series achieved a viewing audience in the US of 39 million at prime time! In the course of it's 8 year run it won a total of 21 ...  Read the complete review