User reviews

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.

This was a low budget 16 episode filler in Australia at it's release. It was popular enough that it went into production of two progams a week for 7 series/seasons. I believe as it's popularity caught on, the budget went up for it's time. The actors and showrunners were excellent in the coverage of subject matter and personal stories that are very much still at issue today. There is some dated material/subjects tho it makes it a bit more endearing. There's a good dose of comedic interaction between the prisoners and their guards/governors. I started to watch and thought, I'll do the 16, then it was 100, 200, etc. Difficult not to become attached to the characters and care about them. It does have some violence that would have made it a bleep fest in the USA back in it's time. Tho, tame by today's standards. I'm not one for "soap operas" (daytime anyway) tho I fully admit I fell right in. One of my favorite relationships is young Doreen and elderly Lizzy.. you'll have you favorites too. I give it high marks for becoming (decades ago) an international cult show which you can binge or view an episode at a time. Like most long running shows, you will miss some characters who leave over the years as you meet new ones. I didn't think I'd like it, yet I can say I became a fan.

...when I was still in elementary school (late 70s/early 80s). Would watch it while on the phone with my best bud who turned me onto the show. Religiously, at that, right around Monty Python's Flying Circus.

Fun entertainment for the time, glad to see it is still enjoyed by the masses.

By the time prisoner graced our screens in 1988 it had already been canceled in its native Australia after a seven-year run (ending in 1986). In the UK it was not aired on prime time but found itself relegated to the post 11.00pm watershed probably because of it's risky and controversial story lines. Depending on what region you lived in, could be found any time after midnight.(In fact quite often Thames would screen it from 11.00 -12-00 and if you could pick up Anglia TV they would show it from 12.00 - 01.00 but a couple of seasons ahead.) Fortunately for prisoner by 1986 the four terrestrial channels had finally entered the 20thC and began broadcasting all through the night, therefore, shows such as prisoner became the ideal type of television to fill these new slots.

Needless to say this Aussie import like all the others soon developed it's own cult following. Unlike most of the other goody-goody Auzzie soaps that were located in middle class locations with spoiled teenagers and dopey grown ups working in coffee shops, prisoner by contrast was mostly broadcast in a windowless claustrophobic environment of a correctional facility.

Wentworth prison as with most prison TV shows had all the stereotypes. Those included were the heartless senior members of the staff who were totally committed to punishment and discipline who were of course held in check by the jelly-spined social workers and the well intentioned Governess who not surprising clung to the hope that these women could be rehabilitated. The inmates too had there's, the 'Top Dog', 'the dike', the gang leaders with their 'wenchmen', the hard cases, the old timer the whiner, the non conformist and last but not least the 'nark' or 'snitch'.

The main theme of the prisoner story lines broadly focused on the inmates standing up to the seemingly petty and inflexible rules of the prison system, (i.e. don't let the bastards grind you down scenarios). Yet prisoner also grappled with some of the every day problems that many of the women were forced to come to terms with, lesbianism, bullying, sadistic guards, prison gangs, and drugs.

For some viewers this no doubt provided a refreshing alternative to the bland political news shows that were broadcast after the pubs closed. Having said that, a few pints of lager was probably the order of the day as the Wentworth inmates at best were not easy on the eye and at worst just plain scary! As any warm-blooded male with tell you after alcohol consumption a lot of homely women begin to look respectable. In all fairness without a decent hairdresser or make up, denim overalls and dungarees are never going bring the best out of any woman, so perhaps that's what made many of the actors believable, no Charlie's angels here.

I first came across Prisoner on TV and i watched the first 2 episodes and i was hooked from there. I went online and started ordering the DVDs of the whole series and since acquiring the complete series on DVD i have watched the complete series. Well let me tell you "wow" what a great show, never a dull moment and action packed with great story lines.

I can't recommend this show enough, if you haven't seen it and you are interested, watch it you won't be disappointed I promise you. Its one of the best Australian television shows ever.

Watch it 5 stars

I began watching Prisoner Cell Block H as a child while living in England. This was during the late 1980's and the show had already ended, but the reruns were extremely popular and people would forget the show had been over for two years. Right away, the show became my favorite. Prisoner was one of the first, if not the first, television show that was centered on and starring a cast of mostly women. It was also one of the first shows to portray an open lesbian in a positive light. Characters such as Bea Smith, Myra Desmond, Sandy Edwards, and Marie Winter made this show addictive. Besides rooting for the good guys to reclaim power in the constant power struggles, there was also the entertaining game of spotting actors who have been with the show before returning as another character and also spotting the wobbling sets. Low budget, starring plain, ordinary women... this show probably wasn't expected to be as huge as it became, but after watching a few episodes, anyone will see just why it became such a hit.

If you live in Sweden and were to say "I watch 'Prisoner'" to one of your friends, you would get a big laugh. You would probably be mocked for eternity. I too was one of the mockers, one of the bullies. My brother once told me he watched Prisoner, I laughed hard and long but then realised that he didn't have much choice since he didn't have cable and hence nothing to watch late at night. The summer of 2003 things changed. I shared an apartment with him during this summer and he forced me to watch it. O boy, it didn't take long to understand what I had missed during these long years.

The show is really dramatic and even though some of the actors/actresses aren't the best (and damn right ugly!) or the visual dramatic effects are pretty poor. The storyline and the plot are really well thought of and every episode is really packed with action and drama. If you were to compare it to another long running show like Days of Our Lives, DoOL wouldn't stand a chance. If you miss a week of episodes of Prisoner you miss A LOT, and when you come back to watch you wouldn't know what's going on. However if you miss a month of DoOL and come back to watch, you're still in the game and know exactly what's going on since one single small event can last for a week of episodes. They story advances really fast in Prisoner and that's what makes it so different from all the modern soap operas which are advancing DoOL style; slow as hell.

The only thing I fear now is whether I'll be able to find the time to watch all the upcoming episodes of Prisoner - I really don't want to miss one single episode!

My name is stekflott and I am a Prisoner addict.

This ran over here in America at 11:30 at night on a local station. There was a lot of controversy about it at first. The plots dealing with lesbians, beatings, murder, rape etc. etc. were pretty strong for TV back then. But it never really caught on...here in Boston at least. It ran for a few months almost uncut (some words were bleeped out) and then was cancelled due to low ratings.

I was in college when it played here and it was great! After a long night of studying it was kind of fun to relax and watch this somewhat campy prison soap. The acting was pretty bad and the story lines were more than a little unbelievable but it was a lot of fun to watch. Also it moved much quicker than your typical afternoon soap. So it was a fun and daring soap for its time. I'm not sure if it would hold up today. Shows like "Oz" have gone a lot farther than this could.

Watched the whole series in the UK when I was young, with my mother. The sets were wobbly, actors sometimes came back to play different characters, proper low budget stuff!

Loved the show though, as despite the above and the odd daft story line, the characters , were brilliant. Looking back, it tackled a lot of big issues too

Before you sink your teeth into the modern telling of Prisoner named "Wentworth" do yourself a favour and watch the groundbreaking series that made stars of its entire cast. The characters and the set and everyone involved in Prisoner, made sure they did a good job.

This is the best series ever shown on television. It has it all! Laughs, nerves, drama and heart. It´s not at all like any other soap-opera. One thing I like about the show is that it´s about the weak in society. Women in prison, what group can possibly be lower on the scale? And this series is totally on their side! Everything about this series is great! See it!

It is ironic that a country which was founded as a penal colony to relieve Britain's overcrowded jails should have scored a world wide hit with a drama series about women in prison.

The characters in the series are a varied selection of women, from the rougher classes to the more refined, and all are serving sentences, some deserved, and others not so. There is the unrepentant assertive Bea who murdered her philandering husband the day after she got out of jail for another offense. Her comical sidekick, Birdy, an alcoholic old lag doing time for putting rat poison in the food she served as a cook on a sheep station to teach the shearers a lesson. A refined elderly woman who has served 12 to 16 years (it seems to vary) for the mercy killing of the husband she loved. A deeply religious teacher whose abusive husband had forced her to abort her child, only to find him in bed with his best friend's wife when she got home, whereupon she stabbed him to death. The porn actress/prostitute finding ways to be alone with the male electrician, drug dealers and a girl wrongfully accused of kidnapping a child.

There is humour, and also pathos. Some of the women know of no other life and have nowhere to go when they are released, and quickly get themselves arrested to return to jail. The old lag Birdy is one of them. After years of looking forward to her first drink (not counting the surgical spirit she has been stealing from the clinic) she cannot cope with the outside and feels that the prison was her home, and where all her friends are. Some of them are released only to find they are an embarrassment to their families and not wanted. While the stories of the women are grim and sad, many having been abused as children by drunken fathers or as wives by abusive husbands, the humorous banter never stops. The women get up to all kinds of capers to break the rules without being caught.

Anyone who is not familiar with Australia and the more British way of life and customs, may feel that there is something a little off at first and at times downright odd. They speak English differently, using colloquial expressions unique to Australia, and they swear a lot. They drive on the other side of the road. There is a portrait of the Queen on the office walls. Women tend to dress more smartly. The abused wives would rather go to jail than let their friends know they were abused. Everyone has a home bar and drinks liquor at any time of day and even the prison governor has a few bottles on the sideboard in her office. The interiors of the Melbourne homes is atrocious - loud patterns violently clashing. Drapes, wall paper, carpets and furniture are all patterned in lurid colors and none of them coordinate. As the series was made in the late 70's, no one yet has a computer or cell phone, there are many missed connections. If you haven't got the money for the phone box, you can't make the call. A prisoner is arrested for murder and her trial is in five days!!! They sure know how to speed up the system down under.

The wardens vary from kind and understanding to harsh and bitchy. The governor is the most incompetent dogooder and makes you wonder how she ever got the job, let alone keeps it. She reads the riot act at least twice per episode.

The overall standard of production and acting is surprisingly good considering that Australia did not have much of a film industry or TV production at the time and the budget was miniscule. The actors would have been mostly stage actors and there would not have been too many as some actors appear in different parts throughout the series, which makes for a fun guessing game. If you can ignore the rather low budget look, the terrible interior decoration, the sometimes amateur acting, and just enjoy the sparkling script and the fast pace of the series, it can be a very enjoyable and very addictive experience. I wish American soap operas were like this.

Forget the awful set, cheap production, this show had great writing & characters.

It also tackled hard issues no other show from its time did. All in all a great show with laughs, memorable characters and some shocking moments.

This is a real cult classic.

Prisoner Cell Block H was a mainstay on T.V here in the U.K, back in the 80's/early 90's it was shown every week, it was great fun, it had everything, great characters (good and bad), brilliant story lines and it was very addictive, it was truly great, lots of the actors have since appeared in programmes like Home and Away and Neighbours.

In this day and age we have a prison drama series called "Bad girls", it try's to be like Prisoner in many ways, but there will only ever be one "Prisoner Cell Block H", this was a classic and i will never forget it.

If you're a younger person and are a fan of prison drama's or generally great T.V programmes then i urge you to seek out the awesome Prisoner Cell Block H, you will soon become addicted.

Probably the best 'soap opera' produced anywhere in the world....and I'm not even saying that with my tongue-in-cheek! OK, some of it hasn't dated well, and with so many episodes, produced on a fairly low budget, there are bound to be some dud episodes, dodgy characters, and below par acting. But, compare it to something like 'Coronation Street' (which has the latter in abundance) and you might realise just how great this series is. Ignore most of it's legendary camp appeal and marvel at just how engrossing it can be.

Truly a groundbreaking series, featuring many of Australian television's top writers, directors, and actresses, it gets me everytime. All human life is here! For (what is generally regarded as) a cheap, trashy TV soap to feature drug abuse, euthanasia, terrorism, child abuse, rape, murder, lesbianism, racism etc etc is remarkable, even more so when you consider it was a primetime show, made over 20 years ago. No other soap opera, to my knowledge, has dealt with such 'sensitive' subjects before or since. Even more amazing is that most of these stroylines weren't sensationalised, and really hit hard. It is a testament to 'Prisoner's staying power that when it was aired in the UK for the first time, almost 10 years after it originally aired it immediately became a cult hit, despite having different slots (usually well after midnight) in the TV schedules.

If you ever get the chance to see this show again...DO! Some of the greatest TV characters of all-time are to be found lurking inside the walls of Wentworth Detention Centre, from murderess Bea Smith to bent screw (and then some) Joan 'The Freak' Ferguson. With sterling support from Lizzie Birdsworth (almost 80, dependent on life inside because she knows no other life), Meg Morris, warder with a heart of gold, despite seeing her husband stabbed to death in a prison riot, and Judy Bryant, deliberately inside to be with her lover, but unable to break free of the system. Just some of the myriad stories and characters who make this show unmissable!

Sadly, the stories dried up (there is only so much you can do in a prison it seems), and once the original core group moved on the show inevitably suffered and started to flounder, ending on a fantastic high note after a somewhat lacklustre build-up. But, at it's height 'Prisoner' was great television. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll be hooked, and you'll want to do all over again...isn't that what soap operas should be all about?!

Watching this great show reminds me of my early childhood . Recently did a covid Binge of the show and the storyline's are great . Well written show, but a lot of legal details are incorrect (hearsay rules / judicial procedure in court / investigations) I cannot believe how dumb the screws are within the story line . They are soooo neivr . Look at the Simpson Murder - clearly self defence , there was a 22 rifle in the dead man's hands etc .

As 25 year plus cop / detective , I laugh at the investigative practices / procedures them , but it is Victorian police .

The acting - Val Lehman is a brilliant actress. Jim Fletcher is great as dep Governor .

BUT - There are some shocking actresses in the show - Collette Mann (Doreen). Is a terrible actress.

Overall - a lot better than the modern, rehashed remade , rubbish..

What makes this program special. It may have some stereotypical characters as mentioned in the main critique however the program goes deeper. Could there be a more dehumanising environment than a prison for both inmates and officers. Regardless, these people are still human. I find a recurring theme in this program; a longing for life that once was in contrast to the cold new life where all involved can be controlled and manipulated. Some cannot handle it, they are too human, have too many regrets, Some are too misunderstood by others and become hardened and cold. But even the coldest sometimes return to what is most important to them. Their longing to be loved again, accepted their humanity restored. These moments in the series are what make it special to me. Even some of the coldest officers have shown they need more, they need to be a woman and the alternative may be cold heartened efficiency but there is a price given to a deeper longing. Some of the finest and moving performances in this series have this theme at the core.

Prisoner ( 1978-1986) was different from other TV shows i had ever seen b4 on television i think thats why i became hooked, my step dad got me hooked it on it when i was 11 yrs old i got hooked straight away i love the show to death, started taping episodes to watch until the next one come on i love it!!! it does up set when people knock the show because its not as bad as people make out, its great entertainment, it can be moving, it can be funny, it shows you what goes on in prison and how i want no part of that scene, the show had some of Australia's FINEST Actresses in my favourites are: Maggie Kirkpatrick, Gerda Nicolson, Val Lehman,Glenda Linscott, Reylene Pearce,Anne Phelan,Louise Siverson,Carol Burns,Carole Skinner,Tina Bursill the list is endless....

the show was filmed in Melbourne,Australia and now there is news all 692 episodes of this popular Australian women's prison drama is coming out in October 2006 on DVD, i just hope us fans in the UK get to see this as well....i'm 26 years old now and i still love this show to death can i just add i want to thank everyone involved especially the actresses for keeping me entertained

Excellent, gripping, funny and over the top. Inside the gates of Wentworth Detention Centre are housed the most dangerous criminals in H Block. From the camp style of true English upper class snobbery of Erica Davidson, who is Govenor, to the evil, sadistic, cruel ways of the "Freak" Joan Ferguson.

From episode one the main story line has you gripped, and through out all 692 episodes you will be a fanatic. Riots, fires, murders, LSD trips, bashings - everything you could ask for in a prison drama and more.

Well worth renting or buying, you will NOT be sorry! 12 out of 10! A+++

Brilliant addictive cult classic. A real Aussie treasure with great characters and gripping storylines. The sets are cheap and cheerful and it's all a bit low budget but it's very charming and stands the rest of time. Despite its age a lot of the issues still resonate today.

One of the most addictive series I have ever watched, the character acting is incredible, story lines ridiculous, sets cardboard and I love the non PC scripts. I loved this series from start to finish, so happy they are running it from episode one, I had missed the beginning and end. Prisoner Cell Blok H was my nighttime friend and I mourned the ending on TV, not too sure how I missed the actual end but I cannot wait to watch 135 episodes so toe curlingly shockingly bad that my mind is already blown. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore the programme but it has to be one of the worst acted soaps on TV - I LOVE IT.

I have every episode of Prisoner, I never get tired of it. From the opening score by Lynne Hamilton, On the inside, to fight scene, to Frankie smashing the wreck room, somewhat tame compared to nowadays. Nevertheless it's addictive. Bea Smith , Rita Connors, Sandy Edwards, Myra Desmond, Kath Maxwell, Lizzie Birdsworth. Were brilliant.