Prisoner

TV Series
1979–1986
TV-14
50m

IMDb RATING

8.1/10

2.3K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

Play trailer1:06

Follows the lives of inmates and staff at Wentworth, a high-security women's prison in Australia, exploring their backstories, daily struggles, and interpersonal relationships within the har... Read allFollows the lives of inmates and staff at Wentworth, a high-security women's prison in Australia, exploring their backstories, daily struggles, and interpersonal relationships within the harsh realities of incarceration.Follows the lives of inmates and staff at Wentworth, a high-security women's prison in Australia, exploring their backstories, daily struggles, and interpersonal relationships within the harsh realities of incarceration.

Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.1/10

2.3K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

2,543

153

Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 10 wins

Episodes692

Browse episodes

TopTop-rated8 seasons8 years

Photos18154

+ 18K

Top cast99+

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Elspeth Ballantyne

Meg Morris…

Barbara Jungwirth

Lorna Young…

Betty Bobbitt

Judy Bryant

Sheila Florance

Lizzie Birdsworth…

Maggie Kirkpatrick

Joan 'The Freak' Ferguson…

Val Lehman

Bea Smith…

Patsy King

Erica Davidson…

Gerda Nicolson

Ann Reynolds…

Colette Mann

Doreen Burns…

Judith McGrath

Colleen Powell…

Joy Westmore

Joyce Barry…

Fiona Spence

Vera Bennett…

Rod Allen

Gate Guard John…

Gerard Maguire

Jim Fletcher

Delva Hunter

Officer Locking Up…

Lois Collinder

Alice 'Lurch' Jenkins

Louise Siversen

Lou Kelly…

Reylene Pearce

Phyllis Hunt…

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Thursday 13th February 1986 saw legendary Rat Packer Sammy Davis Jr. arrive (via Network Ten's "Eyewitness News" helicopter) at the Nunawading studios to visit the show's set and gallery. Meeting the cast he declared his adoration for Joan Ferguson, much to Maggie Kirkpatrick's amusement. A fan of the show, he expressed a desire to make a guest appearance, preferably opposite The Freak - unfortunately for the entertainer no suitable shooting dates proved viable, and the drama was soon in the processes of winding down.

Goofs
Once the Wentworth staff adopt khaki uniforms, the female officers have the option of wearing skirts or trousers. Invariably a skirt-wearer, Joan's arrival for work in trousers always signifies that she will be taking part in an action sequence.

Quotes
Lizzie Birdsworth: Don't you call me names, ya smart alecky trollop!

Crazy credits
As a rule, regular characters are credited by only their first name, while one-off and recurring characters are credited by both their first name (if mentioned) and surname. Similarly, officers who are not part of the regular cast are credited as "Off. [Surname]".

Alternate versions
In the version shown by Channel 5 in the UK, episode 601, there was a cut of around 20 seconds when Wendy is threatening the women. She says, "Same goes for the rest of you scabs. Lou wasn't too rapt when she heard you broke the strike so I hear [from here onward, it was cut] (to Nancy) Oh what are you looking so scared about? You're name on the list is it? Eh? I wouldn't bet my boots on big chief Moron doing anything to help yous lot. He's too full of himself to worry about you lot. You should have known what side your bread was buttered on girls! Oh don't tell me [this is where the cut ended] Bird Brain's got something to say!"

Connections
Edited into The Franky Doyle Story (1980)

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

User reviews40

Review

Featured review

10/10

Daring for its time

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.