Wentworth is an Australian TV serial drama about a women’s prison. The setting and some of the characters naturally had me comparing to Orange is the New Black in the beginning, but aside from the similarity of setting, it is a very different show. Less funny/goofy and as it turns out, a superbly well-written and well-acted drama.
It is available on Netflix streaming. I watched the first two seasons a while back and kind of forgot about it for a time. But the third season is on Netflix now, which I just finished watching, and wow! It floored me. I’d go so far as to put it in my top 5 drama shows of all time. From the ending of season 3, it looks like they are set up for a season 4 as well - which given the timeline of stuff getting onto Netflix may have already aired or be airing now, but since it’s an Australian show I have no idea how one would catch that in the US.
The main protagonist (Bea Smith) is played by Danielle Cormack, and while she gives a very solid performance (as does basically everyone in the cast), for me Nicole da Silva steals the show as a delightfully charismatic and rebellious inmate (Francesca “Franky” Doyle). They are offset by some equally excellent antagonists, played by Kris McQuade (Jacs Holt) and Pamela Rabe (“The Governer” - yeah, you get to hear Australians say “Guv’nah” a lot!). I also loved Kate Atkinson, who plays one of the prison guards and is just an adorable character that is very easy to empathize with.
I did a board search and was shocked that there has never been a thread about this show (at least, not one with the name mentioned in the title). Surely, some of you have seen it and have some thoughts? If you haven’t watched it yet, and you have Netflix streaming, I highly recommend it.
It used to be called Prisoner: Cell Block H. Cult show in the UK from literally decades ago. Big gay following as well. Usually a late night slot, entertaining after the pub.
That can’t be right - this show was produced starting in 2013 according to IMDB, and clearly has the look of a modern show as far as quality/production values. Also from looking at IMDB, it may be called “Wentworth Prison” in Australia, but is simply called “Wentworth” on Netflix.
Prisonerwas an old show from the late 70s - early 80s, I don’t really remember it. *Wentworth * is supposedly an updated version, even the character names are the same. My wife’s a big fan, and yes, it’s really good.
I remember Prisoner Cell Block H as a kid. They showed it on a station in Chicago, WFLD I think. I found it terribly depressing. And yes, I had recently heard that they were doing an update called Wentworth, or that it was originally Wentworth in Australia. I haven’t gotten around to watching it because although I’m more willing to watch sordid drama now, the original was an unpleasant memory for me.
Holy crap - apparently the old show ran 692 episodes! At 12 episodes a season nowadays, I don’t think they’re planning on making quite so many. There seems to be a clear arc and I assume they have some kind of conclusion in mind by now, going into the 4th season, though I don’t know how many seasons they’re planning. I imagine the old show would have had quite a lot more fluff.
Its a reimaging of a old Australian show called Prisoner which ran from 1979 to 1986. It’s an amazing show, with a very talented cast. The writing is superb and its a show that has you on the edge of your seat, wanting more and more. Its the total opposite to OITNB which is a comedy whereas Wentworth is a drama. If your not watching it or haven’t watched it your missing out on some great TV. You also get to hear some of our Aussie slang we use
I liked this show a lot. I started watching this when it first came out on Netflix a few years ago, I actually thought this was better than Orange is the New Black. It took forever for season 3 to finally show up on American Netflix, and when it finally did, I was pretty disappointed. It was still entertaining, but it has become much more over the top. I now have OITNB ahead of Wentworth.
I love this show. I can’t remember the actresses name but she was the rich lady Sonia Stevens/Sigrid Thorton played in the original Prisoner: cell Block H. The whole 600 some episodes is on YouTube. She came back for the remake. I started watching that on YouTube during my lunches at work but I lost interest.
I’d like to offer a dissenting point of view. I found it to be a poorly written, badly acted, cheesy soap opera that makes EastEnders look like high art.
