bandito
worth 8.8+ BUT AFTER LIKE N 100 EPISODES I GAVE UP, THE DRAMA AROUND THE TIME OF THE SAFE HOUSE GOT TOO DIFFERENT THEN AT THE BEGINNING AND I Didn't CARE ABOUT SOME OF THE CARACTHERS NO MORE.TOO BAD...Check youtube and google search for legal streaming !!! addictive.great continuity episode to episode.intense human drama.great characters.emotional.I suspect other prison shows like Orange is the new black was influenced by this show greatly.
Simon M. Macbeth
Hi everybody.www.WatchPrisonerCellBlockH.com is a NEW website with all 692 episode of Cell Block H. No annoying adverts or anything either :)The viewers' introduction to the world of Wentworth Detention Centre involved the arrival of two new prisoners, Karen Travers (Peta Toppano) and Lynn Warner (Kerry Armstrong), later known as "Wonky Warner" as nicknamed by "Beatrice Smith" (Val Lehman). Travers had been charged for the murder of her husband, while Warner protested her innocence after being convicted of the abduction and attempted murder of a child. Both women are sent to the prison's maximum security wing (H Block) where they are horrified by their new surroundings. Karen finds herself face-to-face with a former lover, prison doctor Greg Miller (Barry Quin), and is sexually harassed by her violent, bullying lesbian cellmate, Franky Doyle (Carol Burns). Lynn finds herself ostracised by the other prisoners because of her crime (prison populations are known for their intolerance towards criminals who commit offences against children) and is terrorised by the prison's "top dog", the self-styled "Queen" Bea Smith (Val Lehman), who "accidentally" burns her hand in the laundry steam press in one of the series' most iconic scenes.
Ashley Wincer
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.
jpyates
Prisoner. Truly one of the greatest drama's ever made. At the time the first episode was made it was groundbreaking television, and viewed all these years later it still is. Perhaps only a culture as young as the Australian one could have come up with such a fresh approach to the subject of Prison on screen. Yes it's derided and laughed about in many quarters, but mistakenly so and it's millions of viewers world wide are testiment to this.Tour de Force performances from Maggie Kirkpatrick as tragic evil warder Joan Ferguson, Gerda Nicholson as the liberal Governor Anne Reynolds and Val Lehman as Top Dog supremo Bea Smith. Riots, fires,blackmails,fraud , kidnappings, vice and murder were all served up on an alarmingly regular basis. And that's just the officers storylines. I'm not joking, if you can last the course of all 692 episodes you will have watched every possible crime story , it's possible to think of! Very memorable notables include the fantastic British born actress Amanda Muggleton as Chrissy Latham, Tina Bursill's ice Queen Sonia Stevens, Judith McGrath's brilliant performance as complex officer Colleen Powell and the late Sheila Florence's unforgettable creation of Lizzie Birdsworth ( an astonishing performance that has to be seen). Notable storylines include Bea Smith's amnesia, the three episode terrorist seige in which Myra Desmond bows out, Franky Doyle's story and the story of misunderstood Kath Maxwell. Any story involving final Top Dog Rita Conners was worth it's salt including her harrowing experience in Blackmoor prison. The writing was as diverse as the acting could be but Ian Smith's episodes were always exciting and meaty. And although the show finally closed it's gates after seven years it's last year was considered by many to be the best, thanks to some excellent scripts and compelling charactors like Kath Maxwell and fiery Biker Goddess Rita Conners , played with such relish by Kate Hood and Glenda Linscott that it was impossible not to watch! Too many storylines too mention, too many charactors to review! Prisoner will be truly missed. Long live the reruns......