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| Punishment | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Drama Soap opera |
| Created by | Reg Watson |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Production | |
| Production company | Reg Grundy Organisation |
| Original release | |
| Network | Network Ten |
| Release | 14 February 1981 – 27 April 1982 |
Punishment is an Australian television soap opera made by the Reg Grundy Organisation for Network Ten in 1981. It debuted in Melbourne and Brisbane on Saturday 14th February 1981, and a few days later in Sydney on Friday 20th February 1981.
Contents
- Cast
- Episode list
- Reception
- Home media
- Available at (National Film and Sound Archives)
- References
- External links
Set in a fictional men's prison, the series attempted to present a male version of its female counterpart Prisoner , which was set in a woman's prison. Attempts by the show's makers to differentiate the series from Prisoner saw Punishment imbued with greater realism; however, the formula did not attract high viewing figures. Network Ten deemed the new series a failure after only three episodes had gone to air, and in Melbourne and Sydney it was removed from the schedules after the fourth episode had been shown. Several more episodes were shown in Brisbane, as their Network Ten affiliate TV0 had scheduled two episodes per week as opposed to the weekly broadcasts in Melbourne and Sydney. The remainder of the 26 episodes produced were shown out-of-ratings at the end of 1981 and then in a late night slot - often after midnight - the following year, with the series being completed in Sydney on 27 April 1982. Only the first 13 episodes appear to have been broadcast in Melbourne.
Unusually for a soap opera, the series was taped using the single camera technique. [1]
Grundy produced Punishment mainly to complement Prisoner in international sales, to a point that the pilot was initially telecast in the United States before debuting in Australia. KTLA, the Los Angeles television station that helped launched Prisoner in the United States, originally expressed interest in doing the same with Punishment; [2] it is unknown if KTLA had screened any episodes of Punishment, in light of its failure on Network Ten in Australia.
The program created by Reg Watson was produced and directed by Alan Coleman. The regular cast featured many notable Australian actors. Mel Gibson played a prisoner in the first two episodes. Kris McQuade played the girlfriend of Gibson's character and was phased out of the series after the first few episodes due to Gibson's departure.