Wentworth | |
---|---|
Season 1 | |
Starring | |
No. of episodes | 10 |
Release | |
Original network | SoHo |
Original release | 1 May – 3 July 2013 |
Season chronology | |
The first season of the crime drama television series Wentworth originally aired on SoHo in Australia. The season consisted of 10 episodes and aired between 1 May and 3 July 2013. It was executively produced by FremantleMedia's director of drama Jo Porter. The series is a remake of Prisoner , which aired on Network Ten from 1979 to 1986. Lara Radulovich and David Hannam developed Wentworth from Reg Watson's original concept. The season was shot over four months from 10 October 2012.
The show is set in modern-day Victoria, Australia and focuses on the fictional women's prison Wentworth. The central characters in the prison are inmates Bea Smith (Danielle Cormack), Franky Doyle (Nicole da Silva), Doreen Anderson (Shareena Clanton), Liz Birdsworth (Celia Ireland), Jacs Holt (Kris McQuade) and prison officers Vera Bennett (Kate Atkinson), Matthew Fletcher (Aaron Jeffery), Will Jackson (Robbie Magasiva), Erica Davidson (Leeanna Walsman) and Meg Jackson (Catherine McClements).
The season received generally favourable reviews from critics. The first episode of Wentworth attracted 244,000 viewers, making it the most watched Australian drama series premiere in Foxtel history. [1] The complete first season was released on DVD and Blu-ray in Australia on 18 November 2013.
Regular
| Recurring
|
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Aus. viewers | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | "No Place Like Home" | Kevin Carlin | Pete McTighe | 1 May 2013 | 244,000 [1] | |
Bea Smith is arrested and taken to Wentworth after attempting to murder her violent and rapist husband and is taken in by the lesbian, drug-dealing Franky Doyle, who uses her as a drug mule. Prisoners Liz Birdsworth and Doreen Anderson also befriend Bea. Governor Meg Jackson is becoming increasingly suspicious about the ladies and their ways of bringing crystal meth into the prison. Jacs Holt, Franky's rival, is released from solitary and starts a riot with the two factions fighting each other. Jacs and her gang corner Franky and attempt to mutilate her, but she is saved by Sue 'Boomer' Jenkins. Doreen leaves her daughter Kaiya with Bea to assist Franky, but when Kaiya runs off, Bea follows her and finds Meg lying dead in a pool of her blood. | |||||||
2 | 2 | "Fly Me Away" | Kevin Carlin | Pete McTighe | 8 May 2013 | 102,000 [4] | |
After Meg's death, her husband Will returns to work and puts pressure on Doreen to find out who killed his wife. Bea tries to contact her daughter, Debbie, however Harry keeps picking up and comes to visit her. The prisoners try to get information out of Liz, who is working with the officers to discover the identity of Meg's killer. After threatening to kill Bea, Doreen reveals that Kaiya is actually Toni's daughter and that her own unborn child died after Doreen crashed her car. Will has a run-in with fellow officer Matt Fletcher. Later, Will is shown snorting cocaine. Doreen arranges for Kaiya's Mum Toni to get busted for using drugs, which sends Kaiya back to her grandma's house. Vera struggles with the Governor's role and she is demoted when Erica Davidson is appointed. | |||||||
3 | 3 | "The Girl Who Waited" | Catherine Millar | Pete McTighe | 15 May 2013 | 110,000 [5] | |
Bea gets caught between in the intense rivalry between Jacs and Franky. Franky came to Wentworth after participating in a reality TV show that taught ex-offenders how to cook, she physically attacked the host with a pan of boiling oil after he mocked her on live TV. Franky cuts all ties with her estranged father when he visits her to apologise for abandoning her when she was ten. In Wentworth's laundry facility, Jacs forces Bea to bring the steam press down on Franky's hand after she threatens harm upon Debbie. | |||||||
4 | 4 | "The Things We Do" | Catherine Millar | Pete McTighe | 22 May 2013 | 97,000 [6] | |
Ronnie forces her young daughter, Amy, to smuggle heroin into Wentworth for Jacs. Amy goes into cardiac arrest, but later it's revealed that she survived from the overdose. Jacs notes Bea's anger over the incident. Doreen and Boomer conspire over home brew that has been fermenting for months. Liz is told that her parole is being assessed. The Governor organizes an event to herald her prison reform programs with Liz encouraging the ladies to participate. After drinking all the home brew, Liz reveals that she is in Wentworth for accidentally killing her mother-in-law. Erica and Vera butt heads over the running of the prison. Jacs receives a visit from her husband Vinnie and learns that he is having an affair. Will continues his search for Meg's killer and discovers Fletch and Meg had a peculiar relationship. | |||||||
5 | 5 | "The Velvet Curtain" | Tori Garrett | Pete McTighe | 29 May 2013 | 115,000 [7] | |
Erica begins to fantasise about having sex with Franky and begins to wonder whether her fiancé is really the person she wants to be with. Liz begins drinking methylated spirits and collapses when Doreen puts bleach in it. The rivalry between Franky and Jacs escalates. Doreen is offered the peer worker job after Liz is stripped of the role. | |||||||
6 | 6 | "Captive" | Tori Garrett | Pete McTighe | 5 June 2013 | 92,000 [8] | |
Bea feels threatened when Harry says he may not be able to deal with Debbie's behaviour any longer. Vera's controlling mother visits Wentworth and reveals a humiliating secret about her daughter. Afterwards, Vera and Fletch become closer. Erica resolves to put aside her personal feelings for Franky. | |||||||
7 | 7 | "Something Dies" | Jet Wilkinson | Pete McTighe | 12 June 2013 | 97,000 [9] | |
The women are tiring of Jacs' regime, and the officers decide to release Franky from solitary. Bea, after learning that Jacs and her gang are planning to gang rape Franky, asks Jacs not to go ahead with the attack, warning her of the consequences. In response, Jacs orders Bea to be beaten and sent to the medical unit. When Franky is released, she is ambushed however Boomer comes to her rescue. Doreen seemingly betrays Franky by siding with Jacs but she was helping Franky set a trap for Jacs. Franky slams Jacs' hand in an exercise machine. Will, whose drug use increases, discovers that while he and Meg were trying for a baby, Meg did fall pregnant and three weeks before she died, had an abortion. | |||||||
8 | 8 | "Mind Games" | Jet Wilkinson | Lally Katz & Emma J. Steele | 19 June 2013 | 82,000 [10] | |
Bea's popularity is rising among the women. Erica offers Jacs the chance to go into protection for the rest of her sentence but she refuses. Jacs schemes to regain control by blackmailing Will, and demands that Vera brings medication for her arthritis into Wentworth, threatening to reveal that Vera told her to start a fight with Franky, leading to the riot in which Meg was killed. As Bea tries to get hold of Debbie, Jacs' son, Brayden gets Debbie addicted to heroin. Jacs tells him to end things with Debbie and he injects her with a high dose of heroin, causing her to overdose and die. | |||||||
9 | 9 | "To the Moon" | Kevin Carlin | Guila Sandler | 26 June 2013 | 77,000 [11] | |
A heartbroken Bea is informed of Debbie's death and is refused permission to attend the funeral. Devastated, Bea tries to hang herself but is saved by Liz. The women rally around Bea to support her, and Jacs realises that not only has she failed to break her opponent but that the prisoners have all turned against her. | |||||||
10 | 10 | "Checkmate" | Kevin Carlin | Emma J. Steele | 3 July 2013 | 125,000 [12] | |
After Vera and Fletch spend the night together she finds Fletch's diary, learning that Fletch and Meg were having an affair. Determined to find out who killed Meg, Will makes a deal with Jacs, however he later discovers Meg's bracelet in Jacs' cell and she is charged with Meg's murder. Franky admits to Liz she accidentally killed Meg during the riot. Liz had taken Meg's bracelet for safe keeping and in a ploy to get rid of Jacs, planted it in her cell. Bea suspects Jacs' involvement in Debbie's death and confronts her. Jacs confesses to ordering Brayden to kill Debbie and Bea stabs Jacs in the neck with a pen, killing her. |
Wentworth was announced by Foxtel on 4 March 2012. Developed by Lara Radulovich and David Hannam from the original concept by Reg Watson, it is produced by Fremantle's new head of drama, Jo Porter, and is filmed in Melbourne. [13] FremantleMedia Chief Executive Asia Pacific, Ian Hogg, said: "An entire generation of Australians grew up watching Prisoner and another is about to do the same with Wentworth."
The ten-part season began filming in Melbourne for five months from 10 October 2012 and the shoot employed 300 cast and crew. [14] Wentworth is filmed on a purpose built set in the suburb of Clayton.
No. | Title | Air date | Overnight ratings | Ref(s) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Viewers | Rank | ||||
1 | "No Place Like Home" | 1 May 2013 | 244,000 | – [lower-alpha 1] | [1] |
2 | "Fly Me Away" | 8 May 2013 | 102,000 | 2 | [4] |
3 | "The Girl Who Waited" | 15 May 2013 | 110,000 | 1 | [5] |
4 | "The Things We Do" | 22 May 2013 | 97,000 | 1 | [6] |
5 | "The Velvet Curtain" | 29 May 2013 | 115,000 | 2 | [7] |
6 | "Captive" | 5 June 2013 | 92,000 | 1 | [8] |
7 | "Something Dies" | 12 June 2013 | 97,000 | 3 | [9] |
8 | "Mind Games" | 19 June 2013 | 82,000 | 3 | [10] |
9 | "To the Moon" | 26 June 2013 | 77,000 | 13 | [11] |
10 | "Checkmate" | 3 July 2013 | 125,000 | 1 | [12] |
Title | Release | Country | DVD | Blu-ray | Region | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wentworth: The Complete Season One | 18 November 2013 | Australia | ||||
Wentworth Prison: Season One | 4 November 2013 | UK | ||||
Wentworth: Season 1 | 15 November 2016 | U.S. | ||||
Wentworth: Die Komplette Erste Staffel | 24 February 2017 | Germany | ||||
Additional | ||||||
Set details
DVD Audio
Blu-ray Audio
Subtitles
Discs
Rating Re-releases
|
Prisoner is an Australian television soap opera, which was broadcast on Network Ten from February 27 (Melbourne) and February 26 (Sydney) 1979 to December 1986 (Melbourne), running eight seasons and 692 episodes.
Leeanna Walsman is an Australian actress. She is best known for her role as Zam Wesell in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002), and for her roles in the 2000 film Looking for Alibrandi and the television series Wentworth. She was nominated for both AACTA and Logie awards for her role in Emmy Award-winning series Safe Harbour.
Leah Maree Purcell is an Aboriginal Australian stage and film actress, playwright, film director, and novelist. She made her film debut in 1999, appearing in Paul Fenech's Somewhere in the Darkness, which led to roles in films, such as Lantana (2001), Somersault (2004), The Proposition (2005) and Jindabyne (2006).
Celia Ireland is an Australian actress. She is best known for her role as Regina Butcher on the television series All Saints and her Logie award winning role as Liz Birdsworth on the prison drama series Wentworth.
Pete McTighe is a British screenwriter and executive producer. He is originating writer of Wentworth, a female ensemble prison drama series that won Most Outstanding and Most Popular Drama at the Logie Awards. He is the creator and writer of the BBC1 mystery thriller series The Pact and has written various television productions in the UK and internationally including Doctor Who, The Rising, Glitch, Nowhere Boys and A Discovery of Witches. McTighe has received five Australian Writers Guild Award and one Welsh BAFTA nomination for his work.
Wentworth is an Australian television drama series. It was first broadcast on SoHo on 1 May 2013, and it concluded on Fox Showcase with its 100th episode on 26 October 2021. The series serves as a contemporary reimagining of Prisoner, which ran on Network Ten from 1979 to 1986. Lara Radulovich and David Hannam developed Wentworth from Reg Watson's original concept. The series is set in the modern day and initially focuses on Bea Smith's early days in prison and her subsequent rise to the top of the prison's hierarchy. From the fifth season onward, the series shifted to emphasize more of an ensemble format.
The second season of the crime drama television series "Wentworth" premiered on May 20, 2014, on the Australian network SoHo. The season consisted of 12 episodes and was executive produced by Fremantle Media's drama director, Jo Porter. The storyline continued three months after Bea Smith's actions in the previous season, including the murder of Jacs Holt and the rise of Franky Doyle as the top dog among the inmates. The introduction of a new governor, Joan Ferguson, brought further complexity to the season's events. The season gained several nominations and awards.
The third season of the television drama series Wentworth premiered on SoHo in Australia on 7 April 2015. It was executively produced by FremantleMedia's Director of Drama, Jo Porter. The season comprises 12 episodes. Season three picks up four months after Bea's return to Wentworth following her escape and revenge murder of Brayden Holt.
Rosehaven is an Australian television comedy series created and written by Celia Pacquola and Luke McGregor, who also star in the lead roles. Its name derives from the fictional small town in rural Tasmania in which it is set. Premiering on 12 October 2016 on ABC TV, the series finished after its fifth season on 22 September 2021.
The fourth season of the television drama series Wentworth premiered on SoHo in Australia on 10 May 2016. It was executively produced by FremantleMedia's Director of Drama, Jo Porter. The season comprises 12 episodes. Season four picks up four months after the fire at Wentworth.
Doctor Doctor is an Australian television drama created by Tony McNamara, Ian Collie and Alan Harris, which premiered on the Nine Network on 14 September 2016, lasting five seasons, concluding on 23 June 2021. The cast includes Rodger Corser, Nicole da Silva, Ryan Johnson, Tina Bursill, Hayley McElhinney and Steve Bisley, and follows the story of Hugh Knight, a rising heart surgeon who is gifted, charming and infallible. He is a hedonist who, due to his sheer talent, believes he can live outside the rules. His "work hard, play harder" philosophy eventually comes to 'bite' him. The series was originally produced by Essential Media & Entertainment and Easy Tiger Productions in association with Screen NSW. Andy Ryan and Jo Rooney served as executive producers.
The fifth season of the television drama series Wentworth premiered on Showcase in Australia on 4 April 2017, having previously aired on SoHo, and concluded on 20 June 2017. It was executive produced by FremantleMedia's Director of Drama, Jo Porter. The season comprised 12 episodes. The fifth season picks up just days after the death of Bea Smith and is therefore noted as the first season not to feature Danielle Cormack.
The sixth season of the Australian television drama series Wentworth premiered on Showcase on 19 June 2018 and concluded on 4 September 2018. It was executively produced by FremantleMedia's Director of Drama, Jo Porter. The season comprised 12 episodes, and picks up days after the escape of Franky Doyle and Joan Ferguson. This season introduced three new characters portrayed by Leah Purcell, Susie Porter and Rarriwuy Hick.
The seventh season of television drama series Wentworth premiered on Fox Showcase in Australia on 28 May 2019. It is executive produced by FremantleMedia's director of drama, Jo Porter. The seventh season picks up a few months after the events of last season's finale, the presumed closure of the case of Joan Ferguson and the subsequent arrest of former acting Governor, Derek Channing.
The first season of Doctor Doctor, an Australian drama television series, premiered on Nine Network on 14 September 2016.
The third season of Doctor Doctor, an Australian drama television series, premiered on Nine Network on 6 August 2018.
The second season of Doctor Doctor, an Australian drama television series, premiered on Nine Network on 16 August 2017.
The eighth and final season of Australian television drama series Wentworth, premiered on Fox Showcase on 28 July 2020. The twenty-episode final season has been divided into two parts; the first, titled Wentworth: Redemption, contains the first ten episodes (2020), while the second, titled Wentworth: The Final Sentence, includes the remaining ten episodes and commenced broadcast on 24 August 2021. The story picks up sometime following the siege at the end of the previous season where the prisoners and staff struggle to rebuild their lives as they struggle to cope in the aftermath. In season 8 Joan Ferguson returns, and it is explained how she escaped death after being buried alive by Will Jackson.
The Twelve is an Australian television drama series on Fox Showcase. The series is produced by Ian Collie, Rob Gibson and Ally Henville, with executive producers Michael Brooks and Hamish Lewis and Liz Watts. The series was renewed for a second season in June 2023. The second series aired on 11 July 2024.