Wentworth

[Dingo x]

Originally I was only going to watch this show because of the New Zealand actors (Danielle Cormack - Bea, Aaron Jeffery - Fletch & Robbie Magasiva - Mr Jackson) and I'm so glad I did, I'm absolutely LOVING this show!

Franky would have to be by far my favourite character.

We have only just seen episode 6 here in NZ, and each week just gets better and better.

This show would have to be my favourite (currently airing) TV series!! Can't wait for next Monday.

[Jezz]

It's a fantastic show. One of my favourite Aussie dramas of the year so far.

[b2sb09]

Really enjoyed the first season and it sure packed an emotional punch toward the end.

Jacs was one nasty nana and Franky so cocky, which made them fun to watch when they went against each other and loved their false civility (calling each other Francesca and Jacqueline) whenever they faced off. Some great one liners were given as well.

I know who Vera eventually becomes when she's older, but after watching reruns of Seachange, I keep seeing her as Constable Karen, which makes it harder to imagine Vera will one day grow into Vinegar Tits. Kate Atkinson also played a similar type character in Offspring and she does it well.

Curious to see who is going to be cast as the Freak in Season 2.

It's a shame the Kerry(Meg)/Stella(Franky) Rush reunion was so shortlived.

Also found it rather amusing how many Neighbours popped up after so many Prisoners have visited Ramsay Street over the years - one episode had Madge, Steph and Plain Jane.

[Pierced Musie]

Saw the advert for this on Channel 5 last night.

Will definitely be tuning in for that show and not just because of the gal from Rush. I never got to see the original Cell Block H but if I enjoy this I may have to invest in some of the DVD's.

[Dingo x]

Just saw the finale of Wentworth!!

Erica & Franky.

I seriously didn't expect Franky to have been the one to have killed Meg.& that ending with Bea & Jacs... just seriously was speechless!

I will definitely be buying this show when it comes to DVD! Can't wait for season 2.

[Pierced Musie]

5 are giving it decent promo time at the moment but the more I see the advert for it the more impatient I get. I keep telling myself off for thinking about downloading the whole lot to watch in one go.

I wanna see it now .

[b2sb09]

Update on Season Two and 'the Freak' has been cast.

CAMERAS READY TO ROLL ON SEASON 2

The New Face of Season 2

CAMERAS READY TO ROLL ON SEASON 2

Bea’s in the slot, Franky’s Top Dog and Joan Ferguson is in the Governor’s office.

Foxtel today announced AFI winner Pamela Rabe is joining the cast of Wentworth to play Joan “The Freak” Ferguson in the second season of the hit FremantleMedia Australia drama.

The shoot begins in Melbourne tomorrow and will continue through to early next year, with Foxtel’s SoHo channel increasing the season two order from 10 episodes to 12.

The story picks up three months after Bea Smith (Danielle Cormack) killed Jacs Holt. While Bea has been languishing in the slot, Franky Doyle (Nicole da Silva) has risen to the position of top dog unopposed. But the sudden arrival of new governor Joan Ferguson is about to change all that.

Rabe is one of Australia’s most highly regarded and awarded actors and as she starts her first week shooting Wentworth she will still be appearing on stage for the final nights of a season of Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard for the Melbourne Theatre Company.

She won the 1997 AFI Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for the film The Well and also appeared in the films Cosi, Sirens and Paradise Road. Her work in television includes The Secret Life of Us and Stingers, and for the past decade she has worked constantly in theatre across the country. For her role in Grey Gardens she won a Helpmann Award for Best Female Actor in a Musical and other notable credits include The Wizard of Oz, The War of the Roses, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Hamlet, The Season at Sarsaparilla, Mother Courage and Her Children and Dinner.

“I am honoured and excited to join the Wentworth team,” she said. “I have great memories of the original Prisoner series and Maggie Kirkpatrick is a dear friend so it is an absolute thrill to fill her formidable shoes and gloves in this reincarnation of the role of Joan Ferguson."

Foxtel Commissioning Editor of Drama Penny Win said, “When we decided the time was right to bring the new Joan Ferguson to Wentworth, Pamela was at the top of our casting wish list and everything aligned for her to be available at the right time and ready to sign on for season two.”

FremantleMedia Australia Director of Drama Jo Porter said, “Wentworth season two will continue to take no prisoners when it comes to shocking storylines and surprising character twists and departures. Resuming some months after the bloody conclusion to season one, the position of Governor has once again been challenged.

“It’s time for Joan Ferguson to enter the fray and Pamela is a remarkable addition to the amazing cast for Wentworth’s second season.”

The full main cast line-up is Danielle Cormack as Bea Smith, Nicole da Silva as Franky Doyle, Pamela Rabe as Joan Ferguson, Kate Atkinson as Vera Bennett, Celia Ireland as Liz Birdsworth, Shareena Clanton as Doreen Anderson, Aaron Jeffery as Matthew ‘Fletch’ Fletcher, Robbie Magasiva as Will Jackson and Katrina Milosevic as Sue ‘Boomer’ Jenkins.

Behind the scenes, Amanda Crittenden continues as Wentworth’s producer. Directors Kevin Carlin and Catherine Miller return and are joined by Pino Amenta, Steve Jodrell and Dee McLachlan. Marcia Gardner is script producer and a member of the writing team along with Tim Hobart, Pete McTighe and John Ridley.

Wentworth’s first season has won over critics and audiences in Australia, New Zealand the UK. Season two will premiere on Foxtel’s SoHo channel in 2014.

What to expect in Season 2 of Wentworth

It is three months since Bea killed Jacs, making Erica’s already shaky hold on the Governor’s position untenable.

Enter Joan Ferguson. She realises Bea is a woman with the prisoners’ respect and someone she could mould into a top dog she can control.

But Bea has other plans as she vows to avenge her daughter’s murder. How does someone locked up in a prison achieve such a seemingly impossible ambition? Season two charts her quest and Bea will be forced to use every ounce of her courage, ingenuity and steely determination.

Around her, the members of Bea’s prison ‘family’ all face challenges of their own and no one should underestimate the lengths to which the psychopathic Ferguson will go to establish control. How does she become “The Freak”?

Looks like this Freak is going to live up to the monniker and I think Pamela Rabe is a great choice as the Freak - she has that imposing demeanour and is a great actor.

Boomer was one of my faves, so I'm happy to see her upgraded to the main cast and I hope that means we see her flashback story, but disappointing to see that Erica is no longer part of the main cast.

Really am looking forward to the next season and the return of the Freak and I suspect, the emergeance of Vinegar Tits - already started to see the workings last season with Vera being dissastified about being passed over for promotion and how her being nice to the prisoners backfired big time.

[Pierced Musie]

So I have now watched all of series 1 and it was awesome!

I started watching for Frankie... and stayed for Sexy!Boomer !

Seriously though I don't think there were any duds when it came to the cast. For me it is probably one of the most perfectly casted shows in a very long time so I can't wait for the next series.

[pembie]

I was shocked that

That Bea killed Jacs I thought Jacs would of been around for longer than just the first series.

Makes me wonder if this means Bea will be top dog of the prison now.

It was a good show the only thing I wasn't keen on was when they kept adding the slow motion parts into some of the scenes.

[Slade]

I've just finished watching the whole of the first season too. Whilst I don't think it's as good as the original and it started off slowly, I did quite enjoy it in the end. I would have preferred it if they'd changed the characters names TBH. I thought Jacs was a real nasty piece of work. There was no doubt in my mind that Debbie was going to end up dead and Bea was going to kill Jacs. It occurred to me in Jacs's final moments that she actually wanted to die. She knew her life was over, no backup on the outside, powerless on the inside, her husband wanted a divorce, the screws were after her for thinking she'd murdered the gov in the first episode, constantly looking over her shoulder, she knew she could aggravate Bea to the point where she was prepared to commit murder. I think what really annoyed me about the whole thing is that Frankie's basically won. She manipulated the whole situation to her advantage without really having to lift a finger. And now that we know she killed the gov at the beginning, I really hope she gets what's coming to her in season two. Hopefully the freak will teach her a lesson or two and wipe that smug look of her face.