matty-aquarius54
I first came across Prisoner on TV and i watched the first 2 episodes and i was hooked from there. I went online and started ordering the DVDs of the whole series and since acquiring the complete series on DVD i have watched the complete series. Well let me tell you "wow" what a great show, never a dull moment and action packed with great story lines.I can't recommend this show enough, if you haven't seen it and you ate interested, watch it you won't be disappointed I promise you. Its one of the best Australian television shows ever.Watch it 5 ☆☆☆☆☆.
preppy-3
This ran over here in America at 11:30 at night on a local station. There was a lot of controversy about it at first. The plots dealing with lesbians, beatings, murder, rape etc. etc. were pretty strong for TV back then. But it never really caught on...here in Boston at least. It ran for a few months almost uncut (some words were bleeped out) and then was cancelled due to low ratings.I was in college when it played here and it was great! After a long night of studying it was kind of fun to relax and watch this somewhat campy prison soap. The acting was pretty bad and the story lines were more than a little unbelievable but it was a lot of fun to watch. Also it moved much quicker than your typical afternoon soap. So it was a fun and daring soap for its time. I'm not sure if it would hold up today. Shows like "Oz" have gone a lot farther than this could.
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......
dm317
I wish they would bring this show back to the U.S. I didn't get to see all of them, but from what I saw, I was HOOKED!! It was called Prisoner: Cell Block H in the U.S.. It was High Quality Drama and very effective. It was well written. The acting was superb. It had all the greatest qualities that make for the best in Television. It would have won many Emmys here. It was Brilliant!! If there are other shows in Australia as powerful as Prisoner then the United Sates needs to make room for these shows that we're missing. We can only take so many repeats of Friends!! etc. I am not at all saying we don't have shows on this level, we do. It's just that our Country needs to expand our horizons, because I am sure what they pay the friends cast, it would be much cheaper to buy all 600+ episodes of Prisoner and repeat those episodes for a whole Century. The theme song to Prisoner blends well with the shows theme. You can tell they put a lot of time & Effort into this show. I have the first 12 episodes on tape and that's all I can get here, I know they have put many more out, but they are in the PAL format. ( MY LOSS!!) I would love to own them, if anyone can change them to our format. Please!! Make me a DEAL!!! Val Lehman (Bea), Carol Burns (Franky) & Fiona Spence ( Vera) are Wonderful Actresses, GREAT! The rest of the cast is good as well, but these 3 made me take notice from the beginning. I wish they would come to the U.S. that would be Fantastic. "PRISONER!! COME BACK!! THE U.S. MISSES YOU!!"
