I know it sounds impossible to believe but this show was huge back in its day. One can only but wonder how though. Never once has Australia created a good television show, as this, 'Neighbours' and 'Home & Away' well and truly proved.
'Prisoner: Cell Block H' came about after Oz received screenings of ITV's prison drama 'Within These Walls' ( which starred the late Googie Withers ). The Aussies liked it so much they wanted their own version and so 'Prisoner: Cell Block H' was born.
It was set in Wentworth Detention Centre, a prison for women. There were many characters over the years, too many to name but perhaps the most memorable of them all was Val Lehman as the larger than life Bea, or Queen Bea as she became known as. How proud she must be to have a show of this quality on her CV.
If you ever wanted to see what ATV's 'Crossroads' was like if it were set in a prison centre, then this is it. The sets were made of cardboard which wobbled whenever someone moved ( I often wondered how the inmates never thought to escape each time their movements knocked the sets over! ) and also which were covered in garish looking brickwork design wallpaper. The whole thing looked like a badly acted sitcom rather than a soap opera.
In 1989, BBC Scotland's 'Naked Video' did an amusing parody of the show with a sketch in which after lock-up, the warder closes the gate leading to the cell block, only for the entire set to collapse in a heap, whilst the whole time plays Lynne Hamilton's 'On The Inside' theme music.
'Prisoner: Cell Block H' came about after Oz received screenings of ITV's prison drama 'Within These Walls' ( which starred the late Googie Withers ). The Aussies liked it so much they wanted their own version and so 'Prisoner: Cell Block H' was born.
It was set in Wentworth Detention Centre, a prison for women. There were many characters over the years, too many to name but perhaps the most memorable of them all was Val Lehman as the larger than life Bea, or Queen Bea as she became known as. How proud she must be to have a show of this quality on her CV.
If you ever wanted to see what ATV's 'Crossroads' was like if it were set in a prison centre, then this is it. The sets were made of cardboard which wobbled whenever someone moved ( I often wondered how the inmates never thought to escape each time their movements knocked the sets over! ) and also which were covered in garish looking brickwork design wallpaper. The whole thing looked like a badly acted sitcom rather than a soap opera.
In 1989, BBC Scotland's 'Naked Video' did an amusing parody of the show with a sketch in which after lock-up, the warder closes the gate leading to the cell block, only for the entire set to collapse in a heap, whilst the whole time plays Lynne Hamilton's 'On The Inside' theme music.