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Prisoner, Cell Block H
Wentworth is a rough place for a women’s prison, well known for the rougher justice meted out by its violent and unpredictable inmates. Convicted murderer Queen Bea is aptly named - as indeed are a few other characters with less charming epithets. But not all the action’s confined behind bars. In fact, a complete and horrific catalogue of rape, murder, blackmail, ‘accident’, riot - even marriage - seems to be arranged from outside Australia’s most notorious prison …
336 pages, Paperback
First published April 4, 1991
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June 17, 2021
After the previous Prisoner books, which were slight variations of the same period of time right at the beginning of the show, I was expecting more of the same from this. I was shocked to see that not only was it based later in the series (from approximately episode 90-159), that it was also the longest of the books I’ve read so far.
A lot of familiar characters turn up in this book, but at the same time, I don’t feel that the storylines were very familiar to me. This was a period of the show that I feel I have not seen or definitely is not as well known to me as some of the other episodes for example.
This does cover a huge chunk of time, with the popular Judy Bryant following her “special friend” Sharon into Wentworth. Lizzie and Doreen are released and Doreen gets married. Fletch The Letch is quite prominently featured in this and has quite a few storylines, as does Meg and Vera.
There are quite a few storylines criss crossing in this one and I do think I would have liked this better as I been more knowledgeable about this period of the show. There were a lot of references to prior storylines/characters, which perhaps feature in some of the other novelizations (which are too expensive to purchase) but it still does make an easy read. It doesn’t end the way I thought it would - I remembered how Jock Stewart got his comeuppance but this happened after the events of this book. It is 336 pages but I did feel that the ending was a bit lightweight - it just ends. There’s no cliffhanger, nothing. I suppose the rest of them have been a bit like that, but with all the events that occur in this, I think I was expecting a bit more.
The one thing that did annoy me and it was mentioned frequently was Officer Joan Barry. No. As any fan of Prisoner will know, it was Joyce Barry (or Pringle, as she became known later in the show). I think the author was getting Joan Ferguson and Joyce Barry confused.
If you’re going to pick up any of the Prisoner novelizations, I would definitely recommend this one. It is the most in-depth of the ones I’ve read and as I’ve said before, the characters are well written. And perhaps I just need to revisit the original TV show!
A lot of familiar characters turn up in this book, but at the same time, I don’t feel that the storylines were very familiar to me. This was a period of the show that I feel I have not seen or definitely is not as well known to me as some of the other episodes for example.
This does cover a huge chunk of time, with the popular Judy Bryant following her “special friend” Sharon into Wentworth. Lizzie and Doreen are released and Doreen gets married. Fletch The Letch is quite prominently featured in this and has quite a few storylines, as does Meg and Vera.
There are quite a few storylines criss crossing in this one and I do think I would have liked this better as I been more knowledgeable about this period of the show. There were a lot of references to prior storylines/characters, which perhaps feature in some of the other novelizations (which are too expensive to purchase) but it still does make an easy read. It doesn’t end the way I thought it would - I remembered how Jock Stewart got his comeuppance but this happened after the events of this book. It is 336 pages but I did feel that the ending was a bit lightweight - it just ends. There’s no cliffhanger, nothing. I suppose the rest of them have been a bit like that, but with all the events that occur in this, I think I was expecting a bit more.
The one thing that did annoy me and it was mentioned frequently was Officer Joan Barry. No. As any fan of Prisoner will know, it was Joyce Barry (or Pringle, as she became known later in the show). I think the author was getting Joan Ferguson and Joyce Barry confused.
If you’re going to pick up any of the Prisoner novelizations, I would definitely recommend this one. It is the most in-depth of the ones I’ve read and as I’ve said before, the characters are well written. And perhaps I just need to revisit the original TV show!
Displaying 1 of 1 review