"...things were different then..."

[Just a quick point of order before I start this post; there are many spoilers contained within this post, but all are encoded in rot13; to decode, copy encoded text and paste at rot13.com. Anything unencoded is spoiler free, but encoded text contains MASSIVE spoilers, so please only read if you've seen the show, or don't mind reading spoilers. And, believe me when I say MASSIVE, I mean it... ]

In Australia, a TV show called Wentworth has just finished airing its first season of 10 episodes. It's a modern remake/re-image/re-whatever of the classic women behind bars show, Prisoner; Cell Block H (although in Australia, and other territories it was just called Prisoner). I guess a quick way of comparing PCBH to Wentworth would be like comparing original Battlestar Galactia with the remake of that. 

Wentworth is certainly a heck of a lot grittier than PCBH; there's f-bombs galore, nudity, sex scenes, and some quite nasty violence. (If I were being a lazy comedy slag, I'd say here "...and that's just the screws!") It essentially takes the original and beefs it up. 

There's a host of characters from the original show also in the remake (I counted 9; of which 5 were screws and 4 were prisoners). Notable changes have been made to many of the characters, though, in several cases very little beyond the name to link them with their original counterparts. I reckon if you showed a clip of most of them to someone who'd seen all 692 PCBH episodes, they'd have a hard job telling you who they were. 

But that's mostly not a bad thing, though, as it gives the new show an identity of its own. Frankie Doyle here remains a lsebian, and is prone to moments of violence (she's vying for the position of top dog with... well, I'll come to her later...); but pretty much every other aspect of her character is new. New Frankie doesn't get to tell Vera Bennett her new nickname, for one thing! 

And Vera... Vera, what have they done to you? New Vera is actually a great character, but I can't help but wish she was a new, original, character as she bears no resemblance to the original. Here, she's a quite shy, nervous, individual who doesn't have anything like the authority of PCBH Vera. It's not that there's anything wrong with her character, but she ain't Vinegar Tits...

The whole show, really, spins around Bea Smith, as the whole thing starts with her arrival inside. One of the main arcs of the show is Bea learning to acclimatise to life inside. This isn't the battle hardened Bea of the original who's top dog, and not afraid to push her weight around. She has a real hard time of it inside, finding the whole experience bewildering. She's our viewpoint character, the one who has all the Basil Exposition stuff explained to her, so that we can understand the rules of the prison. Initially, I had my doubts about her, but as the season drew on and things started to happen to her I really warmed to her. 

But, overall, the feel of PCBH was mostly absent. I say mostly, as there was one notable character that was very PCBH, and somewhat ironically she was the biggest character not based on someone from PCBH. She is Jacs Holt, and she's the top dog. 

Jacs is very much cut from the same cloth as the "baddy" top dogs of PCBH. She's in for murder, and the wife of some big crime boss. She really runs the roost, and if you cross her, you know it. The bitter rivalry between Jacs and Frankie just lit up the screen; especially when Jacs insists on calling her Francesca, which you can tell Frankie hates. Sometimes one gets the upper hand, sometimes the other, and sometimes the violence... strewth.

The show does use some key plot points from the original show, although most of it is original plotlines. One very notable original plot point comes early on, and is clearly done as a massive statement of intent.

Va rcvfbqr bar bs obgu fubjf gurer'f n svtug gung trgf bhg bs unaq naq gheaf va gb n evbg. Va CPOU, Zrt'f uhfonaq vf xvyyrq qhevat gur evbg. Jragjbegu unf n evbg, ohg qbrf vgf bja guvat; nyy gur juvyr guebhtu gur evbg V unq n srryvat gung gurl jbhyq qb fbzrguvat enqvpny, naq V gubhtug... jung jbhyq or gur zbfg enqvpny guvat gb qb? V pbaivaprq zlfrys gurl jrer tbvat gb xvyy Orn Fzvgu. V jnf jebat. Gurl xvyyrq Zrt Wnpxfba. Zrt... yvgrenyyl gur bayl punenpgre va CPOU gb ynfg nyy gur jnl sebz svefg gb ynfg rcvfbqrf bssrq va gur svefg rcvfbqr. Vs rire gurer jnf n jnl gb fnl "jungrire lbh guvax lbh xabj, lbh'er jebat..." gung jnf n grkgobbx rknzcyr bs ubj gb qb vg. 

Gurer'f n pbhcyr bs bgure zbzragf va gurer gung ner fbzrjung fubpxvat, gur rcvfbqr jurer Qroovr Fzvgu qvrf vf whfg fb urnegoernxvat (lbh pbhyqa'g uryc ohg ubcr gurl'q yrg ure yvir), juvpu frgf va zbgvba n frdhrapr bs riragf gung yrnqf gb Orn zheqrevat Wnpf. Guvf vf nyy pyrneyl trggvat gb gur fgntr jurer Orn'f tbvat gb znxr n zbir gb gnxr bire nf gbc qbt qhevat gur frpbaq frnfba.

And a second season has been commissioned. It'll be interesting to see if any other PCBH characters pop up; Lexie Patterson was name checked in one episode, so I was expecting to see her, but she never appeared. 

Most intriguing, though, is the teaser poster for season 2 that's very recently been released showing a close up of a pair of hands; one of which is pulling a black leather glove on to the other...

I've got just one thing to say to the Wentworth people; don't fuck up The Freak. She has to be the most corrupt, bent, screw in the place, and she has to be perfectly cast.