Prisoner

Forget the awful set, cheap production, this show had great writing & characters.

It also tackled hard issues no other show from its time did. All in all a great show with laughs, memorable characters and some shocking moments.

This is a real cult classic.

I began watching Prisoner Cell Block H as a child while living in England. This was during the late 1980's and the show had already ended, but the reruns were extremely popular and people would forget the show had been over for two years. Right away, the show became my favorite. Prisoner was one of the first, if not the first, television show that was centered on and starring a cast of mostly women. It was also one of the first shows to portray an open lesbian in a positive light. Characters such as Bea Smith, Myra Desmond, Sandy Edwards, and Marie Winter made this show addictive. Besides rooting for the good guys to reclaim power in the constant power struggles, there was also the entertaining game of spotting actors who have been with the show before returning as another character and also spotting the wobbling sets. Low budget, starring plain, ordinary women... this show probably wasn't expected to be as huge as it became, but after watching a few episodes, anyone will see just why it became such a hit.

If you live in Sweden and were to say "I watch 'Prisoner'" to one of your friends, you would get a big laugh. You would probably be mocked for eternity. I too was one of the mockers, one of the bullies. My brother once told me he watched Prisoner, I laughed hard and long but then realised that he didn't have much choice since he didn't have cable and hence nothing to watch late at night. The summer of 2003 things changed. I shared an apartment with him during this summer and he forced me to watch it. O boy, it didn't take long to understand what I had missed during these long years.

The show is really dramatic and even though some of the actors/actresses aren't the best (and damn right ugly!) or the visual dramatic effects are pretty poor. The storyline and the plot are really well thought of and every episode is really packed with action and drama. If you were to compare it to another long running show like Days of Our Lives, DoOL wouldn't stand a chance. If you miss a week of episodes of Prisoner you miss A LOT, and when you come back to watch you wouldn't know what's going on. However if you miss a month of DoOL and come back to watch, you're still in the game and know exactly what's going on since one single small event can last for a week of episodes. They story advances really fast in Prisoner and that's what makes it so different from all the modern soap operas which are advancing DoOL style; slow as hell.

The only thing I fear now is whether I'll be able to find the time to watch all the upcoming episodes of Prisoner - I really don't want to miss one single episode!

My name is stekflott and I am a Prisoner addict.

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 are interested, watch it you won't be disappointed I promise you. Its one of the best Australian television shows ever.

Watch it 5 stars

This is certainly the best prison show ever, and probably the best soap opera/melodrama ever, too. It's humor and lack of pretension make it 100 times better than "Oz" will ever be. Of course, setting it in a women's prison gave the creators a lot more freedom in dealing with characters. We have fewer preconceptions so they couldn't rely on stereotypes like they do on "Oz". It would be neat, in a way, if they could have Vera (aka Vinegar Tits) guest star as a guard on Oz. She'd straighten that place up in short order! Somebody please bring this back to American TV!!