Wentworth – The Freak is Alive! Pamela Rabe Will Return For Season 8

Almost had a heart attack after seeing the last few seconds of season 7! Best news 2019 so far! Check out this nowtolove.com.au article for everything about this fantastic Wentworth season finale + a short video of Joan’s return!

Jo Porter about the episode:

Jo, we need to know, was it always your intention to have The Freak re-appear at some point?
You might have noticed we never had DNA confirmation that it was actually her in the box – and if anyone could pull this off, well it would be Joan! I can’t wait for the audience theories on how this was possible. I will say [script producer] Marcia Gardner and her writing team have once again done an incredible job of earthing the Joan story – no pun intended!
We know it’s early days, but can you hint at what may be explored in the final 20 episodes?
The ending of series seven has left some tantalising story threads hanging. How will the prison rebuild after the trauma of the failed siege (Marie has been exposed to the women for her role in this)? How will Boomer and Ruby cope inside without the person who had their back? Rita is in police protection, we’ll see Vera coping as a mother, and who will take over the mantle of Top Dog? And, of course, the big one – just how DID Joan Ferguson survive?

Source: nowtolove.com.au


Wentworth season 7 finale bombshells revealed!

Deaths, shock returns and LOTS of tears… Everything that happened in that heartbreaking finale.

It’s shock, after shock, after shock in Wentworth’s explosive season finale!
And before you continue reading, we have to warn you:

MAJOR, MAJOR, MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD

Fans have been left reeling after the death of two inmates… and the shock return of The Freak!
That’s right. The Wentworth season seven finale has just aired, and it ended with the mother of all cliffhangers: the return of The Freak!

Just when we thought we couldn’t be any more flabbergasted, along came a final scene, which showed Joan Ferguson (Pamela Rabe) alive and well, seemingly living rough and presumably quietly scheming her revenge.

We’ve got ACTUAL chills!

What this means for Will (Robbie Magasiva), Vera (Kate Atkinson) and Jake (Bernard Curry) is anyone’s guess. But all we can say is thank goodness this show got a last-minute reprieve and was picked up for another 20 episodes, because now we’ll actually get to find out!

(more…)

Continue ReadingWentworth – The Freak is Alive! Pamela Rabe Will Return For Season 8

Pamela Rabe’s Big TV Comeback

It’s been more than two years since Pamela Rabe’s Wentworth character, Joan “The Freak” Ferguson was buried alive in the season-five finale. That’s a long time to come to terms with The Freak’s death.

And yet even the most cynical Wentworth fan will admit that every time the lights get low and the music drops, they’re half-expecting the character to come back from the dead.

So haunting was Pamela’s portrayal of the governor-turned-prisoner that Wentworth fans remain convinced The Freak is unkillable. Turns out, maybe they’re right.

“Well, is she gone?” Pamela asks with a laugh on the phone to TV WEEK, her voice still carrying hints of the menace that made Joan so unforgettable.

“I have no idea. If I did, I wouldn’t be able to say anything about it or I’d have to kill you.”
Pamela is joking – we hope – but for now, secrets around the future of Wentworth remain tightly guarded. But if the acclaimed show has taught us anything, it’s never say never.

“She was buried alive in the box, and who knows what will become of her? Who knows if she’s really gone?” the 60-year-old teases.

It’s clear, just listening to the actress talk about Wentworth, that the TV WEEK Logie Award-winning show still holds a special place in her heart.

 

 

Pamela Rabe in “The Hunting”, Video by sbs.com.au

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime job,” she says. “I know that – I think we all knew that.”
So even if The Freak is no more, she’s still very much alive in Pamela’s head, and the women she left behind remain in her thoughts.

“I have such admiration for the producers, directors and actors,” the actress says. “Particularly the writers for crafting with such care. And delivering narratives that place women front and centre – women of all shapes and sizes and moralities.”

With the season-seven finale having just aired, and another batch of episodes on the way next year, Pamela is tipping some familiar faces might bid farewell.

“People come, people go, people die, people get released – Wentworth is great because there’s a constant refreshing of characters and stories,” she explains.

“But there’s also a threat of constant danger for the few who’ve been there from the beginning.”

Continue ReadingPamela Rabe’s Big TV Comeback

Diva Magazine: A Tale of Two Freaks

MAGGIE KIRKPATRICK AND PAMELA RABE TALK ABOUT THE LEGENDARY CHARACTER, PRISON OFFICER JOAN “THE FREAK” FERGUSON

Slipping on those famous leather gloves and stalking the corridors of Wentworth Detention Centre, Prisoner’s Joan Ferguson instantly became not only an iconic television villain but also a rare occurrence of a lesbian character in early 80s television. Making her debut in episode 287, broadcast in Australia in June 1982, officer Ferguson – nicknamed The Freak – quickly got to business at the female jail, performing questionable body searches, involving herself with gambling rackets and taking a shine to new inmate Hannah Simpson. Indeed, until the final episode – number 692 – aired in December 1986, there was very little untoward activity that she wasn’t involved in, until finally getting her comeuppance. But that’s not the end of this “sadistic, corrupt, bull-dyke screw”, as the character was originally pitched to actor Maggie Kirkpatrick. The series gained a new lease of life when sold overseas, following the success of exports such as Neighbours and Home And Away. Kirkpatrick travelled the world as the fanbase grew, also appearing alongside Paul O’Grady’s drag alter-ego Lily Savage in a West End musical production of Prisoner: Cell Block H – as the show was renamed in the UK.

Pamela Rabe & Maggie Kirkpatrick in Birmingham July 2018Photo by Paul Schnaars / Screen Star Events

Yet that still wasn’t the end for Ferguson. In 2013, a reimagining of the series, Wentworth, began in Australia. Swiftly becoming one of the best drama series of recent years, a familiar name joined the ranks of Wentworth Correctional Centre. Joan Ferguson returned to screens, The Freak reborn and reimagined by actor Pamela Rabe. She’s been so successful in the role that she’s been nominated for, and won, several awards – including having recently picked up a Logie for Most Outstanding Actress. (more…)

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You’ve Got Blackmail

Twist and bombshells keep the shocks coming

The pressure has been building for weeks and a series of explosive storylines are set to ignite in this week’s tense and explosive Wentworth finale.
The gritty Aussie prison drama never fails to deliver – and the dramatic end to season six is no exception. It even took the cast by surprise.
“The whole episode – as a fan and as an actor in it – is unreal.” Leah Purcell 48, who plays Rita Connors, tells TV WEEK.

After teasing it out – and ramping up the tension – across the season, Vera’s (Kate Atkinson) blackmailer is finally revealed in a jaw-dropping twist.
Is it Joan “The Freak” Ferguson (Pamela Rabe)? Is she still alive and tormenting her? The chilling revelation leaves the governor stunned. We also learn Vera has been keeping another secret of her own. Will (Robbie Magasiva) and Jake (Bernard Curry) are equally dumbfounded. And the shocks continue in the moments that follow the unmasking, especially as Will is just seconds away from confessing his involvement in The Freak’s disappearance to the investigating officers.

The deadly post-reveal twist cleverly paves the way for the trio to potentially extricate themselves from the criminal predicament they’ve found themselves in. But they might not be in the clear just yet. (more…)

Continue ReadingYou’ve Got Blackmail