Read more about the article Pamela Rabe praises fan power that saved show from the axe

Pamela Rabe praises fan power that saved show from the axe

Pamela Rabe also teases ‘the Freak’s’ return from the dead as “surprising and delicious”

Australian drama Wentworth Prison had its sentenced extended after fans campaigned to save it from the axe and secured another two seasons for the gritty reboot of cult favourite Prisoner: Cell Block H.

A final 20 episodes airing as two series of 10 will wrap up the hit show, with the shock return of iconic baddie Joan ‘The Freak’ Ferguson jump-starting season eight which begins on 5STAR from Wednesday 5th August.

The sadistic prison warden, and occasional inmate, was seemingly buried alive in 2017 as a punishment for her catalogue of crimes, but as glimpsed in the closing moments of the last season she has miraculously risen from the dead. In an exclusive interview with RadioTimes.com, Pamela Rabe reveals her character’s resurrection would not have been possible without the fans’ successful campaign to reverse the Foxtel network’s original decision to end at season seven.

Pamela Rabe | Wentworth Season 8 Episode 2“I’ve never known a response from the audience on this scale,” says the acclaimed actress, who won Australian TV’s most prestigious award, the Silver Logie, for the role in 2018. “As with the original Prisoner series the fan loyalty is incredible and seems to have been multiplied with our show.

“It reaches so many countries and different communities (it’s broadcast in 158 territories), people are touched by the show and affected by it. I credit the writers as they sprinkle scripts with catnip, there is a real binge-ability to it. I find myself watching one episode and I have to keep going, it’s very addictive.

“Season seven had all but wrapped which everyone thought would be the last, but after the fan outcry and maybe the awards we won, the network decided to give it one last hurrah. The writers always knew there was more to Ferguson’s story, and once the show was saved it was an opportunity to complete some unfinished business.” (more…)

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Read more about the article Back From The Dead (The Binge Guide)

Back From The Dead (The Binge Guide)

PAMELA RABE WAS JUST AS SHOCKED AS ANYONE ABOUT HER RETURN TO WENTWORTH, WRITES CAMERON ADAMS

Pamela Rabe as Joan Ferguson / Kath Maxwell in Wentworth Season 8 RedemptionEven when Joan The Freak’ Ferguson was buried alive in Wentworth three years ago, fans of the hit Foxtel drama series still weren’t convinced she was dead. For Pamela Rabe, whose chilling performance of Ferguson saw her win a Logie for Most Outstanding Actress in 2018, she was certain she’d filmed her final scenes and The Freak had gone for good. While she came back “to haunt (nemesis) Will Jackson” a few times in flashback scenes in the next season, she decompressed from portraying one of Australian television’s darkest characters through comedy (starring in limited series Pitting Adelaide) and her beloved theatre work. But if anyone could cheat death, even when buried in the bush, it was The Freak. Not only was Wentworth saved from being axed in part after fans campaigned for its return, but Rabe got the call back too for the series’ final season, which started filming this year and will play out until 2021.

“I assumed Joan was gone, and she’d gone out with a bang,” Rabe tells The BINGE Guide.

“I was as surprised as anyone to get the phone call but I’m thrilled it happened. I didn’t expect to come back to Wentworth, and I don’t think many of my fellow cast members knew until I rocked up to the set again.

“The story wasn’t finished, not just the Joan Ferguson story but the whole arc of the show. The writing department at Wentworth lay seeds for a very long arc of stories. That long arc wasn’t finished yet. I’m thrilled for them they get to finish this off properly and I’m lucky they considered Joan Ferguson to be a part of that.” (more…)

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Read more about the article Wentworth – Extended Sentence

Wentworth – Extended Sentence

Wentworth Season 8

Wentworth may have been inspired by female jail drama Prisoner but it is on track to be on air longer than the show that spawned it. Prisoner ran from 1979-86, Wentworth started in 2013 and will end in 2021. However, while Wentworth was a “re-imagining” of Prisoner, and borrowed characters including Bea Smith, Joan “The Freak” Ferguson, Vera Bennett and Lizzie Birdsworth, it quickly forged its own identity.

It now airs in over 15o countries and screens on Netflix in the US.

It is Wentworth’s graphic, violent scenes, intense storylines and LGBTQ characters that have created a fiercely loyal fanbase.
“People tell me they watch Wentworth episodes and they have to sit on their couch afterwards and take a break,” Leah Purcell, who plays Rita Connors (another Prisoner character rebooted) says.

“That’s what you want.

You want good drama that moves people, whether you hate or love a character, if you feel something you’ve done your job.”

Pamela Rabe | Season 5 HQ PromoThe fanbase is so loyal that when the show was planned to end in 2018 after season seven, fans got wind of the decision before it was announced (a loose-lipped actor also let it slip during a TV interview) and determined to save their favourite show.
Fans not only started a #savewent-worth campaign on social media, there were claims one diehard viewer flew a drone over the show’s Melbourne set to see if the outdoor jail area had been disassembled. (more…)

Continue ReadingWentworth – Extended Sentence