Is Wentworth Based On A True Story? – Celebrity
Matthew Cannon
Updated on May 24, 2026
No, ‘Wentworth’ is not based on a true story. It takes its source material from ‘Prisoner,’ Reg Watson’s popular 1980s cult classic soap opera that deals with the controversial topic of feisty and troubled women behind bars. ‘Prisoner’ ran for eight seasons between 1979 and 1986.
No, Wentworth is not based on a true story. The show is a fictionalized account of life inside an Australian women’s prison. What Channel is Wentworth On? In Australia, Wentworth airs on the Foxtel channel Showcase. The show is also available to stream on Foxtel Now and Foxtel Go.
Is Wentworth Based on a True Story? No, ‘Wentworth’ is definitely not dependent for the most part upon a genuine story. It takes its stock materials from ‘Prisoner,’ Reg Watson’s standard Eighties clique customary cleaning drama that proposes with the dubious subject of spunky and grieved women in jail.
Producer Jo Porter commented that the series would explore “the politics of women in a world with few men, and how the experience both challenges and changes them, sometimes for the better”. Wentworth is set in the modern-day and explores Bea Smith’s early days in prison.
The fictional prison known as Wentworth first made its appearance on Australian television as the female prison where Prisoner: Cell Block H was set. In fact, Wentworth is something of a modern-day Prisoner, and many of the stars, including Pamela Rabe who plays “The Freak,” are very familiar with the original cast.
For the first three seasons, Wentworth was filmed on purpose-built sets in the suburbs of Clayton, Victoria. Starting with the fourth season, production moved to Newport, Victoria. The show has received a mostly positive reception from critics, and the first episode became the most watched Australian drama series premiere in Foxtel history.
In January 2014, it was announced that a third season of Wentworth had been ordered, before the second had aired. In a similar manner, a 12-episode fourth season was announced before the airing of the third season on 27 February 2015. It began airing from 10 May 2016.
Where is the setting of Wentworth?
Wentworth is set in modern-day Australia. It explores the life of Bea Smith ( Danielle Cormack) when she first enters prison after being charged with the attempted murder of her husband. Bea is separated from her daughter and sent to Wentworth on remand, where she lives in “an uncertain limbo” until she is sentenced. Starting at the bottom of Wentworth’s hierarchy, Bea is forced to learn how to survive in prison.
Lara Radulovich and David Hannam developed Wentworth from Reg Watson ‘s original concept. The series is set in the modern day and initially focuses on Bea Smith’s ( Danielle Cormack) early days in prison and her subsequent rise to the top of the prison’s hierarchy.
They preferred the original series Prisoner and accused Wentworth of being everything the original was not. The first episode of Wentworth attracted 244,000 viewers, making it the most watched Australian drama series premiere in Foxtel history.
Wentworth was commissioned for an eighth and final season consisting of 20 episodes and airing in two parts; the first part from July to September 2020, and the second part from 24 August 2021, with its final episode on 26 October.
For other uses, see Wentworth (disambiguation). Wentworth is an Australian television drama series. It was first broadcast on SoHo on 1 May 2013. The series serves as a contemporary reimagining of Prisoner, which ran on Network Ten from 1979 to 1986.
Wentworth began airing on Foxtel ‘s SoHo channel from 1 May 2013. Filming for the second season began on 23 September 2013 and wrapped on 13 February 2014. The second season began airing on 20 May 2014. Production for the third season resumed in March and filming was completed in late July.
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An eighth season has been commissioned and will serve as the final season to the series. The first part on 28 July 2020 and the second part is set for 2021.
How many deaths are there in season 1 of Wentworth?
The first season alone features three shocking deaths that dramatically change the direction and make-up of the entire series. That’s because Wentworth doesn’t use its setting to explore in-depth character studies or the effects of race and socio-economics on the trajectory of a person’s life.
But this is the standard on Wentworth. There isn’t a single character who is too easily redeemed — a far cry from Litchfield, which seems to be the only prison in the world filled entirely with sympathetic women who are victims of socio-economic circumstance, rather than real criminals.
A gritty drama and mystery series rolled into one, Wentworth (which is based on the 1980s Austral ian show Prisoner) is just as good, if not better, than any of the big- name American cable dramas that have broken new ground in recent years. Here are nine reasons you should be watching:
If you can’t bear the thought of waiting until Orange Is the New Black returns in June, you’re in luck. The Australian series Wentworth (available now on Netflix) is the perfect thing to fill that Orange -shaped hole in your heart.
Although Wentworth still uses flashbacks when necessary, the series also finds other ways to escape the suffocating claustrophobia of prison by incorporating characters’ current outside lives. And in fact, some of the strongest moments take place outside the prison gates.
