Wentworth Trivia | 40 facts about the series

Wentworth is a crime – drama TV series, that has gained a lot of popularity, and positive reviews.

Let’s find out more about it!’

1. Wentworth is an Australian television drama series.
2. It was first broadcast on SoHo.
3. Its premier was on 1st of May 2013.
4. The series serves as a contemporary reimagining of Prisoner, which ran on Network Ten from 1979 to 1986.
5. Lara Radulovich and David Hannam developed Wentworth from Reg Watson’s original concept.
6. 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.
7. From the fifth season onward, the series shifted to emphasize more of an ensemble format.
8. For the first three seasons, Wentworth was filmed on purpose-built sets in the suburbs of Clayton, Victoria.
9. Starting with the fourth season, production moved to Newport, Victoria.
10. The show has received a mostly positive reception from critics.
11. The first episode became the most watched Australian drama series premiere in Foxtel history.
12. The series was picked up by several countries, including New Zealand and the UK, where it is titled Wentworth Prison.
13. An eighth season has been commissioned.
14. The first part on 28 July 2020.
15. The second part is set for 2021.
16. It will serve as the final season to the series.
17. The Wentworth building in Newport is actually a former Victorian TAFE building.
18. The show required special permission from relevant departments within the Corrections and Education Departments before they allowed the set to be built inside, the original set in Clayton used for Season 1-3 filming was a purpose-built set.
19. Many of the cast of the show have claimed that the cast is like a “big family” and Kate Atkinson alluded to this during the 2018 Logies by saying ‘We are a family on this show, as we spend every moment together under the big roof of the big house.’
20. Filming for series 8 and 9 went into production in late October 2019 and wrapped in early September 2020, with both series filmed back-to-back. Production finished filming in early September after a break in production due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
21. When filming wrapped on 4th September available members of the cast and crew received gifts which included a placard for the cast’s four actors who had been there on set since day one
22. According to the cast, when they first started getting fan mail during season 1 a lot of it came from ex-corrections officers thanking them for getting officer life right when they were on the job.
23. The series also had a former corrections officer serving as a series consultant and also served as an extra for the first three seasons
24. In many interviews the cast have all said that the series has made everyone on the show “give it their absolute all.” and it has taken a toll on many of the actors, but they all say it is worth it to produce such quality TV for a wide audience base.
25. It is Foxtel Australia’s longest running one hour drama series.
26. When the series finishes its run it will be the longest running one hour drama in Foxtel AU’s history and Australian TV history.
27. As research, the principal cast and production team toured the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre in Deer Park, Victoria, meeting inmates and staff
28. Originally hired for 8 days series regular Jacquie Brennan (who played Linda Miles) was asked to read for a “small role” and received it after reading for and with several other actors, she also read against Katrina Milosevic for the role of Boomer.
29. Kevin Carlin one of the series directors asked Jacquie to read for the small role of Linda Miles a role she kept until the series wrapped up production 8 years later.
30. The series was voted ‘Show of the Decade’ by TV Tonight.
31. Series extras who were dressed as officers were named after many of the crew in the wardrobe department. Many of the Officer Extras had their names changed throughout the series, with extra Peta Webb originally named “Margo McCartney” after the series costume supervisor.
32. The show has the name of a real prison: Wentworth Gaol, a former Australian prison that operated between 1881 and 1928, is located in Wentworth, New South Wales and is now a tourist attraction.
33. During the filming of a fight scene in season 2, Nicole da Silva broke her wrist. And during filming for series 7 Tammy Macintosh injured her foot and suffered two nose injuries while filming series
34. Nicole da Silva is responsible for both the nicknames of Bridget (Gidget) and Officer Miles (Smiles)
35. The prison’s address is: Wentworth Correctional Centre, 1408 Centre Road, Wentworth, Victoria 3790.
36. In the original Prisoner Cell Block H. Franky Doyle never met Joan Ferguson.
37. In Prisoner its Meg’s husband Bill who dies in the riot (he is stabbed with scissors), in Wentworth it’s Will’s wife Meg who dies (she gets stabbed with a can opener).
38. When the series was launched in 2013 the cast of Wentworth were joined by members of the original Prisoner (1979) cast. With Fiona Spence calling Wentworth ‘The ultimate compliment’
39. Bea Smith shares the same inmate number as her namesake predecessor in Prisoner (1979): 329460.
40. Wentworth ranked second in The Great Australian Binge.