Prisoner (TV series)

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Prisoner
Also known as	Prisoners (working title)[1] Prisoner: Cell Block H (UK and United States) Caged Women (Canada) Kvinnofängelset (The Women's Prison; Sweden) Więźniarki (Prisoners; Poland) Celblok H (Cellblock H; Netherlands) As Prisioneiras (Prisoners; Brazil)
Genre	Soap opera serial (crime-drama)
Created by	Reg Watson
Written by	Ian Smith, Anne Lucas, Coral Drouyn
Directed by	Chris Adshead Steve Mann Sean Nash Kendal Flanagan Leigh Spence Tony Osicka (and others)[nb 1]
Starring	(see List of Prisoner cast members)
Theme music composer	Allan Caswell Conductor – William Motzing
Ending theme	"On the Inside" (written by Allan Caswell, conducted by William Motzing performed by Lynne Hamilton)
Country of origin	Australia
Original language	English
No. of seasons	8
No. of episodes	692 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer	Ian Bradley (from season 2)
Producers	Ian Bradley (season 1), Ian Smith
Production locations	Melbourne, Victoria
Camera setup	Video
Running time	41–53 minutes
Production company	Reg Grundy Organisation
Original release
Network	Network Ten
Release	27 February 1979 (1979-02-27) – 11 December 1986 (1986-12-11)
Related
Wentworth
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Prisoner (known in the UK and the US as Prisoner: Cell Block H) is an Australian television soap opera, which broadcast on Network Ten (formerly the 0-10 Network) from February 27 (Melbourne) February 26 (Sydney) 1979 to December 1986 (Melbourne), though the series finale would not screen until September 1987 in Sydney, where it aired as a three-hour film that was split into three one-hour episodes at the much-later time-slot of 10:30 p.m., running eight seasons and 692 episodes.

Prisoner was the first Australian series to feature a primarily female-dominated cast ^{[citation needed]} and carried the slogan "If you think prison is hell for a man, imagine what it would be like for a woman!"^[2]

The series, produced by the Grundy Organisation, was conceived by Reg Watson and filmed at the then Network Ten Melbourne Studios at Nunawading and on location.

The series garnered an international cult following, and it was one of Australia's most successful media exports, exported to 80 countries, performing particularly well in the United States and Canada (billed as Prisoner: Cell Block H and Caged Women, respectively). It also built a large audience in the United Kingdom and other European countries, especially Sweden.

Sammy Davis Jr. was a major fan and visited the set, and wanted to appear in a role, but had other engagements at the time.^[3]

The cult status of the series has seen many adaptations, including the modern 21st century re-imaging series Wentworth on Foxtel.

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