Eight years, nine seasons and a cult following later, the stars of Wentworth have shared their sadness and nostalgia after the prison drama came to an end last night.
After its premiere in 2013, the show that is set behind the bars of Wentworth Correctional Centre has become one of the most renowned original Australian dramas of all time. It’s been screened in 173 territories around the world, igniting millions of die-hard fans.
The much-loved Foxtel series, which aired its 100th and final episode last night, shows the brutal pressure-cooker environment inside a women’s prison, where the inmates are forced to forge unlikely friendships and allegiances if they want to survive their time behind bars.
Kate Box, who plays prisoner Lou Kelly, said there was “massive adrenaline” on set as the cast and crew shot the finale last year.
The finale episode of Foxtel’s popular drama, which has grown a cult following since it first hit screens in 2013, aired last night.
(Image: Foxtel)“It was freezing, it was bloody and everybody was so determined to go out giving it absolutely everything they had. There was massive passion to it given by everyone and a few tears as well,” she told The Herald Sun.
Jane Hall, who joined the show in season eight as prison guard Ann Reynolds, said the team effort among the cast and crew was unmeasured to any series she’d previously worked on.
“I’ve only been in the last two seasons which makes me very fresh but as we worked through the scenes … everyone stayed behind even after their scenes had finished in order to stand around with the crew and clap everyone off as one by one we each completed our last scene on that day,” she said.
“That’s something that doesn’t happen often, that level of camaraderie. That support from cast and crew was an amazing experience.”
Kate Box, who plays prisoner Lou Kelly, said there was “massive adrenaline” on set as the cast and crew shot the finale last year.
(Image: Foxtel)Rurriwuy Hick, who plays prisoner Ruby Mitchell said she didn’t expect the series’ end to be so emotional.
“You give so much of yourself to the character and I’d been there since season six. I don’t even know how to describe it, really, it’s definitely a family and I still to this day miss everybody and miss being in that machine,” she said.
When filming wrapped for the final season last year it didn’t take long for the production site to be dismantled, not long after which the show’s producer, Jo Porter, hinted at some kind of continuation.
“The Victorian Government have plans for that site, we always had to move out of there this year,” Jo told the Herald Sun’s SMARTdaily.
“But we’ve relocated sites once before,” she explained, pointing out the first three seasons of the prison drama were filmed in Coburg in Melbourne.
And the jail cell doors certainly haven’t been slammed shut on a possible spin-off.
“Never say never. It feels like this chapter of the show has finished. This season has had a big spike in audience domestically. We’re getting new audiences all the time.
“There’s a few characters who survive, there are possibilities but at the moment we’re focusing on this being a beautiful bow to draw a close to this chapter,” Porter hinted of a possible spin-off.
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