Prisoner Cell Block H - Volume 6 Boxset

RRP: £39.99

Best Price: £9.99

Australians aren’t exactly world renowned for making good TV drama. Outside of Neighbours and Home and Away, their output is perhaps better suited to beer and surfboards. They do, however, have a reputation for convicts - an expertise which flourishes in Prisoner Cell Block H.

Joking aside, Prisoner Cell Block H is a really good show. Following a group of female prisoners and looking at their relationships with each other and the staff, it’s Bad Girls 1979 - hard hitting, at times shocking prison drama with occasional insights into women who, for all of their violent faults, are at times extraordinarily likable. It’s an ensemble piece, a show that was in truth so ahead of its time that most broadcasters worldwide didn’t really know what to do with it. Today, it’s the sort of show that only HBO would get to make - controversial, unsettling, but essentially great TV.

Across the 32 episodes in volume six, we follow the girls as they head towards a Christmas Panto and a perfect cover for a carefully planned escape attempt. Meanwhile, suspicion grows amidst claims that an undercover reporter is living amongst the girls and plans are made to root her out.

In many ways, Prisoner is a soap - and as always it’s a pleasure of sorts to just see these girls interact, to fight to be top dog and come together against the parole board. Episodes aren’t exactly known for diversity, but events are always unpredictable, building towards cliffhangers that will have you scrambling for the next DVD before the credits even roll. The episodes in this particular set are, in some ways, the last days of prime Prisoner - the core group of leads remain, and as we move into volume seven, more and more guest characters are introduced for diversity. If you want to watch Prisoner - and watch it at its peak - this set is a must-buy.

And so, it turns out, Australians make excellent TV drama. Perhaps they don’t make as much as the US or the UK, and perhaps most of it never reaches our shores, but when it does, it’s TV drama of the highest quality.