Skydance-owned UK broadcaster 5 has acquired the UK rights to “Wentworth: Halfway Home,” the sequel to the Australian prison drama it aired for eight seasons, Deadline reported. Distributor Fremantle is marketing the series as “Wentworth: Beyond Bars” outside Australia. It is due to launch on DAZN’s Binge in Australia and on 5 in Britain later this year. Neither platform has given an exact premiere date.
The story picks up with Susan “Boomer” Jenkins, played by Katrina Milosevic, who arrives at a halfway house freshly paroled. She wants custody of her daughter and a fresh start. A body turns up, and she must decide whom to trust among a house full of ex-convicts. Nicole da Silva returns as Franky Doyle, and Kate Box as Lou Kelly.
Binge released a trailer and first-look images this week, timed to the fifth anniversary of the original finale on Oct. 26. The release also announced nine more cast members: Nadine Garner, Elaine Crombie, Grace Chow, Sara West, Claude Jabbour, Daniel Henshall, Laura Gordon, Thom Green and Chika Ikogwe. They join Rachel Griffiths, Sophie Lowe, Alex King and Chenile Chandler.
Fremantle Australia has filmed in Melbourne since late July, with investment from Foxtel and Screen Australia and financing support from VicScreen. Carly Heaton and Brett Popplewell serve as executive producers. Gracie Otto, Nina Buxton and Tenika Smith direct.
The deal reunites the franchise with its British home. The original series ran from 2013 to 2021 and aired as “Wentworth Prison” on 5 and 5Star. A reimagining of the 1979 soap “Prisoner,” it sold to over 180 territories, including Netflix in the U.S., and inspired local versions in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Turkey. Jamie Lynn, Fremantle’s EVP of co-production and distribution for EMEA, said the sequel takes familiar characters in “a bold new direction” while keeping the show’s edge.
The sequel’s setting marks a change for a series defined by its cell blocks. The story moves outside the prison walls, where the world proves just as unforgiving. Some fans online asked where UK viewers would find the series, and the 5 deal answers that.
