MUMBAI: FremantleMedia has confirmed today that Holland will be the second territory to produce a local version of the global Australian hit prison drama Wentworth. Produced by FremantleMedia’s FourOne.Media, the Dutch-language remake, entitled Celblok-H, sees the faithful reproduction of all ten original scripts transported into a Dutch setting. SBS 6 has commissioned the show which will premiere in March 2014.
Based on the successful FremantleMedia Australia series, the compelling and emotional Celblok-H will follow the same gritty story of survival, rivalry, power struggles and unlikely allegiances within a female prison.
Willem Zijlstra, CEO of FourOne.Media commented: “The gripping scripts of Wentworth and the characters that inhabit the correctional institution make compelling stories no matter where they are in the world. It has been a joy to take the original scripts and to see them come to life in a completely new environment. I’ve no doubt that Dutch viewers will be as hooked with the show as audiences all over the world have been.”
The FremantleMedia Australia drama airs on Foxtel Australia and is currently in production for its second season in Melbourne. In January, FremantleMedia Australia and Foxtel announced that a third season of the show had been commissioned – even before season two had aired. The third season of Wentworth is scheduled to go into production in March 2014, shortly after filming on season two had wrapped. The Australian version has attracted international interest and has to date be sold to over twenty markets. At the end of 2013, FremantleMedia announced that Germany would be the first territory to make a local version of the show, with production planned for Berlin in March 2014.
Since launching in Australia in early 2013, this graphic, edgy reboot became the most watched non-sports programme in Australian subscription television history ever; while in the UK, the series became the number one primetime Australian drama in the UK since 2002. Celblok-H will premiere on Monday, March 3rd on SBS 6.
