Prisoner’s Wives Series 1 Episode 1 Review

Be honest, when you heard the title you thought of Footballers Wives, didn’t you? Does it compare? Or do it any favours for that matter? No! If you want deep thought-provoking drama, you’ll want to look elsewhere (not that I’m saying FW was that at all). But if you want an hour of TV that you can just sit and enjoy then yeah its a bit like Footballers Wives in that respect, although I cringed at the line “I’m your dream ticket.”


The story focuses mainly on Gemma (Hollyoaks‘ Emma Rigby) whose husband Steve (Robin Hood‘s Jonas Armstrong), after a start of a couple-in-perfect-happiness set-up, gets hauled away by armed police, accused of murder. Gemma is left pregnant and alone, convinced her husband is innocent until she finds her husband hasn’t been as honest as she thought, when she discovers the gun he used in the attack in his mum’s caravan. During her visits to the prison she meets long time prisoners wife Francesca (Polly Walker), the confident and strong character, who wants to help support Gemma in her confused state, Lou (Natalie Gavin) who has a son that she adores, but goes out dealing drugs while he sleeps to make ends meet, and Harriet (Pippa Haywood) a woman who sits in the visitors car park waiting for who knows what yet.

It’s an enjoyable watch but really frustrating at times. Gemma’s constant crying and naivety got tedious, especially when it was revealed she had been brought up in foster care, which although made her crave security I would have thought would have made her stronger, maybe I’m assuming too much, but I find that unbelievable. Also would her husband really have been put away on remand before waiting to ask the evidence afterwards? That’s not a slight on the actress though who put in a strong performance for what she was given.

They wouldn’t use Gemma’s ceiling crashing down as a metaphor for her world caving in would they?! Of course they would! Good job Francesca was there to save the damsel. I’m being sarcastic on some aspects but on the whole the cast did a good job. This is no Bad Girls but it’s not bad, for a bit of easy TV kitchen sink drama.

This is a copy of my review for Simply TV