Media Release: Thursday, November 5, 2015
Foxtel today announced Sigrid Thornton, one of Australia’s most loved and celebrated actresses, has begun shooting a key role in FremantleMedia Australia’s Wentworth Season 4, which will premiere on the SoHo channel in 2016.
Ms Thornton is the first actress to have starred in the original Prisoner series to join the cast of Wentworth. However, rather than reprising her previous character Ros Coulson, she enters the prison as Sonia Stevens – a new character partially inspired by one originally played by Tina Bursill.
Wentworth’s Sonia Stevens character is the wealthy but self-made dynamo behind a cosmetics empire. She comes into the prison on remand, suspected of the murder of a missing woman.
Foxtel Head of Drama Penny Win said “Wentworth’s fourth season continues the series’ finely-honed evolution as a world class contemporary drama which proudly forges its own path, while fearlessly daring to reimagine characters and elements of the iconic Prisoner series
“Having Sigrid Thornton sign on to return behind the walls of Wentworth is a casting dream and a wonderful acknowledgement of the work the writing team has put into the creation of Sonia Stevens and our plans for her and all our characters.”
FremantleMedia Australia Director of Drama Jo Porter said “Sigrid was always on the top of our casting wish list – adored and admired by audiences for the strong women she has chosen to portray. From the second Sonia Stevens steps from the brawler, there is an unsettling sense all is not as it may seem. I am sure audiences will relish watching Sonia’s long game play out across season four.”
Wentworth’s cast and crew have been shooting the new 12 episode season in Melbourne since August.
The story will resume on air next year as Bea and her cell-block mates are returning to Wentworth after the fire and rebuilding of H Block to find a new dynamic in play with a new contender for Top Dog. On the outside, Franky is trying hard to be a productive member of society. As always, no-one should underestimate “the Freak”.
The cast includes Danielle Cormack (Bea Smith), Pamela Rabe (Joan Ferguson), Kate Atkinson (Vera Bennett), Nicole da Silva (Franky Doyle), Celia Ireland (Liz Birdsworth), Shareena Clanton (Doreen Anderson), Katrina Milosevic (Sue “Boomer” Jenkins), Robbie Magasiva (Will Jackson), Socratis Otto (Maxine Conway), Tammy MacIntosh (Kaz Proctor), Libby Tanner (Bridget Westfall), Jacquie Brennan (Linda Miles) and in the course of the season introduces Kate Jenkinson (Allie Novak), Bernard Curry (Jake Stewart) and Sigrid Thornton (Sonia Stevens).
Wentworth is a FremantleMedia Australia production for Foxtel with FremantleMedia Australia Director of Drama Jo Porter and Foxtel’s Head of Drama Penny Win as executive producers. Pino Amenta is series producer for season four. The directors are Kevin Carlin, Steve Jodrell, Jet Wilkinson and Adrian Russell Wills. The writers are John Ridley, Pete McTighe, Michael Lucas, Sam Winston and Marcia Gardner, who is both script producer and writer.
Wentworth’s third season has garnered two nominations for The 5th AACTA Awards, presented by Presto, to be held on December 9 – Best Television Drama Series and Best Lead Actress in a Television Drama for Pamela Rabe.
Earlier this year, Wentworth’s second season won two TV WEEK Logie Awards (Most Outstanding Drama Series and Most Outstanding Actress for Danielle Cormack) and two ASTRA Awards (Most Outstanding Drama – Australia and Most Outstanding Actor – Female for Danielle Cormack).
Wentworth is distributed by FremantleMedia International and has been sold to 87 countries.
Wentworth S4 will premiere on Foxtel’s SoHo channel in 2016
-Brad