London – UFA Serial Drama, part of FremantleMedia’s German production arm UFA, and RTL, have revealed plans to produce a German-language adaptation of the Australian prison drama Wentworth. The commission will see ten episodes of a new German version which goes into production in Berlin in March 2014.

Barbara Thielen, Head of Fiction RTL, said, “The stories and characters of Wentworth will polarise and initiate discussions among the audience. Many women whose fates we are telling are certainly guilty in a legal sense, but if you can condemn them in a moral sense as well, everyone will judge differently.”

Guido Reinhardt, Chief Creative Officer, UFA Serial Drama said, “Wentworth is dynamic, controversial as well as emphatic. In this field of tension we present an uncompromising world, where friendship, trust and loyalty means everything and the question whether law and justice are actually the same is repeatedly raised. The answer to this is more than complex and thus a fascinating subject – packed in a highly emotional series.”

Wentworth Australia

The FremantleMedia Australia drama airs on Foxtel Australia and is currently in production for its second season in Melbourne, the series is due to launch in 2014. The Australian version has sold to Africa (MNET), Eire (TV3), Sweden (TV4) and Scandinavia (CMORE), as well as New Zealand (TVNZ), UK (FIVE). It is also available in 15 markets through a pan-Eastern Europe deal with SPI. Additionally, deals for season two have been concluded for the UK, Eire, Scandinavia, Sweden and New Zealand.

Since launching in Australia earlier this year, the series 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.