Who could forget the blood-curdling ending of Australian

prison drama Wentworth’s first season when Bea (New Zealand’s Danielle Cormack) kills top-dog Jacs (Kris McQuade) with a pen after she finds out Jacs is responsible for her daughter’s death?

This powerful show, a reboot of the classic ’80s TV series Prisoner, has kept viewers gripping the edge of their seats with its gritty realism as they witnessed twisted relationships, dirty secrets and copious amounts of blood.

This week it returns for a second season, and as well as familiar faces, there are new inmates and some changes in management too.

Back working behind bars New Zealand export Robbie Magasiva (Shortland Street’s Dr Maxwell Avia), who plays troubled prison guard Will Jackson. Last season he lost his wife, prison governor Meg (Catherine McClements), after she was murdered in a prison riot.

When I meet Robbie, I find him on the floor helping a screaming woman in a blue tracksuit who is covered in blood. But this is all in a day’s work on-set playing Will, which Robbie says, “if anything, it’s a lot more full-on this year”.

After he cleans up, we sit in the governor’s office as Robbie reveals how he had to choose acting over playing rugby, his love of practical

jokes on-set and missing his Auckland home.

Is it true you had to choose between playing rugby and acting?I could have been a rugby player, that is true. I was probably about 12 when our teachers got us to do sketches, and a couple of us got up and did it in front of the school. People laughed, and I thought, ‘This is quite cool, I like entertaining people’. Rugby was always there, but to the disappointment of one of my coaches, I said acting was the path I wanted to choose. Plus rugby players have a short lifespan, and they get old and all their joints hurt. I’m 41 and all my joints are perfect (laughs).

Tell us a bit about your character, Will Jackson.Will used to be a social worker and he was also a druggie, and then Meg pulled him out and got him a job in Wentworth. So he brings that background with him. He wants to try to council the prisoners and let them know there is a better life for them out there. He is basically the good guy.

How did you prepare to play a prison guard role?Real prisoners came to talk to the girls and that was a great insight. I spoke to a retired guard, who is now an extra on the show. I asked if I could go to a prison in the second series but the producer said no, only because the show is on-air now and it would make the prisoners go nuts seeing someone from here, so they didn’t want to cause a ruckus.

What is the best bit about filming?Aaron (Jeffery, a Kiwi who plays Matt “Fletch” Fletcher) and I do pranks to entertain ourselves. Unless we have a full-on scene we have to concentrate on, the rest of time we are terrible. There was one time we were filming a serious scene where one of the prisoners was slashing her wrists and I went in and tried to say my lines, ‘calm down, calm down’, but Aaron was behind me where the cameras couldn’t see him, and he kept bumping into me, and then stood right behind me and didn’t move … it was intimate (laughs). That’s just one story, there are many more.

Can you give us any clues as to what season two has in store for Will?I’m not allowed to say much ... let’s just say a lot of the questions that were asked at the end of the first series are answered in this series. I love the full-on, emotional scenes. They’re going to grab you and say, ‘Look at me, don’t take your eyes off me’.

n Wentworth, Monday, TV2, 8.30pm

TV Guide

These days, if a young adult novel is a hit, you can rest assured it will be transferred to the big screen in no time. Suzanne Collin’s The Hunger Games is certainly no fluffy piece about wizards or werewolves and director and co-writer Gary Ross (Seabiscuit) does a magnificent job of bringing the futuristic world of Panem to life. To fight for survival in a world ravaged by drought, famine and war, teenagers are forced to battle to the death live on television while the rest are forced to watch. But when 16-year-old Katniss’ (Jennifer Lawrence) young sister is chosen to fight, she steps up in her place with dangerous consequences. Gripping and gruesome. HHHH

Previews Your guide to the week’s best viewingKeeping the peace: Robbie Magasiva as prison guard Will Jackson in Wentworth.

Sunday August 24The Hunger Games TV2, 8.30pm, AO (2012)

On target: Jennifer Lawrence stars in The Hunger Games.

HigHligHt

Cover story

1. Resurrection is based on which book by Jason Mott?A. The ReturnedB. The RememberedC. The ReincarnatedD. The Refund

2. Omar Epps has not featured in which of the following films:A. Scream 2B. Major League IIC. Grease 2D. Dracula 2000

3. The series follows residents of which US state?A. MississippiB. MissouriC. MichiganD. Alaska

4. How is Dr Maggie Langston (Devin Kelley) related to sheriff Fred Langston (Matt Craven)? A. WifeB. MotherC. SisterD. Daughter

5. With which actor does Frances Fisher have a daughter named Francesca? A. Macaulay CulkinB. Kirk DouglasC. Clint EastwoodD. Charlie Sheen

THinGs abouT

Resurrection

ansWeRs: 1A, 2C, 3B, 4D, 5C

The inside manFresh from filming season two of prison drama Wentworth, Claire Henderson gets the lowdown from Robbie Magasiva on life behind bars.

Hired gun: Joseph

Gordon-Levitt in

Looper.

tuesday August 19Me, Myself & irene TV3, 8.30pm AO (2000)

After proving his chops as a serious actor in The Truman Show and Man on the Moon, Jim Carrey returned to the one-man-freakshow ethic that originally catapulted him to superstardom. Under the direction of the Farrelly brothers, Carrey (right) plays Charlie, an overly polite and much-mocked highway patrolman with a Jekyll-and-Hyde personality, whose seemingly simple task of escorting a fugitive (Renée Zellweger) cross-country becomes fraught with danger. Carrey’s loose-caboose antics take centre stage with little regard for taste, and the cavalcade of mutterings and crass situations should only appeal to the terminally juvenile. HHH

sleepy HollowPrime, 8.30pm

If you could step back in time and change how things turned out, even if you were warned of possible catastrophic consequences, would you do it? That’s the situation Icabod Crane (Tom Mison) finds himself in tonight after he is floored on learning of a son he never knew existed. Determined to find out why his wife Katrina (Katia Winter) kept her pregnancy hidden from him, he enlists the help of the so-called “Sin Eater” Henry Parrish (John Noble) in the hope he can help contact his wife in her other-worldy prison. But the task comes with a cost: any journey into the netherworld could have unintended and deadly consequences. Ichabod is determined, however, but when a creature follows him back, the warnings become a living nightmare. HHH

Wednesday August 20Looper Movies1, 6.30pm, AO (2012)

Hit man Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) gets the job done efficiently and

remorselessly, knocking off his victims – sent to him

from the future – before heading out to enjoy

the 2044 nightlife. Things start to unravel when his latest target not only escapes, but turns out to be his future self (Bruce Willis). Writer-director Rian

Johnson’s thriller is original, ambitious

and stylish to boot. HHHH

My Kitchen RulesTV2, 7.30pm

The heat has been on high for weeks and all but two teams have packed up their knives and been sent out of the kitchen. Which pair has the right ingredients to be crowned winner of My Kitchen Rules? Surely it’ll be the duo who have kept their cool during the high-pressure food truck challenge, the “sudden death” cook-offs and the instant restaurant round, right? But it won’t be an easy choice as the difference between the finalists comes down to personal taste. With judges Pete Evans and Manu Fieldel giving their final demanding critiques, the tension is palpable and, with a $250,000 cash

prize up for grabs, you can guarantee a final

showdown like no other. HHH

Saturday August 23Lorraine Pascale:

baking Made easyPrime, 6.30pm

She’s practically a household name in the UK, but New Zealanders are

only just discovering the cooking mastery of Lorraine Pascale. She takes the fuss out of entertaining and proves you don’t have to be a master chef to wow your next dinner guests. Tonight, her whisky and chilli tiger prawns are mouth-watering and ready in less than 30 minutes. And if you thought creme brulee was something only professional pastry chefs could achieve, think again after learning the secrets to her mascarpone and ginger version. All this is done with an ease that ensures the host doesn’t end up frazzled. Perfect. HHHH

Sunday August 24superbad TV3, 9.30pm, AO (2007)

Producer Judd Apatow (The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up) comes up trumps yet again with this hilarious entry. School’s out for best buddies Seth and Evan (Jonah Hill, right, and Michael Cera) and it’s the last chance for the two co-dependent geeks to “get laid” before their far-hotter classmates disappear to college. Meanwhile, their mate Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Kick-Ass) is on a

mission of his own with a pair of clueless cops (Bill Hader and co-writer Seth Rogen) and a fake ID. It may sound like another American Pie, but the semi-improvised feel to the dialogue makes for a much tastier comedy prospect. HHHH

Monday August 26What Happens in Vegas TV3, 8.30pm, PGR (2008)

Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher don’t take much of a gamble with this romantic comedy about two strangers who drunkenly tie the knot in Las Vegas. Just as they finalise annulment plans, the reluctant newlyweds win $3 million on a pokie machine and become locked in a battle to claim the coin. But amid the bitterness, love looks like it could blossom. Director Tom Vaughan takes his cue from the screwball comedies of the 1950s with a significant dose of War of the Roses thrown in for good measure. Blessed with sexy leads and strong support from Queen Latifah, it’s a fairly safe bet that pays off in the end. HHH

H Bomb HH Average HHH Worth your while HHHH Excellent HHHHH UnmissableSt

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