Joan Ferguson (Wentworth)
| Joan Ferguson | |
|---|---|
| Wentworth Prison character | |
| First appearance | “Born Again” |
| Created by | Lara Radulovich Reg Watson |
| Portrayed by | Pamela Rabe |
| Status | Alive |
| Duration | 2014– |
| Crimes | Facilitating murder, facilitating attempted murder, facilitating assault, murder |
| Sentence | On Remand |
| Information | |
| Full name | Joan Ferguson |
| Nickname(s) | "The Freak" "Cruella DeVil" (by Franky & Shayne) |
| Occupation | Prison Governor |
| Affiliation | Nils Jesper |
| Family | Ivan Ferguson (father) |
| Significant other(s) | Jianna Riley |
Joan Ferguson is a fictional character in the Australian television series Wentworth, who serves as the main antagonist from season two onwards. Joan is portrayed by actress Pamela Rabe. 'Joan’s notable storylines is her feuds with Will Jackson and Matthew Fletcher. She is made the new governor of Wentworth after Erica Davidson is fired. The second series follows her turning Will Jackson and Matthew Fletcher against each other as well as replacing Franky Doyle with Bea Smith as top dog. After Bea becomes top dog, she turns against Joan and in the third season, their fight for power over the prison as well as Joan's vendetta against Will Jackson leads Joan to be arrested. In the fourth season, Joan returns as a prisoner of Wentworth, where she befriends Kaz in the hopes of taking out Nils Jesper, her former hitman who is testifying against her, and securing her release from prison. The fifth season has her imprisoned again for the murder of Bea Smith.
During her time as both governor and prisoner, Joan is known for creating major conflicts within Wentworth prison. She is notable for killing Simmo Slater and staging as an overdose as well as attempting to murder Matt Fletcher. In the third season, she tortured Jodie Spiteri and had Bea drugged when she tried to expose her, as well as framing Will Jackson for the murder of Bea's ex-husband, Harry Smith. She also killed Jess Warner and set the prison on fire to cover her tracks. In the fourth season, she manipulated Kaz Proctor into helping her murder Bea in revenge for Bea informing the police of Kaz's group, the Red Right Hand. This was foiled when Kaz found out it was Joan who revealed the group's identity the polic, making it look like Bea had done it. Afterwards, she used her knowledge of officer Jake Stewart's drug activties to have him kill Nils Jesper and help her hotshot Allie Novak, which led her to have no witnesses and her case dropped. Whilst walking free, Bea ambushed her in revenge for her attack on Allie and stabbed herself to make it look like Joan had killed her. The fifth season follows her second time being incarcarated and trying again to secure her release whilst the other inmates, including Franky Doyle, are out for revenge on her murder of Bea.
FremantleMedia Director of Drama Jo Porter said “Prisoner offered up a very rich well of amazing characters to draw upon and the Wentworth writers are very excited about revisiting the character of prison officer Joan ‘The Freak’ Ferguson in our second season. It was then announced that Pamela Rabe was going to portray Joan. It was said “In reviving the role of Joan Ferguson, Rabe adds to Wentworth‘s stellar cast and will undoubtedly add new layers to an imposing character…”
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