COMING UP
FRANKY DOYLE (NICOLE DA SILVA)
This season sees Franky on the run, frantically trying to avoid recapture long enough to work towards clearing her name. She’s hellbent on proving she was not responsible for Mike Pennisi’s (Felix Williamson) murder. Can she persuade Kaz ( Tammy Macintosh) to help her do it?
VERA BENNETT (KATE ATKINSON)
Vera is now back as Governor. But with the jail on the edge of a riot, and investigators poking around trying to find the whereabouts of Ferguson and Doyle, will she even have an opportunity to do her job? This is a huge season for the character. “Vera is a great example of people who absolutely get crushed by their circumstances, but manage to rise above them,” says Atkinson. “But she may well get crushed again—that is the tragedy of Vera.”
LIZ BIRDSWORTH (CELIA IRELAND)
Poor old Liz. Last season saw her go to desperate measures to avoid going down for Sonia’s (Sigrid Thornton) evil game-playing. She poisoned the inmate with liquid nicotine, but is Sonia really dead? Or will she be back to wreak even greater revenge? One thing’s for certain: Boomer (Katrina Milosevic) isn’t happy. How will she feel when she finds out Liz was responsible for her mentor’s fate?
ALLIE NOVAK (KATE JENKINSON)
Allie made the ultimate sacrifice last season, swapping her place in the escape plan so Ferguson could get out. But will her gamble pay off? Have Will and Jake really gone ahead with their end of the bargain to finish The Freak’s reign of terror? And can she finally move on from Bea’s (Danielle Cormack) death? “So much of Season 5 for Ali was trying to bring The Freak down, and getting revenge,” says Jenkinson. “This is certainly a new chapter for Ali.”
WILL JACKSON (ROBBIE MAGASIVA)
Will was last seen heaping earth onto the plywood box containing Joan Ferguson. But the big question is whether he succeeded in actually finishing her off. And if so, how can he avoid detection by investigators looking into her disappearance? Will’s got one hell of an emotional journey ahead of him. “What happens to Will this season is the consequence of what he did at the end of last season,” says Magasiva. “How will he cope with the pressure; that weight of doing what he did?”
JAKE STEWART (BERNARD CURRY)
He’s long been Joan Ferguson’s puppet. Now she’s no longer around, will Jake see the errors of his ways and turn straight? Or continue on his path of self-destruction and the downfall of his one-time girlfriend, Vera? This season will see Jake desperately trying to stay one step ahead of police investigators, and try to reconcile his part in the events of last season. Can he keep his job? It’s not looking good.