EPISODE 79 Greg finds Karen lying in a pool of blood. First broadcast ... 1979 (Melbourne) ITV broadcasts: Yorkshire Mon 9 Mar 1987 23:00 ; Central Sat 24 Oct 1987 23:30 ; other regions Broadcast on Channel 5 (UK) 27 June 1997 Fri 4:40 a.m. DVD release: volume 5 disc 4 (AUS) Duration: 00:47:21

Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Erica ~ Patsy King Bea ~ Val Lehman Jim ~ Gerard Maguire Doreen ~ Colette Mann Greg ~ Barry Quin Vera ~ Fiona Spence Karen ~ Peita Toppano Pat ~ Monica Maughan Roslyn ~ Sigrid Thornton David ~ David Letch Kathleen ~ Penelope Stewart Herbie ~ George Spartels Geoff Butler ~ Ray Meagher Janet Dominguez ~ Diedre Rubenstein Leila Fletcher ~ Penny Ramsay Mary McCauley ~ Carmel Millhouse UNCREDITED Mr Goodwin ~ Lloyd Cunnington Wendy ~ Helen Noonan OTHER CHARACTERS Betty (the halfway house resident first seen in the previous episode) Detective escorting Janet Dominguez Doctor Hilton (who operates on Karen) Radio newsreader Written by Michael Harvey Directed by Leigh Spence

In the pre-credit sequence, the last scene of the previous episode continues. Karen is shot in the side and lies covered in blood . At the hospital, Greg waits for news of Karen's condition: the doctor tells him she took the full force of the blast on her right side (though it looks more as if someone threw a pot of paint at her right armpit). Herbie is not convinced that David has done the right thing and tries to persuade him to make run for it. Greg is interviewed by Det Sgt Allen and remembers about Herbie's visit to his surgery. Det Sgt Allen suggests there may be a link with David shooting the police officer and that the shot may have been aimed at Greg not Karen. The doctor tells Greg he is unable to remove all the fragments of shotgun pellet as some are lodged close to Karen's heart. Doreen hears about Karen from one of the new residents of the halfway house, who heard it on the radio. The women at Wentworth also listen to the news which covers not just the shooting but also the arrest of political activist Janet Dominguez. Erica rings the hospital to find out how Karen is. Herbie shows David the paper and tells him he shot the wrong person. David just says he will have to try again, but Herbie says no - until David turns the gun on him. Ros sees the VJ and answers the charge of destroying prison property by saying she was defending herself against Bea. When Bea is called to see the VJ, she forces Pat to come along too to substantiate her side of the story. The VJ accepts the evidence against Ros and she is sent back to solitary for another three days. Herbie takes the ammunition out of the gun while David is out of the room. Janet Dominguez is brought to Wentworth and confounds the officers' assumption that she is unable to speak English by delivering a long and eloquent list of her grievances. Karen's mother arrives at the hospital. Ros hears Janet protesting at her treatment as she is put in solitary: she evidently doesn't realise she is being given favourable treatment by being allowed to take her suitcase into solitary. Meg agrees to go to dinner at Jim's where Geoff Butler is also a guest. Herbie brings the police back to his place, and David is arrested. Ros talks to Janet through the wall: Janet tells her that she is English and met her husband when they were both at University. After they went back to his (unspecified) home country, there was a military coup and her husband Jose was arrested and "disappeared". Years after, she found he had been tortured and shot for giving medical treatment to opponents of the regime. Leila makes no effort to hide her dislike of Geoff and she is appalled when Jim invites him to stay with them. The doctor asks Karen's mother for permission to operate again as the fragments are moving closer to Karen's heart. Greg looks dreamily at a bowl of red roses , as a vocal/solo guitar accompanied version of the theme starts early over a brief montage of Karen stills. ***

ITV regional broadcast dates:-
YTV Mon 09 Mar 1987 23.00; TVS ... ; Channel ... ; TSW ... ; Central Sat 24 Oct 1987 23.30; Thames Thu 23 Feb 1989 23.35; STV Mon 20 Mar 1989 23.35; Anglia ... ; Granada Thu 13 Oct 1988 22.35; Tyne Tees Thu 22 Feb 90 23.05; Border ... ; HTV ... ; Grampian ... ; Ulster ...

Although (82) looks like a better candidate for the first of the end of year cliffhangers, the listings in the Melbourne newspaper The Age are strong evidence that this was actually the last episode to be shown in 1979.

It has also been suggested that this episode was planned as the original end of year episode, but because the season was extended by two weeks, a new cliffhanger involving Erica was written. This may even be true but in the event it seems not to have worked out like that. Possibly the loss of a week's episodes in early October 1979 due to industrial action may have forced the return to the original cliffhanger?

(78)

(80)