EPISODE 82 Geoff takes Meg home after a dinner date, First broadcast ... 1979 (Melbourne) ITV broadcasts: Yorkshire Mon 6 Apr 1987 23:10 ; Central Sat 31 Oct 1987 22:35 ; other regions Broadcast on Channel 5 (UK) 29 June 1997 Sun 1:35 a.m. as part of an allnighter DVD release: volume 6 disc 1 (AUS) Duration: 00:44:58

Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Lizzie ~ Sheila Florance Erica ~ Patsy King Bea ~ Val Lehman Jim ~ Gerard Maguire Greg ~ Barry Quin Vera ~ Fiona Spence Pat ~ Monica Maughan Roslyn ~ Sigrid Thornton Kathleen ~ Penelope Stewart Janet ~ Diedre Rubenstein Leila Fletcher ~ Penny Ramsay Geoff Butler ~ Ray Meagher Terrorist No 1 ~ Bernie Ledger Terrorist No 2 ~ Chris Anderson UNCREDITED Sally ~ Nanette Wallace Officer Edwards ~ Dawn Klingberg Officer Williams ~ Anne Sutherland OTHER CHARACTERS Barman (Baz) Gate guard (Tony) Uniformed police officer with Erica Telephonist (V/O) Written by Dave Worthington Directed by Philip East

When Geoff returns from the pub with Jim, his elation reminds Leila of the way he was years ago after a fight in Sydney. Ros is nervous about the possible failure of her plan due to the loss of the pen containing the drug, so much so that she asks Kath for a cigarette. Lizzie goes into her fake heart murmur routine when Vera unlocks her cell in the morning. Leila notices an item in the morning paper about a man found beaten up in the toilets of the pub where Geoff and Jim were the night before. Greg promises to talk to Erica about a cell transfer for Lizzie, especially when she confesses to being "insomaniacal" as well. Jim refuses to report Leila's suspicions to the police, so she phones Meg to tell her all about the previous fight. Leila is annoyed by Geoff arriving home during the day so she searches Geoff's kit bag and finds a pistol and a machete. Vera takes great delight in telling Lizzie about her cell swap - she's not getting the transfer she was angling for but is moving in with Pat and Bea. Ros sees Lizzie using her pen in the rec room and gets it back by dobbing her in to Meg. She sneaks away from cleaning duties later and puts the powder in the staff room coffee urn and is almost caught in the act by Jim. Some of the officers drink from the drugged urn, though the night duty officer is called away before she can drink her coffee. Jim confronts Jim about the bashing but Geoff denies it angrily. After the women are locked in for the night, Pat notices how quiet it is. Ros leaves some of the drug for Kath to take to make it look as if she's been deliberately put to sleep. Erica phones the prison from home, but gets no reply . Two terrorists snip the perimeter wire and climb up the side of the building to the roof. They easily manage to find their way to Janet's cell in solitary and blow the door with gelignite to free her. Janet insists that they find Ros to take her with them, so they all have to find reception to get a bunch of keys. The women notice that lights out is half an hour late - but apparently haven't heard any of the explosions inside the building. The night officer returns to reception in time to be knocked out by the terrorists. Erica arrives at Wentworth with police escort to see why there is no reply to her phone calls. Kath takes the drug as Ros leaves with the terrorists. Erica goes outside to open the gates for the ambulance and runs into the terrorists who have just abseiled down to ground level (and so has Ros despite lack of any previous experience of this hazardous exploit unless rock climbing was on the curriculum at convent school). Janet tells one of her accomplices to shoot Erica as she's a "Goverment lackey", and even though Ros makes a grab for the gun, Erica is hit . ***

Although this looks a strong contender for the first of the end of year cliffhangers, the listings in the Melbourne newspaper The Age are strong evidence that (79) was actually the last episode to be shown in 1979.

ITV regional broadcast dates:-
YTV Mon 06 Apr 1987 23.10; TVS ... ; Channel ... ; TSW ... ; Central Sat 31 Oct 1987 22.35; Thames Thu 30 Mar 1989 23.35; STV Fri 07 Apr 1989 23.10; Anglia ... ; Granada Thu 20 Oct 1988 22.35; Tyne Tees Thu 22 Mar 90 23.15; Border ... ; HTV ... ; Grampian ... ; Ulster ...

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