ACTORSCHARACTERSSTARTEPISODES

EPISODE 169

Vera performs external heart massage on Lizzie until an ambulance arrives and she is taken to hospital; Judy meets Wally's daughter; and Lizzie receives a letter from Ellen in America.

First broadcast ... 1981 (Melbourne)
Broadcast on Channel 5 Thursday 4th December 1997 00:10
DVD release: volume 11 disc 3 (AUS)
Duration: 00:48:12



Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne
Judy ~ Betty Bobbitt
Lizzie ~ Sheila Florance
Erica ~ Patsy King
Bea ~ Val Lehman
Jim ~ Gerard Maguire
Doreen ~ Colette Mann
Vera ~ Fiona Spence
Micki ~ Deborah Coulls
Wally ~ Alan Hopgood
Off. Powell ~ Judith McGrath
Hazel ~ Belinda Davey
Sid ~ Edward Hepple
Nurse ~ Linden Wilkinson
Dr Marsden ~ Gary Gray
Mr Douglas ~ Ian Smith
UNCREDITED
Martin Handley ~ David Hursthouse
Graeme Hopkins ~ Peter Flett
Wendy ~ Helen Noonan

The non-speaking nurse tending Lizzie looks like Louise Siversen and the male nurse fetching her from the ambulance looks like Vince D'Amico (again!)

OTHER CHARACTERS
Doreen's solicitor

  • Written by Ray Kolle
  • Directed by Leigh Spence
  • All the other characters call Sid "Mr Humphries" though when he introduces himself to Bea, he definitely says "Humphrey" - as in the credits in (211)

    I suspect the credit for "Gary Gray" is wrong - I am sure this actor appears again under a different name.

    Vera gives Lizzie mouth-to-mouth resuscitation while the women wait for the ambulance to arrive. Meanwhile, Hazel removes the bucket of booze from the store room behind Vera's back. Ted Douglas tells Erica a teacher will be appointed to a new education facility in the prison. Vera feels guilty that she didn't believe Lizzie at first, but she recovers her usual character in time and remembers about the grog manufacture, which she rushes off to investigate. When she gets to the rec room, the buckets have vanished but Vera tells Bea she must have known what was going on and must see the Governor. In hospital, Lizzie describes her near-death experience to a doctor in the usual cliched terms involving bright lights at the end of a tunnel. Vera takes Bea to the Governor to explain what she knows about the home brew, and Bea is honest for once: she tells Erica the home brew has been flushed down the toilet. Erica decides not to punish anyone for the incident, and tells Bea officially that Gillespie has gone. Erica asks Colleen if her husband could fix the rec room TV: she says her husband is hopeless as a handyman [odd, then, that he should later run his own garage?] but says a retired neighbour, Sid Humphrey would be perfect for the job. Lizzie's doctor alerts a friend in the media to her story as a way of putting pressure on the authorities to have her freed. Sid visits the prison and agrees to fix the TV for the cost of parts only. Vera is puzzled and disconcerted when the women are friendly to her, as Bea agreed to Erica that they would be. Erica reverses all of Gillespie's extra security measures. Sid fixes the TV and tells Bea that one of the valves had been deliberately removed, and as he leaves he offers his services to Erica as a general handyman in future. Judy hides when a visitor for Wally drives up on a motorbike, but it is only his daughter Micki. Bea plots to get Sid back to do some more repair jobs to help him out. Micki offers to deliver a letter from Judy to the PRG. Doreen sees her solicitor, who tells her she has a good chance of getting off lightly on the kidnapping charge, but that she will be treated more harshly for the escape. Wally shows Judy the paper where she has been described as a violent criminal, on account of her previous escape where she knocked out a policewoman. Meg defends the education programme against Vera's criticisms. One of the nurses gives Lizzie the remote control to her TV and she only has to change channels once to come across a program where someone is arguing for her release. The women in Wentworth are also watching, and Doreen hopes Lizzie hasn't seen it, as she may not be able to cope with the idea of being freed. Judy finds out about Lizzie's heart attack from Micki's description of the same programme, and realises that Micki is right when she says it would be a perfect opportunity to get more publicity for Judy's campaign to raise awareness about prison conditions. Erica tells Doreen to be positive about her forthcoming trial, despite what her solicitor told her. Micki tells Judy that she can borrow a video camera so Judy can make a statement that can be shown on TV without her having to contact a TV station in person. Meg visits Lizzie and gives her a letter from Ellen and Josie. It says that Ellen is getting married and that she and her husband want Lizzie to come over to America to live with them.

    ***


    Script Editor: Patrick Amer
    Storyliners: Dave Worthington, Alastair Sharp


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    Updated