ACTORSCHARACTERSSTARTEPISODES

EPISODE 196

Lizzie is becoming more and more frightened about the atmosphere in the prison.

First broadcast ... 1981 (Melbourne)
Broadcast on Channel 5 Wednesday 28 January 1998 04:40
DVD release: volume 13 disc 1 (AUS)
Duration: 00:45:27



Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne
Judy ~ Betty Bobbitt
Lizzie ~ Sheila Florance
Erica ~ Patsy King
Bea ~ Val Lehman
Jim ~ Gerard Maguire
Doreen ~ Colette Mann
Vera ~ Fiona Spence
Chrissie ~ Amanda Muggleton
Officer Powell ~ Judith McGrath
Officer Barry ~ Joy Westmore
Hazel ~ Belinda Davey
Del Latham ~ William Zappa
Mr Douglas ~ Ian Smith
Restaurant Manager ~ Curt Jansen
Man No. 1 ~ Doug Scroope
Man No. 2 ~ Doug Bennett
Nurse ~ Lucy Charles
Barman ~ Shane Bourne

  • Written by Barbara Ramsay
  • Directed by Marcus Cole
  • Note the cool shades worn by Officer Barry.

    The corridors are silent when Jim and Colleen check up later, though the din resumes after their dialogue. The women are taken for their showers a few at a time next morning and are then locked back in their cells. Chrissie tells Meg that the only way she can get Elizabeth back now is to earn a little money on her own account: she goes for a job in a restaurant, but the owner sees through her claim to have references from New Zealand. Lizzie tells Bea she's too old to get involved in any protests. Meanwhile, Doreen is trying to calm down Judy by telling her that Bea has everything under control. After seeing an article in the paper, Chrissie's brother Derek calls on Meg to ask if he can help Chrissie, as he feels he let her down when they were kids: he offers to have Chrissie and Elizabeth live with him and his wife. Erica proposes to the officers that a round table discussion with the inmates might help, but Colleen demands that the officers are armed. The meeting goes ahead in the rec room: Bea gives a list of their demands but when they get nowhere and try to leave the officers shoulder their arms. Bea demands an outdoor exercise period when Erica tries to call a halt to the meeting. Chrissie calls at the home to see Elizabeth and finds Derek has traced her there : he tells her he can help her get permanent custody of Elizabeth. Chrissie wants to know why he didn't come forward earlier and he tells her it was because he couldn't support the accusations of incest she made against their father, who is now dying of cancer. When Chrissie finds her father is staying with Derek and his wife, she turns down the offer to go and live with them. The women go back inside unwillingly after a short exercise period. Lizzie is taken ill, and Judy injures Officer Barry when she pushes her aside while trying to help Lizzie. When Colleen sees that Jim does not punish Judy, she tells him that if there is any more danger to the officers, she will call them all out on strike. Erica tells Colleen that Officer Barry has been taken to hospital with a dislocated shoulder. Chrissie tours the bars looking for a job, but finds the offers of paid work come mainly from the bar customers. When the women are allowed out of their cells to go to the dining room, Bea has the word passed around that they aren't leaving after the meal. After the sit-in protest is officially declared, the women are locked into the dining room by Jim. When he goes to tell Erica, he finds Ted Douglas already there telling Erica that the Minister isn't satisfied with her performance: Jim's report makes him decide to relieve Erica of her duties and install Jim as Acting Governor. Extra male officers take the women by force from the dining room and lock them back in their cells. Chrissie agrees to see a friend of the man she's picked up in a bar on her job seeking expedition. Ted Douglas agrees that temporary male officers need to be brought in: Jim proposes that they should also take action to control the top dog. Chrissie tells Meg she won't go and live with Derek while their father is there: Meg warns her not to return to prostitution or she will lose any chance of getting Elizabeth back. In the middle of the night, Bea is removed from her cell by force to be transferred to Barnhurst. Doreen and Judy blockade themselves in their cell, demanding that Bea is returned. Derek tells Meg that his father has been taken to hospital. Judy says the women are on hunger strike until Bea is returned. Chrissie is just about to turn out a paying customer when Meg arrives at her front door.

    ***


    Storyliners: Dave Worthington, Alastair Sharp, Peter Brennan
    Script Editors: Ian Smith


    Episode (196) was the last to be shown before the second repeat run was cancelled in Australia in December 1996.


    (195)


    Updated