EPISODE 326 Bea is planning to fix Joan once and for all. First broadcast ... 1982 (Melbourne) Broadcast on Channel 5 Friday 31 July 1998 04:40 DVD release: volume 21 disc 2 (AUS) Duration: 0:45:33

Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Judy ~ Betty Bobbitt Erica ~ Patsy King Joan ~ Maggie Kirkpatrick Bea ~ Val Lehman Off. Powell ~ Judith McGrath Chrissie ~ Amanda Muggleton Margo ~ Jane Clifton Paddy ~ Anna Hruby Maxine ~ Lisa Crittenden Tony ~ Alan Lee Barbara ~ Susan Guerin Paddy ~ Anna Hruby Mouse ~ Jentah Sobott Sara ~ Celia de Burgh Jeannie ~ Rona McLeod Alan ~ Roger Stephens Det. Sgt. ~ Bill Binks Off. Bailey ~ Maureen Edwards Ambulanceman ~ Peter Byrne Written by Dave Worthington Directed by Chris Adshead Jacko is again referred to as "Kennedy".

Bea returns to her own cell and Joan turns up on cue to "welcome" her back. Even in face of Joan's deliberately provocative remarks, Bea manages to hold her tongue. Joan says she can wait as there's 6 months yet to go. Maxine shows Tony a black lace nightie she's bought, presumably for his benefit. Judy phones up Tony to come round as the ambulance has arrived to take Sara and Alan to hospital. Bea returns to the rec room and has to listen to Chrissie's prediction that Joan will be worse than ever now, but it seems to make up her mind for her about something. Sara survives but Alan was already dead when the ambulance arrived. The police tell Judy and Tony that they could face a manslaughter charge for aiding and abetting a suicide. Maxine waits in her skimpy nightie to ambush Tony when he gets home, but his news acts as a bit of a damper. He shrugs off Maxine's half-hearted attempt at a massage and tells her the other night was a mistake he won't be making again. Meg commiserates with Bea for not getting her parole, but when Meg asks her if she knows why Barbara's cell was wrecked, Bea says nothing about the diaries. However, when Bea comes upon another group of conspirators, she tells them about the diaries to stress that they are inaccessible to anyone apart from Barbara. Bea adds that she won't need the diaries for what she's got in mind: her plan is to drop a hint to Joan that the diaries are hidden in isolation to lure her there for a bashing. First, though, they must get Barbara out of isolation. Meg finds out from the hospital that Lizzie is just about to be released. Joan and Meg clash over their attitudes to the prisoners: Meg tells Joan that sometimes the only difference between an officer and a prisoner is a conviction and that Joan herself is on the wrong side of the bars. Sara returns to the halfway house, and the police arrive to arrest her on a manslaughter charge after someone has made a complaint. Bea hints broadly to Meg that someone must badly want Barbara on her own, and wonders if Barbara's cell was genuinely wrecked, or if someone else did it and then reported it. Tony goes to bail Sara out. Bea tells Joan that Barbara is going the diaries to the women as a going away present. This sends Joan to isolation to quiz Barbara, but she runs into Colleen on the way who coldly enquires what Joan is doing there. Barbara is cagey when questioned by Erica, as she's too preoccupied watching Erica open the filing cabinet drawer where the diaries are hidden and drop a file into it. Bea tells Barbara that she has her to thank for getting her out of isolation: in return she wants her to tell Joan the diaries are hidden in the isolation wing. A large consignment of turpentine, much of it for Woodridge, is delivered by mistake: Colleen orders the surplus to be put in the East Wing store room. Margo is disgusted that Bea is only planning to put Joan in hospital and thinks Bea should be aiming to kill her. Bea suggests a fire as a diversion and no-one takes any notice of Margo's suggestions, so she quietly pockets a bottle of cleaning fluid. Barbara pretends to agree to let Joan have the diaries in return for a good report at the next classification meeting. After Joan leaves to search isolation, Barbara taps on the pipes to signal to Mouse, who goes to the rec room to report to Bea. Chrissie is intercepted by Colleen on her way to the laundry, so she has to go to the library instead. Erica hears that Paddy's release papers are to be delivered by courier, and she and Meg go to tell Paddy the good news. Chrissie starts a fire in a pile of books on a table in the library . Meanwhile, Margo lobs a Molotov cocktail into the storeroom. Joan fails to find the diaries: Bea corners her and tries to throttle her with an iron bar. She stops when Joan loses consciousness, leaving her on the floor and goes to the end of the corridor to get her own breath back. The fire catches hold and the prison is evacuated. Joan comes round and bashes Bea, knocking her to the ground, grabbing her by the hair and beating her head on the floor. The fire in the storeroom causes the gates to malfunction and they automatically lock throughout the prison. Joan goes to unlock the gate outside isolation, but sees her keys have fallen out of her pocket on the other side of the gate where Bea still lies unconscious. Erica and Meg are trapped inside by the smoke. Paddy and Mouse are trapped in the laundry: Paddy remembers Susie Driscoll and goes through the air conditioning ducts. Barbara breaks into Erica's office which is already filled with smoke to recover the diaries. Mouse blunders around the prison looking for a way out and opens the store room door. The turpentine explodes, engulfing her in a ball of flame. Barbara slumps to the floor overcome by smoke after managing to get the filing cabinet open. Erica and Meg get out, but Erica goes back inside to look for those who are missing. Bea comes round and Joan asks her to pass her the keys. Bea says she can't see any reason why she'd want to get out, and she'd be prepared to die if she knew she could take Joan with her. ***

This was the last episode to be shown in the original run in 1982. Viewers would have had a long wait to find out the fates of the various characters trapped inside the burning building. This episode and the next were commercially released on video in the UK, but not in the US.

Script Editor: Ian Smith
Storyliners: Dave Worthington, John Mortimore, Andrew Kennedy, Patrea Smallacombe

ITV regional broadcast dates:-
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