EPISODE 662 Joan catches Rodney in the process of bashing a prisoner. Lester's belongings are delivered to Lisa in jail. First broadcast ... 1986 (Melbourne) Broadcast on Channel 5 Saturday 04 November 2000 04:40 DVD release: volume 39 disc 4 (AUS) Duration: 0:43:13 (As originally released with cut to end of recap)

Joan ~ Maggie Kirkpatrick Ann ~ Gerda Nicolson Joyce ~ Joy Westmore Rita ~ Glenda Linscott Alice ~ Lois Collinder Kath ~ Kate Hood Lorelei ~ Paula Duncan Merle ~ Rosanne Hull-Brown Rodney ~ Philip Hyde Delia ~ Desiree Smith Mervin ~ Ernie Bourne Vicki ~ Rebecca Dines Spider ~ Taya Stratton Sarah ~ Kylie Belling Pamela ~ Justine Saunders Marty ~ Michael Winchester Lisa ~ Terrie Waddell Bruce West ~ Peter Drake Joanne West ~ Vicki Mitchell Adrian Harrow ~ John Mortimore Written by Alister Webb Directed by Tony Osicka Rodney tells Ann "I'm not an officer any more, Mrs Reynolds: I know my job backwards". Presumably this is a line fluff and he should have said that he's not a trainee officer any more. Spider claims to have been watching Joan for "four bloody years" but Joan at least has been there to observe for longer than that.

Joan stops the beating, sends Rodney out of the cell and takes Spider to sick-bay, despite her initial insistence that she won't be cleaned up until the Governor sees her. Spider accuses Rodney and Joan to Joyce when she arrives on the scene, but Joan pours scorn on the allegation. Joan is angry with Rodney for "going too far" and tells him she will insist on an immediate Departmental investigation, but she will fix it so it appears that Spider is trying to frame her and Rodney. Rodney is interviewed by Mr Harrow from Internal Affairs but his denials that he even touched Spider fails to convince him even though Rodney's hands are unbruised when he is asked to show them. Spider is put back in her cell as the other women shout to her to try to find out: Spider shouts back that she is sure Rodney and Joan will be out of a job and they have her to thank for it. Joan backs up Rodney by claiming Spider must have got someone to bash her before lockup. Mr Harrow tells Ann that he has no evidence and rules that charges against Joan and Rodney are to be dropped. The women are outraged when Ann announces the decision in the dining room. Alice warns Spider she should not to take action on her own or they will lose the shop. Ann warns Rodney to watch his step and if she ever finds any evidence that he bashed Spider, he could still be prosecuted. Marty has to prevent Sarah going for Spider when they trade insults walking along the corridor after muster. Lisa is shown Lester's pitifully few possessions in a cardboard box and a note from Wendy, which she tears up, but it turns out she cannot keep any of the things. Rita tries to explain to Sarah why they have to back Spider against the officers. Rodney tries to suck up to Joan, but she freezes him out. Lorelei and Lisa comfort each other. Marty sends Merle and Sarah to get paint for the shed, but Sarah scares Merle away by pretending she's about to put a curse on her. Spider takes the opportunity to drive a tractor at Sarah, but Merle pushes her out of the way . Lorelei tries to arrange Lisa's modelling career, and asks Joyce for permission to use the camera from Lester's box of stuff. Merle defends Sarah when Vicki pretends to attack her with a plank of wood. Pamela asks Ann to lunch with Sarah's foster parents. Sarah knocks Merle out with a door thinking she's Vicki and has to run to get Lorelei from the workshop to help. Vicki offers to paint up a sign for the shop . Merle comes round and Lorelei decides she doesn't need to see the Sister. Vicki and Spider are thrown out of the rec room by the other women when they insist on making puerile racist comments. At their dinner meeting, the Wests tell Ann and Pamela they are unsure whether to tell Sarah what they have found out about her real parents: her mother died about six months before and her father is a white alcoholic jackaroo who probably can't even be traced. Rita decides on a suitable punishment for Spider and the women put the plot into action. Vicki is moved in to share with Spider. Sarah is brought to see the treatment the women have given her: she's been blacked up with mud and her hair twisted into devil's horns. For some inexplicable reason, Sarah does not seem to find the sight very amusing. Pamela and Ann come to talk to Sarah and see Spider in blackface. ***

Unusually, the whole of the final scene of the previous episode is repeated at the start of this episode after the credit sequence (approximately 2 minutes 15 seconds of it). I suspect that this episode may have been intended as the year end episode and the usual lengthy recap at the start of the first episode after the Christmas/New Year break was simply incorporated within the programme itself.

Story Editor: Gwenda Marsh
Script Editor: Neil Luxmoore
Storyliners: Tony McDonald, John Coulter, Bob Greenberg

ITV regional broadcast dates:-
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