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<Picture of Joanna Munro, Patsy King, Elspeth Ballantyne and Rita Linscott> Members of the cast of the stage play
<Full page chapter heading for>
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'I'd known about it for some time, because lots of ex-prisoners and other people I'd met talked about it. I don't think women can actually watch it inside, because it's on too late and there aren't many chances to video things. I didn't actually watch it myself until I had to attend a Youth Section meeting and I knew I'd be asked about it. It does what no other programme does, and that's show lesbians as part of society, just there. As to whether it's true to life - well, all I can say is that I could match those crazy incidents with things I know have happened. Yes, there are escape-attempts - a woman walked out of Holloway last Christmas despite all the security there. There are stunts. One is called "changing", where a prisoner changes places with a remand prisoner and goes out when the release comes; then the switch is reported, and of course the real remand prisoner has to be let out. There are silly pranks - Mars bars being passed along the lines in church, exploding packages, fights. Yes, there are affairs between inmates, and between inmates and officers. There are what're called "con-lovers" - warders who are soft on certain prisoners - and officers do sometimes get the sack for it. And, yes, there are sadistic warders. Remember, about eighty per cent of prison officers in this country are closet lesbians; they can't "come out" about it, they can't go to gay clubs for fear of running into ex-prisoners who would tell, so they lead very insular, sad lives. That inevitably means a few of them become nasty like Vera Bennett. And lesbian activities between prisoners are still banned. I don't mean the whole going-to bed bit - just holding hands. In Styal prison in Manchester only the other week they put a couple of women on charges for lesbian activities. Imagine: some big butch officer reprimanding two inmates for doing what she'd like to do - hold hands. And there are also male officers who can peer in at women at any time during the twenty-four hours - when they're on the toilet, in the shower, in bed. It's horrific.'
Despite what Chris feels is the over-all daftness of Prisoner: Cell Block H, she thinks it's preferable to the British series about women inside, Within These Walls, which ITV began showing in 1974. 'There you'd see Googie Withers done up to the nines as the governor talking to some new arrival, who'd be crying because her pussycat hadn't been fed. And in the next scene you'd see Googie going to the woman's flat and stroking the cat. Ludicrous! I can only tell you that if Prisoner: Cell Block H were shown at seven-thirty in the evening every inmate and officer in British prisons would be riveted. It would shoot ahead of Coronation Street.'
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Prison officer Jackie Mobbs, who is also a spokeswoman for the Prison Officers' Association, agrees with Chris. 'I was given some free tickets to the stage-show of Prisoner, and I took some of them to Holloway, and the reaction was amazing. The officers were very keen indeed. I went to see the play, and I watched an episode or two. I thought it was hilarious - and I'm being kind saying that.'
Before Jackie worked in this country as a prison officer she worked
at a woman's prison in Australia which might well have served as the model
for Prisoner. 'It was a very small place then, and I found
it very corrupt. The officers did not have the best sort of rapport
with inmates that we try to have here. In my opinion there were more
professional criminals in Australia than here, too. Here many of
the women inside are just inadequate; there they were really tough.'
Ros and Tracey always send back the money. But they're glad someone appreciates the labours which began one Saturday in 1987 when they came home from the pub, switched on the television and happened to catch a gang of tough Aussie women in denim.
The two Derby girls, unemployed then as now, thought it screamingly funny. In future weeks they noticed that people were leaving their local early especially to get home in time for Prisoner, too. 'It was ruining our social life,' joked Ros, now twenty-six, who'd previously thought Sons and Daughters was the biggest hoot. 'We thought: If this show is so popular at street-level with all these sorts of people greasy bikers, little old ladies, the lot why don't we start a fan club?'
Next step was a five-minute interview on a regional television-show, Central Post, presented by Anna Soubry, one Sunday. By the following Tuesday the girls had received 300 letters about the fan club the encouragement they needed to publish their first newsletter, line Phantom of the Soap Opera, paid for partly out of their dole money and partly out of a legacy left to Tracey, also twenty-six, by her grandmother. The girls charged £4 a head subscription to the club and were inundated with requests to carry on. Membership flourished to the extent that the girls came off the dole and, hearing that Val Lehman, who played Bea Smith, wanted to visit Britain, secured a £40-a-week grant from the Government Enterprise Scheme to set up as her sole agent.
'It was wonderful,' said Ros. 'We did all sorts of personal appearances with Val, and wherever she went she was mobbed. -The series certainly attracts a very diverse audience. We have middle-aged professional men who are fans, accountants and
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<Picture>Val Lehman flanked by Fan Club founders Tracey Elliott (left) and Ros Vecsey
solicitors as well as pensioners. And it has a very strong following among gay men. Val Lehman was mobbed by "queens" wanting to marry her,' she laughed. 'But many lesbians don't like Prisoner, because they feel it is not an accurate portrayal of lesbian life. And once it was sold to America there was hardly any lesbian stuff at all - no kissing, nothing below the waist.
The girls know that many viewers take the series at face value, caring about the characters and enjoying the stories just as they used to believe in Crossroads. 'We're not worried about those people,' said Ros.
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'It's the men who write to us saying they love to wait till their wives go to bed, then they can put on her denim skirt and yellow blouse and watch Prisoner: Cell Block H - they're the ones who worry us.'
The girls know that the series has a huge following among gay men, for whom Wentworth is a high-camp camp. But despite Ros and Tracey's claims that they laugh at Prisoner they defend it stoutly, too, suggesting a deep affection. 'It's not just a gay cult, though,' says Ros. 'Our research shows there are about ten million viewers in Britain. It's way ahead of its time in terms of discussing controversial issues. Coronation Street only recently got round to discussing abortion, but Prisoner was dealing with incest and rape years ago. In some ways people treat it as the poor relation of Australian soaps, which is crazy. I used to like Sons and Daughters for its escapism, but I don't like Neighbours. If they pitched Prisoner against Neighbours, we know which would win.'
Along with many members of the fan club they were unhappy about the
<Picture> The Mayor of Derby shares a joke with Sheila Florance, Val Lehman and Amanda Muggleton on their arrival at the civic reception.
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Prisoner: Cell Block H stage-tour, concerned that it didn't genuinely reflect the character of the series.
Today Ros and Tracey are stars in their own right. Their newsletter, The H-Block Herald, is famous, and the term 'Blockies' for Prisoner fans has entered the language. But in a sense they have really become prisoners, too. 'Some of the fan club members are a bit extreme. We've had them turning up at the front door of Tracey's house and rushing across the street to touch us. We seem to be recognised everywhere - even in Sainsbury's,' said Ros.
Despite some earlier setbacks the fan club has gone from strength to strength. A successful tour with Betty Bobbitt at the beginning of 1990 was followed in September by their most ambitious project to date: the triumphant 'On the Outside' tour, with a show called The Great Escape. Ros says, ‘We brought Amanda Muggleton and Sheila Florance over specially for the tour and Val, of course, was already working here. The response was amazing.' They were mobbed at the airport, given a reception by the Mayor of Derby, feted by Wogan and the show itself was enthusiastically received. The girls worked with the producers Chrysalis Television to ensure that all these memorable events were captured on video.
The fan club can be contacted at 28 St James Chambers, St James Street, Derby, DE1 1QZ
The Great Escape video, containing coverage of the show and behind the
scenes footage of the tour is available for £14.99 plus £1
postage and packing. Cheques and postal orders should be made payable
to the Great Escape Video Offer and sent to Eve Promotions, 28 St James
Chambers, St James Street, Derby DE1 1QZ.
Peter O'Brien, famous as Shane from Neighbours, was the first to arrive - to tour in Butterflies Are Free. Others followed. Eight stars or former stars of the Ramsay Street saga will be coming to Britain at Christmas 1990 to work in pantomime or other productions, thanks to John.
Then someone mentioned Prisoner: Cell Block H. John remembered he had known Reg Watson distantly years ago when Reg worked in Birmingham on Crossroads. He contacted Reg, the faxes began to fly between London and Sydney, and the result was a stage-play based on the first six episodes of the television series written and delivered with the blessing of Grundy.
'We then began asking Australian actresses if they'd like to re-create their roles here, and many were very keen,' said
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Lee, John's assistant. 'Elspeth Ballantyne, Glenda Linscott and Patsy King came in 1989, and Joanna Monro took over the Franky Doyle role. The actress who played Bea Smith was Brenda Longman, who used to be the voice of Sooty's girlffiend Soo - so it was a bit of a change!
'The show was just an amazing success. I think they were stunned by the response of the fans. The audience seemed to be made up of so many different types of people - blue-rinsed ladies, professional people, lots of people from the gay community. It was a very strange mix really. I went to watch the show in Wimbledon, and it was like a pantomime audience, lots of hissing and booing and clapping. It felt very exciting. Then I went to watch it in Hanley near Stoke-on-Trent, one of the areas where the series is shown two or three times a week and avidly followed, and there was complete silent concentration. Obviously the audience were enjoying it as a straight drama.'
The success of the first thirteen-week tour led to a second tour with Fiona Spence and Jane Clifton, and again the box-office did well. In Glasgow and Liverpool the theatres were sold out. A third tour in the autumn was planned, and John and Lee travelled to Australia to sign up new stars. Maggie Kirkpatrick, who was having a great success in the musical Anything Goes, was the first to agree. John's untimely death meant the third tour was postponed until early 1991.
Ken Dodd saw one of the shows in Liverpool. 'I was tickled,' he said. 'It's not easy to bring people in who aren't used to the live shows. Prisoner: Cell Block H seems to be doing it, and I'm delighted. It's very good for British theatre.'
<Picture> Anna Soubry in conversation with Val Lehman and Sheila Florance.
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