ACTORSCHARACTERSSTARTEPISODES

EPISODES 8 to 14

8 * 9 * 10 * 11 * 12 * 13 * 14


For contemporary press coverage see articles Prisoner - 4 Will Quit Show (TV Week, 17.03.1979, Page 3) and Lynne's Career Lights Up On The Inside (Sunday Telegraph, 18.03.1979)


EPISODE 8

First broadcast 20th March 1979 (Melbourne); Broadcast on Channel 5 (UK) 08 April 1997 Tues 4:40 a.m. Franky is injured after making a pass at Karen.

Lynn ~ Kerry Armstrong
Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne
Franky ~ Carol Burns
Lizzie ~ Sheila Florance
Erica ~ Patsy King
Marilyn ~ Margaret Laurence
Bea ~ Val Lehman
Doreen ~ Colette Mann
Eddie ~ Richard Moir
Greg ~ Barry Quin
Vera ~ Fiona Spence
Karen ~ Peita Toppano
Mum ~ Mary Ward
Doug ~ John Arnold
Mr Guthrie ~ Barry Michael
Helen Masters ~ Louise Pajo
James Brandon ~ Brandon Smith
Room Service Boy ~ Dean Carey
Kitchen Hand ~ Susan Cholewick
Sister ~ Belinda Davey
Detective Grace ~ Terry Gill
Mr Harris ~ Bruce Kerr
TV Interviewer ~ Sue McIntosh
Ticket Officer ~ Fiona Kennan

  • Written by Ian Coughlan
  • Directed by Brian McDuffie
  • Eddie advises Marilyn to look for work at the Monarch Hotel. He happens to know they are looking for a kitchen assistant, as one of them was sacked that morning while he was on a job there (for talking to him!) The women watch beauty consultant Helen Masters and her assistant James Brandon on TV. After a gentle heavying from Bea, Lynn tells the women about Franky's attempt to get parole. Bea makes an excuse to go the garden with Doreen to deliberately taunt Franky by talking loudly about her "fairy tale" idea of getting parole. Franky asks to go back to work in the laundry. Doreen is just taking bets on how long Franky will take to crack as she walks into the laundry and starts to throw her weight around. She makes an attempt to grope Karen as she is sewing, but Karen jabs her in the hand with a needle. Marilyn gets a hotel job and the lecherous manager puts her on room service on a "trial basis". Unfortunately, her first job is delivering a bottle of champagne to Helen Masters' room. The demanding Miss Masters is annoyed at how long Marilyn takes to open the bottle and she demands that her assistant James reports her to the management. Vera phones Greg to thank him for the help, and invites him for dinner, but he makes an excuse that he is busy for the next few weeks. Helen demonstrates what a bitch she is by reporting Marilyn anyway. Vera drinks alone at home: result - another smashed family photograph . Next morning, Helen demands to know where James spent the night. The police arrive to arrest Helen over a hit and run incident: her hire car had been seen knocking over and killing a twelve year old boy. Marilyn is back to washing dishes in the kitchen and the manger comes to impress on her that she should be grateful to him (and let him feel her arse). Bea tries to rile Franky by reading Karen's tealeaves in the dining room but the fortune she tells is Franky's dream of living on a farm. Doreen meanwhile starts up a chorus of "Old McDonald had a farm". Franky smoulders until Lynn breaks down and confesses it was her who told the women about Franky's plan. Helen is charged and released on bail: her solicitor tries to point out to her that the police's case is good but he feels teh case won't go to trial. Helen refuses to believe that she will be in serious trouble by taking a flight to New Zealand and arrogantly orders James to phone the airport to confirm her booking. Instead, he phones the police. The women see a report of Helen Masters' arrest in a magazine (pretty quick off the mark, considering). Helen is arrested at the airport for jumping bail and is taken to Wentworth. Vera takes great delight in forcing Helen to strip off for her routine examination. Lynn tries to make common cause with Helen by telling her she believes she is innocent. Helen antagonises the women straight away by her haughty attitude in the dining room when she refuses to eat her food. She then makes the fatal error of lagging on Karen when she pushes Franky away and makes her drop a stack of plates. Eddie is fixing the press and tells Bea what Helen did to Marilyn. Bea goes mobhanded to Helen's cell to set her staright on a few things, drawing a line on her throat with lipstick . Franky warns Karen she's on the wrong side by supporting Bea. James tells Helen a witness saw a women driving her hire car. The women wind up Helen: Lizzie is sent to stare at her and Doreen hints that she's about to have one of her "turns". Karen adds that Lizzie is only her nickname, after Lizzie Borden. Marilyn is further sexually harassed by her boss, resigns and goes back on the game to get the money to buy Eddie a birthday present. Stung by Helen's casual remark that her makeup is "so stark and unflattering", Vera tarts up in private. Marilyn walks out on Eddie when he accuses her of being back on the game. Helen tells Erica she is withdrawing her application for bail to remain in Wentworth until her trial and make as much fuss as possible.

    EPISODE 9

    First broadcast 21st March 1979 (Melbourne); Broadcast on Channel 5 (UK) 09 April 1997 Wed 4:40 a.m. Bea is persuaded to help out with the beauty class.

    Lynn ~ Kerry Armstrong
    Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne
    Franky ~ Carol Burns
    Lizzie ~ Sheila Florance
    Erica ~ Patsy King
    Marilyn ~ Margaret Laurence
    Bea ~ Val Lehman
    Doreen ~ Colette Mann
    Eddie ~ Richard Moir
    Greg ~ Barry Quin
    Vera ~ Fiona Spence
    Karen ~ Peita Toppano
    Mum ~ Mary Ward
    Yvonne ~ Jane Clifton
    Mr Guthrie ~ Barry Michael
    Helen Masters ~ Louise Pajo
    James Brandon ~ Brandon Smith
    Harry ~ Veron Weaver
    Officer ~ Margaret Younger
    UNCREDITED
    Paul Bentley ~ Frank Gallacher
    Mrs Bentley ~ Adrianthe Galani
    Susie ~ Marilyn Rodgers
    OTHER CHARACTERS
    Police Officer (arresting Mrs Bentley)

  • Written by Ian Bradley
  • Directed by Gary Conway
  • Vernon Weaver's name is misspelt in the credits. Thanks to John in alt.tv.cell-block-h for identifying the actress who plays Susie.

    Helen is taken back to her cell and Meg tells Bea of Helen's decision to stay in Wentworth. Erica decides that Helen will have to forego her priveliges and therefore the officer assigned to protect her will be withdrawn and she will be put to share a cell, with Bea for instance. Marilyn goes back to Eddie and apologises to him. Vera notices Helen and Bea squaring up to each other and breaks the news that Helen is to be moved in with Bea and Doreen. Greg suggests that Helen could help herself by distracting the women from their boredom by running beauty classes for the inmates. Mum sees Lynn looking out for Doug and tells her to try and forget everything to do with prison. Helen asks her lawyer Mr Guthrie to arrange Lynn's appeal and let everyone know who's paying for it. She also gives him Meg's name and he visits her at home to get her opinion on Lynn's case. Marilyn's friend (and fellow prostitute) Yvonne turns up and goes out for a bottle of booze. Meg gets into trouble over press coverage of Lynn's case, as it says that the investigation of her case has been abandoned. (And a fascinating article it is too : it begins "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dogs. Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party.") Erica isn't the only one who has seen the press coverage: the Bentleys also discuss the newspaper article. Mrs Bentley agrees to go to stay with her mother, despite her suspicion that it will just give her husband the opportunity to get one of his girlfriends to stay overnight. In Helen's absence, the women make a mess with the cosmetics and the class is cancelled. Eddie arrives home to find Marilyn and Yvonne getting drunk: he asks Yvonne to leave and Marilyn goes with her. Sure enough, Paul Bentley is straight on the phone to invite an air hostess round for the night. Their night of passion is interrupted by Mrs Bentley's unexpected return home. The air hostess overhears their argument in the course of which Mrs Bentley admits to burying Richie and when he picks up the phone to call the police, she threatens to report him for raping Lynn. Bea shows the paper to Lynn, who is distraught that Meg seems to have broken her promise. Mrs Bentley is arrested (but, oddly, Mr Bentley is not). Mr Guthrie assures Helen that she will not be convicted unless something "drastic" happens, but James attempts to blackmail Helen to give him control of part of her cosmetics empire by threatening to give incriminating evidence about her "accident" to the police. He tells her he came back to the hotel room and she wasn't there. After saying goodbye to Mum (and getting the same old lecture about forgetting prison), Lynn is released.

    EPISODE 10

    First broadcast 27th March 1979 (Melbourne); Broadcast on Channel 5 (UK) 10 April 1997 Thurs 4:40 a.m. Lynn returns home.

    Lynn ~ Kerry Armstrong
    Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne
    Franky ~ Carol Burns
    Lizzie ~ Sheila Florance
    Erica ~ Patsy King
    Marilyn ~ Margaret Laurence
    Bea ~ Val Lehman
    Doreen ~ Colette Mann
    Eddie ~ Richard Moir
    Greg ~ Barry Quin
    Vera ~ Fiona Spence
    Karen ~ Peita Toppano
    Mum ~ Mary Ward
    Doug ~ John Arnold
    Ethel Warner ~ Beverly Dunn
    Father Peterson ~ Peter Felmingham
    Edward Warner ~ Ben Gabriel
    Beth Jones ~ Jackie Keren
    TV Interviewer ~ Sue McIntosh
    Mr Guthrie ~ Barry Michael
    Helen Masters ~ Louise Pajo
    James Brandon ~ Brandon Smith
    Graham Lang ~ Adrian Wright
    UNCREDITED
    One of the two officers gossiping about Vera seems to be Lise Rodgers. Thanks to Roger Campion for spotting that the other is Jillian Murray.
    OTHER CHARACTERS
    Bill (the old friend Lynn meets in the street when she arrives home)

  • Written by Ian Coughlan
  • Directed by Graeme Arthur
  • The role of Father Peterson is credited to Peter Felmingham, but I think he is the same actor later credited as Peter Paulsen (or Pawlsen).

    Helen is revolted by the breakfast and suggests the women don't eat the food. Bea leads a "down spoons" protest and Vera goes to fetch Erica. Erica decides to let them be for now, predicting that when the women get hungry, Helen will lose her following. Mum gently warns Helen not to cause too much trouble, as protests can soon get out of hand. Lynn arrives home and her mother gabbles away with news to disguise the fact that her father refuses to discuss Lynn's pregnancy. Her mother is planning to tell everyone her husband was killed in an accident, and already has a potential husband in line who won't mind her being a "widow". Helen challenges Erica to eat the food served to the prisoners and Erica agrees, but lets Helen know she's wise to her publicity seeking games. Hearing that Erica will be inspecting the food, Bea and Doreen conspire to make the food truly inedible. Marilyn is brought back to Wentworth after being arrested for prostitution and runs into Helen again, but Helen brushes off Marilyn's mockery and says she's quite happy in Wentworth. Mum talks to Doug and tries to discourage him from getting in touch with Lynn. Meanwhile Lynn is writing a letter to Doug (oddly, we see that she has signed her name "Lyn" ). Bea arranges for Eddie and Marilyn to talk: they argue instead. Helen's solicitor has prepared a contract giving James total control over the Australasian subsidiary, but says she needs more time to think about it before signing. Erica tastes the food and practically vomits , as the pan of stew has been liberally salted by Doreen. She is forced to agree to Helen's suggestion that the women should be able to work in the kitchen helping to prepare meals. Greg agrees to be a character witness for Helen at her trial. Lynn's old boyfriend Bill rejects her when he meets her in the street. Helen approaches Doreen and asks her about her forgery skills. Vera overhears two of her colleagues gossiping about her drinking and her slim chances of ever getting a man. Helen starts to think she can do anything and promises to get Beth's baby back, much to Karen's annoyance. Meg drops in on Vera at home and is amazed to find her all tarted up. Vera lies and says a friend is taking her out, and after getting drunk at home she goes out to a bar to finish off the job . There she meets Graham Lang , who reveals himself to be an off duty police officer and takes her home before she gets into trouble. Helen gets Doreen to forge her signature on James' contract and gets a powder compact in return. Karen tries to challenge Greg to do something for Beth as she has deteriorated since her baby was taken away, and asks him to contact a prison reform group for her. Helen hands over the signed document to James before she goes to court. Vera takes a call from Graham in Erica's office without permission but of course Erica returns as she is accepting an invitation to go out with him. When Lyn's family is visited by the local priest, her father reveals his true feelings by challenging the moralistic sermon he gives Lynn. After she is cleared of the manslaughter charge, Helen sacks James and tells him the contract isn't valid as it wasn't signed by her. She then appears on television to say what she really thought about the conditions ... and the women, who are glumly watching until Bea switches the set off. Franky cackles with delight that Bea has been shown to be so gullible.

    EPISODE 11

    First broadcast 28th March 1979 (Melbourne); Broadcast on Channel 5 (UK) 11 April 1997 Fri 4:40 a.m. A volleyball game leads to Marilyn being punished.

    Lynn ~ Kerry Armstrong
    Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne
    Franky ~ Carol Burns
    Lizzie ~ Sheila Florance
    Erica ~ Patsy King
    Marilyn ~ Margaret Laurence
    Bea ~ Val Lehman
    Doreen ~ Colette Mann
    Eddie ~ Richard Moir
    Greg ~ Barry Quin
    Vera ~ Fiona Spence
    Karen ~ Peita Toppano
    Mum ~ Mary Ward
    Doug ~ John Arnold
    Ethel Warner ~ Beverly Dunn
    Rev Johnston ~ Robin Cuming
    Doctor ~ Denis Dunnell
    Ted Warner ~ Ben Gabriel
    Gary Doyle ~ Greg Stroud
    Receptionist ~ Nanette Wallace
    Graham Lang ~ Adrian Wright

  • Written by Denise Morgan
  • Directed by Gary Conway
  • In a further inconsistency with the credit's spelling of her name, Lynn's childhood picture is signed "Lynette" (rather than "Lynnette").

    Bea finds she is being ignored in the laundry as Helen's betrayal gains Franky popularity. Erica discusses the potential problem of conflict among the women and Meg suggests more sports activities to work off their aggression. Franky and Lizzie tease the other women for their failure to see through Helen's deceptions. Doug Parker visits Lynn (having somehow been released at the same time as her and managed to find her from her letter). She tells him not to mention that he'd been in prison, and Lynn tells them that he lived near the Bentleys. Lynn's father invites Doug to stay with them. Vera is surprised to see Graham in reception: he has come to interview Marilyn and gets Vera to give him information to use against Marilyn. Gary comes to visit Franky to tell her he's got a job on a farm so he won't be able to visit again for a while. Franky asks to see Erica to ask if her wages can be sent to Gary. Greg sees a procession of prisoners feeling listless and dull, ending with Karen. Greg tries to urge her not to be downcast by Helen's betrayal. Graham can't get anything out of Marilyn and asks Vera if she can put pressure on Marilyn to soften her up. Erica tells the women there will be a volleyball competition in place of the afternoon work period. Franky and Bea lead the opposing sides. Marilyn accidentally hits Vera with the ball and Vera uses the opportunity to send her to solitary for two days. Graham has a dinner date with Vera at her place: he tells her the pressures of work make it hard for him to find girlfreinds. As they both agree that criminals are "animals", they at least have something in common. The receptionist hands Vera a telegram to Franky about her brother having had an accident, but to the amazement of both of them, Franky doesn't react to it at all. In fact she can't read it, and puzzles over it in her cell only making out the words "GARY" and STOP". Lynn's mother finds Lynn's letter addressed to Doug at "Lawson Prison" and accuses her of lying. When Lynn's father hears that Doug has no family or job to go back to, he offers Doug a job working on the farm. Franky asks for Doreen's help, pretending she has something in her eye, but she is too frightened to read Franky's telegram to her and pretends it is just to say how well he is getting on with his job. Mum plucks up courage to go to Franky and tell her what the message really says, but Franky claims to have read it after all. When Franky returns to the rec room Karen tells Franky the truth - Gary has been critically injured and is in James Hospital. Franky goes nuclear (in slow motion ). Bea tries to persuade Marilyn she should give the police information about the drug dealers in the massage parlours. Doug asks Lynn to come back to Melbourne with him and she assumes she is asking him to marry her. Erica arranges for Franky to visit the hospital, but she arrives too late to see her brother alive. Lynn and Doug run away together, after Doug has stolen money from the cookie jar in the kitchen. During the Sunday church service, Franky goes up on the roof . Karen is in the garden and looks up to see Franky standing at the edge of the roof as if ready to jump.

    EPISODE 12

    First broadcast 3rd April 1979 (Melbourne); Broadcast on Channel 5 (UK) 12 April 1997 Sat 4:40 a.m. Franky gets help.

    [see below]

    Lynn ~ Kerry Armstrong
    Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne
    Franky ~ Carol Burns
    Lizzie ~ Sheila Florance
    Erica ~ Patsy King
    Marilyn ~ Margaret Laurence
    Bea ~ Val Lehman
    Doreen ~ Colette Mann
    Eddie ~ Richard Moir
    Greg ~ Barry Quin
    Vera ~ Fiona Spence
    Karen ~ Peita Toppano
    Mum ~ Mary Ward
    Doug ~ John Arnold
    Suz ~ Lisa Dombrowski
    Celebrant ~ Judy Johnson
    Male Guard ~ Colin Nicole
    Bernie ~ Robert Thompson
    Graham Lang ~ Adrian Wright

  • Written by Michael Brindley
  • Directed by Brian McDuffie
  • Kate Jason (later to be Martha Eaves) appears as an extra in the laundry .

    Karen runs up to the roof and manages to talk Franky down, despite her own highly confrontational style ("You're piss weak, Franky" etc) and interference from Vera - until Erica tells her to go down. Franky is hustled off to solitary on Erica's orders. Lizzie tells the women about the holes in the fences while they are being repaired, so there could be opportunities to plan an escape. Graham visits Vera but is disappointed to find that she has made no progress wearing down Marilyn. Greg points out to Karen that she is in a unique position to help Franky and gives her the old textbooks he has collected from her school. Doug and Lynn move in with his friend Bernie and his girlfriend Suzie. Franky agrees to let Karen teach her to read. Lynn is embarassed at Bernie's assumption that she is pregnant with Doug's child and so they will be willing to share a double bed. She tells Doug she won't sleep with him until they are married, so he has to sleep on the couch in the front rooom. Doreen sees Karen teaching Franky to read and reports it in the laundry to everyone's amusement. Graham interviews Marilyn again (in reception?) but Meg steps in when he gets heavy with her and reminds him there should always be a policewoman present. Franky tells her story to Karen: she left school when she was eleven and she had to protect her mother and brother from attacks from her drunken father. Lynn cuts Suz short when she is musing that it's not so bad to go to prison, and says she knows from experience that it is. Meg warns Graham she will report any further intimidation to the Governor, and tells Vera she knows about the way she took advantage of the incident at the volleyball match. Bea tricks Eddie and Marilyn to come to the rec room at the same time and lock then both in the store room until they make up. Greg shows Lynn the application from the registrar's office and asks her if she wants to marry him, but Suz suggests they get a celebrant instead. Marilyn decides to tell the police everything they want to know as a way of breaking away from her criminal past. When Vera phones Graham to arrange another date, he is revealed as married from the photos of his family on his desk. Franky gets a slap from Karen for trying to kiss her during a reading lesson. This angers Franky so much she agrees to Lizzie's escape plan and Doreen says she wants to go too. Greg impresses on Karen that even if she can't help Franky there are other prisoners she could teach. Bernie asks Doug to help him in a pay-roll snatch. As she promised Eddie, Marilyn tells Graham what she knows, and Graham promptly loses interest in Vera, making excuses not to keep their date for that evening. Lynn and Doug get married. The new rec room furniture is delivered, which gives the women an opportunity to create a diversion so Franky can steal a step ladder. She somehow manages to get this past reception and into the garden, and she cuts the barbed wire so she, Doreen and Lizzie can go over the fence.

    The credits broadcast by Channel 5 for (12) were identical to those at the end of (11). Strangely, the credits on the commercially released video for this episode seem to be the correct ones, so I have used them here, rather than Channel 5's.


    EPISODE 13

    First broadcast 4th April 1979 (Melbourne); Broadcast on Channel 5 (UK) 13 April 1997 Sun 4:40 a.m. Lizzie goes to hospital.

    Lynn ~ Kerry Armstrong
    Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne
    Franky ~ Carol Burns
    Lizzie ~ Sheila Florance
    Erica ~ Patsy King
    Marilyn ~ Margaret Laurence
    Bea ~ Val Lehman
    Doreen ~ Colette Mann
    Eddie ~ Richard Moir
    Greg ~ Barry Quin
    Vera ~ Fiona Spence
    Karen ~ Peita Toppano
    Mum ~ Mary Ward
    Doug ~ John Arnold
    Youth ~ Timothy Bowles
    Sister ~ Wendy Damien
    Newsreader ~ Adam Joseph
    Muriel ~ Marilyn O'Donnell

  • Written by Michael Brindley
  • Directed by Godfrey Philipp
  • For this and the next episode only, the mugshot sequence includes Franky in place of Bea. Doreen also appears in place of Lynn and Lynn is moved up to take Karen's place.

    Lizzie gets left behind and when Franky and Doreen go back for her, it seems her heart isn't up to the strain of an escape. Franky and Doreen take her back as far as the fence and Lizzie asks the guard to let her back in. The women are locked in their cells and Vera treats the women roughly as she realises that all the incidents around the time of the escape showed that all the women were in on it. Bea warns Marilyn not to antagonise the officers or she will spend longer inside. Erica questions Lizzie in the infirmary, but can get nothing from her about Franky and Doreen's plans. Franky has to urge Doreen to act normal (which is a bit hard for a big girl in dungarees carrying a teddy bear). Lizzie tells Greg she has no family (apart from a brother) so she wasn't serious about escaping. Erica has to calm Vera down from urging a complete review of security, though Vera gets the chance to smirk when she hears Erica trying to field a call from a reporter about the escape. Greg invites himself to dinner with Meg to use up the unused portion, when she finds that Marty has left a note to say he won't be home. Franky and Doreen have no cash for food and have to mug a boy for a portion of fish and chips. Doreen and Frank hide out in a barn for the night. Vera accuses Mum of knowing about the escape and of failing to raise the alarm when she was in the garden at the time. Doreen tells Franky about her childhood with her violent father: he worked in the stables at a racecourse and was gentle to horses, but cruel to his daughter who he was bringing up alone after his wife left. Lynn hears the news about the escape on the radio: she tries to tell Doug but he is more interested in consummating the marriage. Vera catches Marilyn and Eddie cuddling after chatting about their future and spitefully reports Eddie to Erica. Doug tells Lynn about the pay-roll job. Mum denies all knowledge of the escape when questioned by Erica: Vera is indignant that Erica is unwilling to take the matter any further. Erica frankly tells Vera her attitude isn't satisfactory, but Vera just gets more cheeky and asks if she intends to provide a double bed for Marilyn and Eddie. Lynn phones Meg to let her know about her wedding, but she isn't as enthusiastic about it as Lynn had hoped. Meg hears from Erica that a new social worker will be starting and will be given Bill's old officer. Karen agrees to offer classes to the women, and shortly afterwards Marilyn tells Karen she wants to learn book-keeping to help Eddie. Erica is forced to cancel the electrical contract with the firm Eddie works for. Doug convinces Lynn to be the getaway driver and decoy for the pay-roll job when he threatens to get "some moll off the street" or even to knock the guard unconscious if she won't take part.


    At this point in the original run, TV Times in Australia featured Prisoner on the cover and included a handy cut-out-and-keep guide to the main characters.


    EPISODE 14

    First broadcast 10th April 1979 (Melbourne); Broadcast on Channel 5 (UK) 14 April 1997 Mon 4:40 a.m. Judith-Anne tells her mother she's pregnant.

    Lynn ~ Kerry Armstrong
    Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne
    Franky ~ Carol Burns
    Lizzie ~ Sheila Florance
    Erica ~ Patsy King
    Marilyn ~ Margaret Laurence
    Bea ~ Val Lehman
    Doreen ~ Colette Mann
    Eddie ~ Richard Moir
    Greg ~ Barry Quin
    Vera ~ Fiona Spence
    Karen ~ Peita Toppano
    Mum ~ Mary Ward
    Jean ~ Christine Amor
    Doug ~ John Arnold
    Fred Panks ~ Ray Burgess
    Security Guard ~ Jim Cain
    Judith-Anne ~ Kim Deacon
    Gracie ~ Maureen Edwards
    Detective Grace ~ Terry Gill
    George Wilkins ~ Les James
    Newsreader ~ Adam Joseph
    Mary Healy ~ Carmel Millhouse
    Pat ~ Sharon Smith
    OTHER CHARACTERS
    A background prisoner who shouts "Screws!" , who does not seem to be the credited Pat.

  • Written by Michael Brindley
  • Directed by Godfrey Philipp
  • Doreen wakes up with Franky in some sort of deserted farmhouse to find a rat staring her in the eyes: she tells Franky she's fed up of living rough and has even considered going back to Wentworth. Lynn pulls up her car outside "MAULER ENGINEERING WORKS" pretending to have broken down and waits for the security guard to come and help her. The pay-roll job goes wrong - Doug is shot in the shoulder escaping from the factory after Bernie has been shot and killed. The women duly hear the news on the radio in the laundry, but as no names are mentioned they don't realise it's Lynn. Vera also hears the bulletin and gleefully predicts the woman driving the car will find herself in Wentworth. Lynn drives the getaway car off the road: both she and Doug are injured. Eddie's boss tells him to forget the idea of setting up in business on his own. Greg lets Lizzie go back back to her cell as long as she promises to stay there. Greg persuades Mum to talk about her problems. Realizing her baby is on the way, Lynn drags herself to a phone box and rings Greg to beg him for help. Somehow she has managed to find the number for the direct line in the surgery. Even more amazingly, Greg claims to know the phone box she is calling from. Doug is picked up by the police before Greg arrives. Judith Anne visits Mum and expresses her concern at how tired she is looking. She seems about to say something herself, but is intimidated by Vera's presence. Eddie is given the sack for losing the prison contract. Franky and Doreen help themselves to a change of clothes and go for a meal in a "restaurant". Mr Wilkins goes to prison in Eddie's place and is harassed by the women. He has to agree to consider taking Eddie his job back. Doreen pretends to be sick so that she and Doreen can run out the back way. Lynn loses her baby, and Detective Grace tells Greg that Doug has died in hospital. The new social worker Jean Vernon annoys Meg by clearing out Bill's things. When Meg introduces her to the women in the rec room, she tells Marilyn she's seen one of her "movies". From her description of it as "pretty hot stuff" and Marilyn's reaction, it seems fair to assume she means pornography: it turns out she was shown it by the police when she was doing an article on the degradation of women. Marilyn is taken aback by Jean's straightforward attitude and seems to be reconsidering her career options. Meg arrives home to finds a note from Marty saying he's left home: Jean is on hand to tell her not to worry as it often happens and to dissuade her from phoning the police. Mum asks for Meg's help in finding out what is wrong with Judith-Anne: Meg suggests she tries talking to Jean. Sure enough, Jean goes to talk to Judith-Anne and speaks to her plainly about Lorraine's attitude, asking Judith-Anne to go and visit Mum again. Karen's mother visits her in Wentworth: she is unsympathetic to Karen's news of a possible retrial and is more worried about the effect on her and her new man friend.

    (1) to (7)
    (15) to (21)

    Updated ~ 01 March 2009