EPISODE 52Broadcast on Channel 5 (UK) 27 May 1997 Tues 4:40 a.m. Bella is in danger. Jean ~ Christine Amor Monica ~ Lesley Baker Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Jim ~ Gerard Maguire Lizzie ~ Sheila Florance Erica ~ Patsy King Bea ~ Val Lehman Doreen ~ Colette Mann Greg ~ Barry Quin Vera ~ Fiona Spence Karen ~ Peita Toppano Dr Herbert ~ Henry Blake Bella ~ Liddy Clarke Mr Davey ~ Bill Connolly ){kind=small} Peter ~ Carrillo Gantner Martha ~ Kate Jason Noeline ~ Jude Kuring Melinda ~ Lulu Pinkus Leanne ~ Tracy-Jo Riley | Bella's "assailant" turns out to be Martha trying to be friendly. Vera points out to Bella she can't be too choosy if someone is offering to be her friend. Bella suggests to Vera she could work in the garden and Martha could be her bodyguard. Jim annoys Karen by stopping her study release at short notice, so she hints that Peter Clements' research may not be all that it seems and that it's not the prisoners he's really interested in. Dr Herbert hands over his practice to Greg. Erica reluctantly agrees to let Martha act as a guard to protect Bella from the other women. Erica orders Peter Clements to leave Wentworth immediately when he admits he told Bea about Bella, but he manages to find time to let Lizzie know he's going, tease Vera with a sexual proposal and to taunt Jim with his haemophobia. Bea decides not to make a move on Bella and Lizzie tries to scare Bella by offering her some biscuits she got from Peter Clements then telling her what she's in prison for. Vera overheard Peter Clements' remark about haemophobia and finds out from Greg what it means. Noeline tells Leanne she can't go home while she's on the dole. As Leanne leaves, she runs into Jean who takes her to her office and tries to work out where she can live after she has lost her flat and her boyfriend has left. Bea distracts the officers while Monica attacks Bella in the garden, but Martha is with her and she attacks Monica. Noeline gloats to Bea that Martha will be pushing to depose Bea as top dog. Erica orders Monica to spend a night in solitary for the attack. Jean somehow persuades Meg to let Leanne move in with them temporarily. Leanne lets slip that she has been inside Meg's flat, but Jean insists she must be truthful in future and not try to pretend she wasn't involved with the burglary. Karen defends Bella, so Bella seeks her out to talk to her in her cell and shows her the necklace her lover gave her. Martha overhears Bella tell Karen what she really thinks of her. Meg is disgusted by the way Leanne has taken over her flat. After an argument about Martha's ridiculous plan to arrange an escape for her, Martha leaves Bella alone in the shower block ){kind=small} - an unseen person knocks her out, takes her necklace and drowns her by holding her head under water ){kind=small} in one of the washbasins ){kind=small} . |
EPISODE 53Broadcast on Channel 5 (UK) 28 May 1997 Wed 4:40 a.m. Melinda finds Bella's body.Jean ~ Christine Amor Monica ~ Lesley Baker Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Jim ~ Gerard Maguire Lizzie ~ Sheila Florance Erica ~ Patsy King Bea ~ Val Lehman Doreen ~ Colette Mann Greg ~ Barry Quin Vera ~ Fiona Spence Karen ~ Peita Toppano Mr Baxter ~ Burt Cooper ){kind=small} Mr Crosse ~ Robin Cuming ){kind=small} Det Sgt Allen ~ Kenneth Goodlet ){kind=small} Martha ~ Kate Jason Noeline ~ Jude Kuring Melinda ~ Lulu Pinkus Leanne ~ Tracy-Jo Riley Officer Phillip ~ Lise Rodgers Judge ~ James Taylor ){kind=small} Erica calls the main officer investigating Bella's murder "Inspector" Allen. The junior officer with him The woman on the back row of the six person jury | Vera asks Martha where Bella is and is annoyed to find she has left her on her own. Melinda finds Bella in the shower block. Erica's immediate thought when she finds out about Bella's death is to find out whree Bea is. Greg confirms that Bella was murdered and only then does Erica call in the police. When Jim asks for Bea in the laundry, Noeline casts suspicion on Bea and Monnie. Monnie is immediately locked in her cell. Bea is traced to sick-bay in a state of undress. Inspector Allen questions Monnie and she gets herself into trouble imediately by asking if it's about Bella. Melinda tells the women about discovering Bella's body and Noeline gloats that it will be the end of Bea. Greg gives Bea an alibi. Melinda lays it on thick with Greg to get him to agree to persuade her father to give evidence for her. Monnie is detained as the chief suspect in Bella's murder: Bea is detained for inciting her. Martha is questioned about why she left Bella alone. Greg talks to Mr Cross and argues that Melinda only resorted to blackmail as a last result: he agrees to go to court to do whatever he can for Melinda. Martha confirms that Bea and Monnie are in solitary so Noeline helps herself to a few of Bea and Monnie's things in their absence. Lizzie tries to confess to the murder but Erica tells her not to talk nonsense as she didn't have the strength to murder Bella in the way she died. Denny phones Lianne, who invites him round to Meg's flat as both she and Jean are out. Melinda goes to trial and her lawyer depicts her as an innocent country girl led astray by a wicked older man. Noeline asks Jean to get Lianne to come in and visit. Melinda is released on a good behaviour bond. Jean goes home to fetch Lianne, narrowly escaping catching her in bed with Denny (who "escaped through a window" and therefore doesn't have to appear). Noeline suggests to Karen that Martha was the murderer and entertains Karen with a lecture on the difference between "killers" and "crims". Melinda visits Greg's surgery to ask him to arrange an abortion for her, after using her pregnancy as a mitigating factor to avoid a heavier sentence, sayings he never had any intention of keeping the baby once it had "served its purpose". Greg tells Erica he has decided he will have to stop visiting the prison after being used by "unscrupulous women" for their own ends. Meg reacts angrily when Leanne comes to visit Noeline and complains of the mess she left (though is it actually possible to stain carpets with whisky?) Noeline passes something to Lianne during the visit. Karen is questioned about whether Bella wore a necklace, as scratches were found on Bella's neck. She says Bella wore a chain with her engagement ring on it and that it was a ruby set with diamonds. When Lianne gets through the front gate she looks at what her mother passed to her, and it is Bella's ring ){kind=small} . |
EPISODE 54Broadcast on Channel 5 (UK) 29 May 1997 Thurs 4:40 a.m. The police search for the necklace.Jean ~ Christine Amor Monica ~ Lesley Baker Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Jim ~ Gerard Maguire Lizzie ~ Sheila Florance Erica ~ Patsy King Bea ~ Val Lehman Doreen ~ Colette Mann Greg ~ Barry Quin Vera ~ Fiona Spence Karen ~ Peita Toppano Det Sgt Allen ~ Kenneth Goodlet Judge ~ John Gould ){kind=small} Martha ~ Kate Jason Noeline ~ Jude Kuring Woman ~ Dawn Klingberg ){kind=small} Phyllis ~ Reylene Pearce Leanne ~ Tracy-Jo Riley I have corrected the obvious misspelling "Dawn Klingber" | A cell search is carried out to look for the ring. Bea thanks Lizzie for trying to help her but tells her not to get involved. Vera tells Martha to work the press, but Jim orders her into the garden. Vera retaliates by threatening to tell Erica about his haemophobia. Greg leaves before his replacement is appointed, and says goodbye to Karen, asking her to get in touch if she gets her parole. Karen gives Peter Clements' thesis to Vera, noting that it mentions the officer's psychological problems, particularly Jim's. Karen's parole hearing is set for the following day: Jean tries to arrange her somewhere to stay and Karen suggests Marjorie Whitton, who is a friend of her mother's. Meg comes home unexpectedly and catches Leanne with her feet up smoking. Jim annoys Karen so she warns him that a copy of Peter Clements' thesis has gone to Erica. Meg sees Leanne hiding Bella's ring down her jumper. Noeline is questioned about the ring ){kind=small} and tells the police she stole it from Martha's cell when it becomes clear she's in danger of becoming the chief suspect. Martha confronts Lizzie about her suspicion that Monnie didn't murder Bella. Martha is tricked into confessing to the murder by Erica, who probes Martha's insecurity to get her to brag about what she did. Monica and Bea are released from solitary. Erica is worried by what she reads in Peter Clements' thesis and confronts Jim with it. Vera is disgusted that Erica only warns Jim, and asks what Peter Clements has written about her. She looks a little taken aback when she reads the file. Bea is told she won't be transferred and the incitement charges against her are to be dropped. Martha attacks Vera when her meal is brought to solitary, and holds a fork against her neck. Meg runs for help. Martha takes Vera up on the roof ){kind=small} , demanding to be put back on the press and for Bea and the others to leave her alone: Jim tries to talk her down. Martha draws blood ){kind=small} and taunts Jim, but he gets close enough to grab Martha and disarm her. As Martha is led away we can see two huge satellite dishes ){kind=small} which look a little out of place on the roof of a prison. Karen's parole hearing starts: she is convinced it has gone badly when her involvement in riots and other incidents is brought up. Vera praises Jim for the way he handled the situation on the roof. Bea makes Noeline give Lizzie back her cigarettes. Karen is brought back to the laundry despondent and convinced that she will never be given parole. |
EPISODE 55Broadcast on Channel 5 (UK) 30 May 1997 Fri 4:40 a.m. The women try to cheer up KarenJean ~ Christine Amor Monica ~ Lesley Baker Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Jim ~ Gerard Maguire Lizzie ~ Sheila Florance Erica ~ Patsy King Bea ~ Val Lehman Doreen ~ Colette Mann Greg ~ Barry Quin Vera ~ Fiona Spence Karen ~ Peita Toppano Noeline ~ Jude Kuring Denny ~ Tony Mahood Marjorie ~ Yvette Rees ){kind=small} Leanne ~ Tracy-Jo Riley Officer Phillip ~ Lise Rodgers Attendant ~ Stan Taylor Mechanic ~ Rod West ){kind=small} Greg is not in this episode. The credits broadcast by Channel 5 were for episode (57), so I have used above the credits from Central's second showing of this episode in February 1994. This | The women decide to hold a farewell party for Karen to cheer her up, but Monica throws cold water on their optimism, saying she once had to wait months for a decision on her parole. Jean arranges an interview for Leanne as a cashier in the supermarket down the road. Lizzie reminds Karen about the halfway house project as a way of getting her to look to the future. As Vera wakes up Monica, the camera dwells for a second on her bedside reading matter ){kind=small} . Jean lends Leanne a neckscarf for her interview to disguise the fact that she isn't wearing a bra under her teeshirt. Vera snaps at Jim for not supporting her when Bea comments they should have just dropped Vera off the roof. Meg discusses Peter Clements' thesis with Jean, who think he was accurate about Vera ("a sociosexual neurotic fulfilling frustrated needs") but Meg defends her. Noeline suggests Greg only left because Meg was trying to seduce him. Vera lets Karen know she's got her parole by brusquely ordering her to go and pack her things. Noeline grudgingly says goodbye to Karen and advises her not to get in any more trouble. Vera sneers at Karen that she expects to see her back inside. Karen leaves Wentworth ){kind=small} with the thirty dollars she brought in plus $172.50 wages. Jim and Vera refuse to let her say goodbye to her friends or Erica. Jean collects her on the other side of the gate to drive her to the place where she is staying. Leanne gets the supermarket job and attributes her success to the fact that the manager "kept perving on me tits". Karen goes to stay with Marjorie Whitton, a friend of her mother's who lays down the house rules to her in no uncertain terms (and an uncertain Welsh accent). Doreen returns to Wentworth: she does not seem to be cured, and doesn't respond when Meg uses her name, or recognize Lizzie or Bea. Bea realises that Doreen has been drugged. Jean makes up a phony shopping list for Meg so she will look in on Leanne at the supermarket. Lizzie refuses to work in the laundry with less than seven people, but when Doreen is brought in she isn't able to work, so Bea insists the officer takes her to work in the garden. Leanne gets the sack for using bad language to the customers and the manager, and Meg is keen to throw her out of the flat until Jean intervenes to insist she is given another chance. Denny arranges a job for Leanne in a service station. Doreen stabs herself in the foot with a garden fork ){kind=small} and has to be taken to hospital. Leanne goes along with Denny for the "job", but he only wants her there to distract the attendant while he holds up the service station. A mechanic sees them threatening his boss and phones the police. |
Monica's romantic novel ("Moon of desire" by Betty Manvers) looks like it was a collector's item of someone on the props team. It isn't an Australian book, and the original edition was published over 40 years before the scene was shot. For library catalogue records of the book, search at (for example) www.copac.ac.uk for the title. Thanks to Derek and Vicki in the yahoo club chatroom for being amused enough by the screen shot to make me try to find where it came from.
EPISODE 56Broadcast on Channel 5 (UK) 31 May 1997 Sat 4:40 a.m. Jean and Meg hear of Leanne's arrest.Jean ~ Christine Amor Monica ~ Lesley Baker Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Jim ~ Gerard Maguire Lizzie ~ Sheila Florance Erica ~ Patsy King Bea ~ Val Lehman Doreen ~ Colette Mann Greg ~ Barry Quin Vera ~ Fiona Spence Karen ~ Peita Toppano Officer Barfield ~ Kate Fell ){kind=small} Winnie ~ Judy Johnson  Noeline ~ Jude Kuring Bar Customer ~ Derek Manley ){kind=small} Phyllis ~ Reylene Pearce Melinda ~ Lulu Pinkus Marjorie ~ Yvette Rees Kathleen ~ Penny Stewart Gus ~ Peter Thompson Suzanne ~ Joanna Weir Thanks to Bjorn Wallgren for providing the credits above from the second showing on Sweden's TV4 on 16th February 2001. Channel 5 broadcast the credits for episode (57) with the wrong episode for a second time and I suspect the correct credits for this episode have never been seen in the UK. The actor playing "Bar Customer" is credited as "Derek Manly" but I have changed this as the spelling of the same actor's name in the credits for (111) looks more likely. Adair Stagg is once again the silent backgrounder | Jean is worried when Leanne doesn't come home: Leanne phones her from the police station. Meg takes up Jean's invitation to say "I told you so" and refuses to let Jean bring Leanne back to the flat if she manages to get her bail. Bea examines Doreen's foot and is worried about the possibility of tetanus. Doreen is horrified by Lizzie's description of the symptoms: "you swell up and you can't close your mouth". Jean wants Leanne's conviction kept secret from Noeline and legally only Noeline's grandmother who is her guardian needs to know. Erica agrees to have the newspaper censored, even though the article doesn't mention Leanne by name. Bea asks Erica to get Greg to examine Doreen's foot: she phones him and he refuses. Karen wanders through the park hearing a series of voiceover flashbacks about how hard she will find it to cope. Lizzie finds the article about Leanne in a rubbish bin. Bea brushes aside Monica's objections and declares a hunger strike until the women get adequate medical attention. Lizzie gives the newspaper clipping to Bea to possibly use to convince Noeline, who refuses to join the strike. Karen bumps into Melinda at University, but runs away from her when Melinda lets other students know Karen had been inside. Melinda catches up with her and persuades her to go out for a drink with her later. Noeline is the only one to break the hunger strike, so Bea tells her about Leanne. Noeline throws a plate on the floor, which starts a disturbance and the women are locked in the dining room. Bea tells them to barricade the gate from the other side ){kind=small} , but regrets being forced into the action as she believes she will be transferred after the protest is over. Meg pleads with Greg to come to Wentworth and he agrees. Marjorie expects Karen to come for tea with a friend who is interested in "rehabilitation". Karen lets Marjorie down and goes to a pub with Melinda instead. Melinda invites her to come and stay in her flat so Karen goes to see Jean, who as her parole officer needs to be informed of the move. Erica negotiates with Bea ){kind=small} : she agrees to end the blockade if she can see Greg treating Doreen, so she is taken out of the dining room, putting Monica in charge until she returns. Greg tells Bea he cannot return to Wentworth as he has a new group of patients to look after. Bea is taken back to the dining room, but Monica and Noeline are keen to give the impression of good behaviour and have already persuaded the others to go back to their cells. Jim orders Bea to solitary for two weeks and Vera slyly does not tell him he will be opposing Erica's wishes. Jean agrees to let Karen move in with Melinda, as she was only a remand prisoner so the consorting rule does not apply. Erica is cross with Jim for undermining her order, but agrees that Noeline can still be released on the due date and Monica's "assistance" should be mentioned to her parole board. Melinda goes to see Greg, and repeats her demand for an abortion. He warns her that he's been investigating the legal position and that having an abortion would lay her open to a charge of perjury meaning she would have to serve her original suspended sentence. |
EPISODE 57Broadcast on Channel 5 (UK) 01 June 1997 Sun 4:40 a.m. Karen moves in with Melinda Crosse.Monica ~ Lesley Baker Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Lizzie ~ Sheila Florance Erica ~ Patsy King Bea ~ Val Lehman Jim ~ Gerard Maguire Doreen ~ Colette Mann Greg ~ Barry Quin Vera ~ Fiona Spence Karen ~ Peita Toppano Antonia ~ Pat Bishop Terry Mansini ~ Burt Cooper ){kind=small} Jack Crosse ~ Robin Cuming Glenys ~ Roz French Woman ~ Rosemary Manion ){kind=small} Melinda ~ Lulu Pinkus Leila ~ Penny Ramsay Drunk ~ Michael Rowan ){kind=small} Detective ~ Bob Ruggiero ){kind=small} Female Employee ~ Penny Shelton ){kind=small} Bartender ~ Ian Sprake ){kind=small} Kathleen ~ Penny Stewart Detective ~ Kevin Summers ){kind=small} Receptionist ~ Nanette Wallace UNCREDITEDMatthew Fletcher ~ Damon PascoeOTHER CHARACTERSJackie CoulsonBea is not in this episode. I have corrected the misspelling Penny "Ramsey". Gerard Maguire is credited as "Gerry". The employment agency scene was obviously shot in the rec room/staff room/dining room set disguised with some yellow partitions | Karen moves into Melinda's flat, but has to wait for her for ages to arrive, and Melinda seems to have forgotten they even made an arrangement. Toni McNally ){kind=small} looks for Jackie Coulson in a bar, then sits watching her flirting with an older man ){kind=small} . Doreen and Lizzie discuss who will be top dog while Bea is in solitary. Toni follows Jackie Coulson into the toilet ){kind=small} and shoots her ){kind=small} , but is interrupted by another woman who sees her with the gun in her hand and screams ){kind=small} when she sees the body. Melinda tells Karen to use a false name for job interviews, or she will lose her grant, then follows her own advice by booking a doctor's appointment under Karen's name. Toni McNally is brought to Wentworth. Leila phones Jim to tell him their son Matthew is ill with asthma but the doctor hasn't done much, so he says he'll take him to see Greg. He notices Vera listening to him arguing with Leila and warns her not to use his private life to get her old job back. Karen is recognized by the woman from the job agency who tells her that other prospective employers will probably recognise her too. Lizzie sneaks into solitary to talk to Toni, who cadges a cigarette off her in promise of anything she likes in return. Melinda tells Karen she's going away for a few days so she can sleep in her bed until she gets back. Vera is invited out for a drink for the receptionist's birthday: she arrives early and spots Jim drinking in the bar, and when he sees her he drunkenly accuses her of spying on him. Leila takes Matthew to see Greg, and tells him the asthma attacks date from the time when Jim left: Greg agrees to speak to Jim. Erica is unhappy about releasing Toni among the other women, given her underworld connections, but accepts she cannot hold her in solitary indefinitely. Toni pays Lizzie to make up her bed for her. Lizzie takes Toni to the rec room and the women are all highly impressed when they hear her surname. Only Monnie fails to get the point so Lizzie has to explain to her about Toni's husband Sean, a notorious gangster. At Greg's suggestion, Jim goes to speak to Leila but they just end up arguing. Erica refuses to give Jim leave to spend more time with his children but agrees to put in a request to the Department for a temporary replacement for him. Toni asks to work in the laundry, but is intercepted by Vera who takes her to see her solicitor. He demands to be left alone with her and gives her money, cigarettes and booze, with a promised drug delivery later in the kitchen's food delivery. He tells her not to worry about the case as he has fixed most of the witnesses already and arranged people to give her an alibi. However, the witness to the shooting, Glenys Buchanan, is interviewed by the police and agrees to testify against Toni. Lizzie agrees to make Toni's pickup from the kitchen in return for booze. Melinda's father calls round when only Karen is at home: she has lied to him (and Karen) about where she is living. Toni hands out some contraband to a few of the women in the laundry, then takes over the press from Monnie by paying her with cigarettes and cash. She has no intention of ruining her nails by actually using it, and pays Kathleen to work it for her. When Vera orders Toni to get back to work, Toni waits until Vera is just outside the door then makes a casual remark about her being "the bird old Georgie Lucas was knocking off". Despite being moved to a safe house and guarded by two detectives, Glenys is snatched by two thugs when the detectives fall for the old "ring the front door bell and ask for Mrs Smith then run round to the back of the house and go through the French windows that have been conveniently left open" routine. (Or so it appears, but it later appears that Glenys has just run off on her own account) |
Storyliners: Dave Worthington; Margaret McClusky
Script Editor: Anne Lucas
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