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EPISODE 186Broadcast on Channel 5 Wednesday 14 January 1998 04:40 Lizzie requests a day out. Meg arranges a job for Georgie. And Sally has a run-in with Doreen and Bea. Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Judy ~ Betty Bobbitt Lizzie ~ Sheila Florance Erica ~ Patsy King Bea ~ Val Lehman Jim ~ Gerard Maguire Doreen ~ Colette Mann Vera ~ Fiona Spence David ~ Serge Lazareff Georgie ~ Tracey Mann Sally ~ Debra Lawrence Mike ~ Jon Geros Hazel ~ Belinda Davey Nancy ~ Mariette Rups  Mr Justice Myles ~ Frank Wilson  Ivy Butcher ~ Elizabeth Wing  UNCREDITEDWendy ~ Helen NoonanSupermarket Manager ~ Will Deumer  From the carelessly handled visitor's pass | Erica tells Sally she's fallen for the oldest trick in the book and warns her that her work must improve. Vera sympathises with Sally, but only as a means of impressing on her once again the need to imitate her own methods. David tells Erica he will try talking to Bea directly. Lizzie asks permission to have a day on the outside to recover from her recent sickness. Erica refuses, but after Lizzie has left the office she tells David that she intends to find a prison visitor for Lizzie - someone of her own age. Meg has found Georgie a job in a supermarket, and Mike visits Georgie to tell her they could share a room when she's paroled. Bea reiterates that David must withdraw his objection to Georgie's parole if he wants the women to come back to his classes, so he is forced to agree. The parole board chairman allows David to change his recommendation, but points out that Georgie's record in prison will also have to be taken into account. Ivy Butcher arrives as Lizzie's prison visitor. Bea notices Meg looking pained at Sally's heavy handed attempts to impose discipline. Ivy leaves her visitor's pass on the bench next to Lizzie, who palms it and hides it in her pocket. Georgie tells the parole board her life story. After hearing that Meg has fixed a job for her, she is granted parole. Doreen tells Sally the women laugh at her for imitating Vera. Meg is interested by the parole chairman's idea of having a resident parole officer in each prison. Bea says goodbye to Georgie and tells her to forget all of her friends inside if she wants to make a go of life on the outside. Lizzie's surreptitious sewing makes Bea and Doreen suspicious. After being sent on a false errand to find Vera, Sally is furious at being tricked and storms back to the laundry. When the women just laugh at her, she raises her arm to hit Doreen, but Vera stops her in time. Georgie is collected at the gate by Mike on his bike. Vera invites Sally for dinner to talk over her problems at work. Georgie isn't impressed by the room Mike has fixed up, nor the fact that he only seems interested in her for sex (nor even his impressively miniscule briefs). During the exercise period, Lizzie hides a bag in the rubbish skip. Georgie has had enough of Mike's attitude and after an argument, she walks out on him. Sally asks Vera if she thinks she's cut out to be an officer: Vera replies that Sally lacks the self discipline. Meg goes to pick up Georgie to drive her to work, but Mike tells her Georgie's gone. Sally tells Erica she knows she will never be any better at the job and hands in her resignation. The pots made in the class are to be taken outside to be fired and Lizzie gets Jim to agree to let her help David carry them to his car. Meg goes to the supermarket and finds Georgie is already there, having turned up for work on her own. After helping David to his car, Lizzie comes back into the grounds and collects the bag from the garbage. At muster, Jim wants to know where Lizzie is, so Doreen reads from a note Lizzie left for her. It says that as she'd asked for a day out and been refused, she's decided to have a day off without permission |
EPISODE 187Broadcast on Channel 5 Friday 16 January 1998 04:40 Lizzie has disappeared, Bob entertains important clients, and Chrissie is transferred to H Block.Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Judy ~ Betty Bobbitt Lizzie ~ Sheila Florance Erica ~ Patsy King Bea ~ Val Lehman Jim ~ Gerard Maguire Doreen ~ Colette Mann Vera ~ Fiona Spence David ~ Serge Lazareff Chrissie ~ Amanda Muggleton Bob ~ Anthony Hawkins Dr Evans ~ Ric Harley  Hal Leifenbacker ~ Randall Berger Lois Leifenbacker ~ Barbara Ramsay  Shop Woman ~ Moira Claux  Shopper ~ Veronica Haywood  OTHER CHARACTERSNurse (in the scenes with Dr Evans) Shop Assistant (in chemist's shop)  Motorcyle Cop  | Vera thinks that Lizzie hasn't escaped at all and that the women are hiding her to play a joke on the officers. Jim says the same thing to Erica, and Erica throws a fit of pique and has the women confined to their cells until Lizzie turns up - or the women admit what they are doing. Lizzie selects some clothes and a hat from a charity shop then pretends to have left her bag on the bus: the woman running the shop not only says she can take the clothes and pay for them later, but also give Lizzie two dollars from her own purse. Lizzie  makes the money go further by buying something in a chemist's and conning the assistant into giving her change from ten dollars instead of the two she really gives him. Doreen predicts Lizzie will be back by the next day at the latest. David goes to Bea's cell to find out what's going on, as he suspects it's another trick to have his classes cancelled. Vera finds him and tells him off for straying outside his allotted area. Lizzie stops off for "afternoon tea" - but we see her push open the door of a public bar. Erica changes her mind and decides that there should be a full scale search of the prison after all. Lizzie catches a bus to go and visit Sid. Meg asks Vera to work her late shift so she can go home to entertain Bob's clients. When Lizzie arrives at the nursing home, a doctor tells her that Sid isn't there, as he's away visiting his son. Lizzie goes away, but returns at the end of the day even more drunk, and is put in a spare room to sleep it off. Bob phones Meg to ask her to change out of her uniform before she comes home. The women string the officers along by shouting to each other about where Lizzie might be hiding. Mr Leifenbacker recognises Meg from the TV coverage of the siege, and Meg is forced to admit she's a prison officer, not knowing that Bob has told the Leifenbackers a quite different story. After they leave, Meg is furious that Bob lied about her job, and won't speak to him next morning at breakfast. Erica decides the police will have to be notified just at the moment when Lizzie phones up to say she's coming back on her own. The women are let out of their cells. Jim works out how Lizzie managed to get through the gate. David discusses with Erica some ideas for incentives for good behaviour, and suggests the women should be asked what they would like themselves. Chrissie is brought to the laundry to work: she says she'd asked for the transfer to make more money for Elizabeth. Lizzie travels by train without paying and steals a woman's handbag, so when a motorcycle policeman asks her for identification, she is able to show the other woman's documents. David asks Bea to find out from the women what they would like as privileges. After initial scepticism, the ideas start to come from all the women, After hearing David read out the list at the classification meeting, Vera and Jim are strongly opposed to all of them. As Meg is leaving work, Lizzie rolls up in a taxi. Bob tells Meg he didn't get the contract. She senses that he is trying to blame her for it and points out that his lie may have made the Leifenbackers feel they wouldn't be able to trust him. Bob disagrees and says that if they are to make a success of their marriage, Meg will have to give up her job to help him entertain his clients. |
EPISODE 188Broadcast on Channel 5 Saturday 17 January 04:40 Chrissie receives a surprise visit, while Meg approaches Erica with an interesting offer.Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Judy ~ Betty Bobbitt Lizzie ~ Sheila Florance Erica ~ Patsy King Bea ~ Val Lehman Jim ~ Gerard Maguire Doreen ~ Colette Mann Vera ~ Fiona Spence David ~ Serge Lazareff Chrissie ~ Amanda Muggleton Hazel ~ Belinda Davey George Goscombe ~ Geoff Parry  Bob Morris ~ Anthony Hawkins Mick O'Brien ~ Michael Long  Johnnie Kent ~ Braedon Lord  Barbara Kent ~ Fincina Hopgood OTHER CHARACTERSDetective (interviewing Lizzie) | Bob tries to apologise to Meg, but he still wants her to change her job. Lizzie is interviewed by the police about her escape and is warned she may face some serious charges. Meg tells Erica she wants to look for another job, but one where her existing qualifications will be sufficient. Erica agrees to make enquiries for her. Vera and Jim oppose the conjugal visits scheme, so Meg is given the job of organising the women to get the garden tool shed screened off and cleaned up for use as a visiting suite. Jim tells Vera it's pointless objecting to the scheme, and they can just rely on the women to ruin it without any help from them. Bea won't let anyone help clean out the shed, even though Hazel and Chrissie are keen. Chrissie's accuses Bea of being selfish and blocking the scheme just because she can't see Ken. David reports back to Erica and recommends that the visiting ban on Ken should be lifted. Erica announces that all existing bans on visitors will be lifted, but that the visiting suite is for the use of husbands and de factos only. Bea promptly volunteers to help clean up and decorate the shed. Lizzie sneaks into Erica's office and steals her table lamp, helping herself to a swig from the decanter as she leaves. Erica inspects the new visiting suite and notices the lamp  , but doesn't make a fuss about it. Meg is delighted when Erica tells her about an opportunity as a welfare officer, but Erica also asks her to make sure she's doing this for the right reasons. Hazel applies for a conjugal visit, though she has to suffer Vera's sarcastic comments when she admits the man isn't her husband. Meg hands her application for the parole and probation officer to Erica for her approval. Lizzie is refused permission to have a visit from Sid. Chrissie has a surprise visit from Mick O'Brien, an ex boyfriend who tells her he has a job and offers to give Chrissie and Elizabeth a place to live when she is paroled. Chrissie is called to the Governor's office for bad news: Child Welfare have refused permission for her to have Elizabeth returned to her on the grounds that Wentworth is not a suitable environment for bringing up a child. Vera is to supervise the first conjugal visit, and Jim instructs her that she should be as unobtrusive as possible. George arrives to see Hazel with their two children. When Hazel and George are just about to go into the shed for a little conjugation, Vera butts in and asks if they expect to nursemaid the kids in the meantime. Jim angrily sends Vera back inside and takes over supervision of the visit. It seems that George cannot marry Hazel as he's unwilling to divorce his wife, who seems to be in a mental hospital. Vera bitches at Meg and reveals that she knows of Meg's job application. When Chrissie learns that Hazel's kids were allowed to see her even though she isn't married to their father, the gears start turning and she is lost in thought. Sure enough, she goes to apply for a conjugal visit from Mick on the grounds that he is Elizabeth's father. Judy suggests that Bea could test out the Department's promise not to censor the mail by writing to Ken and inviting him to visit. The women are openly sceptical about Chrissie's claim that she's getting a conjugal visit, so she tells them something else they don't know: she's just overheard in reception that Meg is resigning to become a social worker. Jim and Meg are amazed when Mick arrives to visit Chrissie and Vera admits she gave special permission for an extra visit. Bea asks Meg if the rumours about her leaving are true, and points out that the last person most women would want as a parole officer is an ex prison officer. Mick tells Chrissie it would be easier for him to see Elizabeth if his name were on the birth certificate, but he seems unhappy when Chrissie says she's already told the officers that he's Elizabeth's father. When Chrissie thanks Vera for letting her have an extra visit, Vera replies that it's the least she could do, since she's seen to it that it will be the last visit she gets from Mick while she's inside. Barnhurst have confirmed that he was a prisoner there, and the rules on association mean that Chrissie will not be able to have any further contact with him  . |
EPISODE 189Broadcast on Channel 5 Sunday 18 January 04:40 Trouble brews over the conjugal visiting suite.Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Judy ~ Betty Bobbitt Lizzie ~ Sheila Florance Erica ~ Patsy King Bea ~ Val Lehman Jim ~ Gerard Maguire Doreen ~ Colette Mann Vera ~ Fiona Spence David ~ Serge Lazareff Chrissie ~ Amanda Muggleton Hazel ~ Belinda Davey Ken ~ Tom Oliver Bob ~ Anthony Hawkins Mick ~ Michael Long Mr Campbell ~ Robin Cuming  Bevan Taylor ~ Rob Hewett  Wendy ~ Helen Noonan Mr Douglas ~ Ian Smith Greg Guthrie ~ Graeme Anderson  June Guthrie ~ Yvonne Foley OTHER CHARACTERSParole trainee (on the course with Meg) The (silent) photographer The building where Meg goes for parole training has a notice (hastily?) pasted on a pillar to identify it as part of The Department | Chrissie returns to the laundry sobbing and Bea makes veiled remarks to Vera to indicate that she holds her responsible. Doreen predicts Meg will be back soon as an officer, just like the last time she resigned. Meg finds Chrissie in her cell in tears, but can't do anything more for her than promise to speak to Erica about arranging another visit from Mick. Bea writes a letter to Ken to tell him he can visit again and seals it with sealing wax. Erica hopes the issue of the paternity of Chrissie's child won't be brought up again as she's due for parole in a few weeks. Meg convinces Erica that supervised visits from Mick can't do any harm. A reporter arrives to interview Erica about the visiting scheme: her optimistic description is heard over the reality - Vera inspecting a child's rag doll to check it for contraband. Ted Douglas phones Meg to make an appointment to discuss her application. When the reporter is shown around the visiting suite the couple in occupation protest that they are being treated like animals in a zoo. Bea advises the women to go along with the schemes for now, as the officers are obviously happy to bend the rules - for her and Ken as much as for Chrissie and Mick. Hazel is taken to the Governor's office to be interviewed, but Erica calls a halt to the interview when the journalist only seems interested in whether Hazel had sex during the visit. Ted agrees to let Meg go as an officer if she will take on all the casework from Wentworth. He adds that she will have to start on a course the following day or wait for three months for the next one. Erica is pleased by Ted Douglas's praise for the press coverage  , but her face falls when he tells her that Meg is leaving immediately. Bea is not happy with the newspaper report at all as Erica is given all the credit for thinking up the scheme and it is made to sound much better than it really is. Chrissie goes to Erica to ask for an unsupervised visit as the newspaper claims they are available to all the women: Erica decides to let her be a test case. She returns to the library with the good news just after the others have all voted in favour of Bea's proposal to boycott the visiting scheme. David finds out about the boycott from Bea and goes to tell Erica, who seems unconcerned as she thinks Bea can't count on the support of all the women over this issue. Ken Pearce arrives to visit Bea and is searched, and Vera won't allow David to talk to him until he leaves. Meg goes to the rec room in civilian clothes to say goodbye to the women, and when she mentions she's seen Ken, Bea rushes off to her cell to make herself look gorgeous. Ken and Bea talk about Debbie's forthcoming marriage and his wife: he tells her he hardly sees her and that he couldn't live with her any more. Chrissie criticises Bea over her double standards as many of the other women have lost their visits but somehow it's alright for her to see Ken. Meg starts on her course. David has had enough of Vera's bitching and tells her he's not happy with her attitude and asks her what she's ever done to improve the women's conditions. Erica agrees to offer Bea a compromise suggested by David, but says she will wait and see first whether Chrissie takes up her forthcoming unsupervised visit. Chrissie is in the laundry when Jim comes to collect her for the visit so in front of the other women she is forced to refuse the visiting suite in favour of a supervised visit in the garden. Mick asks Chrissie again about having his name put on Elizabeth's birth certificate and seems concerned by how much Vera has checked up on him. Erica puts David's compromise suggestion to Bea - she can have unsupervised visits with Ken if the women's boycott is lifted. She agrees but when she announces this in the laundry, Lizzie tells her the officers have bought her off. Chrissie is furious that the decision to lift the boycott came after she had to turn down her visit. She say that Bea may think she's top dog but really she's "top suck". Bea seems about to slap her, but looks around the laundry  and no-one will look her in the eye. Chrissie senses Bea has lost her support and insolently repeats the insult. |
EPISODE 190Broadcast on Channel 5 Tuesday 20 January 04:40 Bea is ostracised by her fellow inmates. Meg returns to the prison to work as a parole officer.Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Judy ~ Betty Bobbitt Lizzie ~ Sheila Florance Erica ~ Patsy King Bea ~ Val Lehman Jim ~ Gerard Maguire Doreen ~ Colette Mann Vera ~ Fiona Spence David ~ Serge Lazareff Chrissie ~ Amanda Muggleton Hazel ~ Belinda Davey Ken ~ Tom Oliver Bob Morris ~ Anthony Hawkins Mick O'Brien ~ Michael Long Debbie ~ Dina Mann Gary Grey ~ Peter Hosking  | No-one will talk to Bea in the rec room, though Hazel and Chrissie pointedly talk about her as if she wasn't there, provoking Bea to speak up in her own defence, but this only leads to a shouting match. When Vera breaks it up, Chrissie demands to see the Governor immediately to ask for another unsupervised visit from Mick to make up for the one she lost. Erica refuses and points out she is being very short-sighted to create so much trouble with her parole coming up. After a promise of a visit the following week if she is still inside, Chrissie calms down, but while Vera is showing her back to her cell, she manages to turn her against Bea again by pointing out that Chrissie is very unlikely to get her parole, so why should she worry about jeopardising it? The argument between Chrissie and Bea duly resumes, this time developing into a real fight: Vera takes Chrissie off to solitary gloating that now she will certainly lose her parole. Bea tells Lizzie that if the women don't want her as top dog, they can fend for themselves. Erica asks Vera to release Chrissie from solitary without punishment. Ken is delighted when Erica phones him to let him know about the unsupervised visit with Bea. The women won't even take a smoko when Bea says, so she steps away from the press and pushes Hazel off the sewing machine. Judy reluctantly takes over the press, but she says it doesn't mean she's agreeing to be top dog. Doreen is sick of all the bickering and asks to be put to work somewhere else. Ken's daughter Debbie comes to stay with him: she asks him about Bea and whether he's serious about her. David tries to persuade Chrissie to come to his class on "modern living". Doreen comes over all secretive when Bea sees her writing a letter and asks who she's writing to. Doreen says she still wants to be Bea's friend but doesn't want to get involved in any trouble. Erica tells the other officers that Meg will be starting soon as a parole officer. At the mail call, Doreen gets a letter and rushes off to read it in private. Vera takes Bea to the visiting suite to see Ken: she has to pretend to be pleased when Ken announces that he's brought Debbie along too. Chrissie mocks Bea when she finds that no "funny business" went on during the meeting with Ken, and asks her if it was worth betraying her mates for. When Ken and Debbie leave after being searched, a reporter catches them at the gate and asks for a comment. Meg is shown at breakfast next morning reading the resulting headline: "LOVE NEST FOR JAIL BIRDS". Bea is appalled when Lizzie brings copies of "The Verity" to the laundry - both she and Ken are identified by name. To try to recover face, Bea comes up with a very unconvincing story that she deliberately engineered the latest press coverage to undermine the good publicity previously given to the visiting suite, and that she selflessly put herself forward to be exposed rather than any of the other women whose relationships might have been destroyed by it. The women are suitably chagrined and guilty for misjudging Bea's motives. Ken phones his solicitor to see if the paper can be sued for misrepresentation. Chrissie ask Meg about having Mick's name put on the birth certificate, and Meg tells her she think she stands a very good chance of getting parole. Mick asks Chrissie to marry him, but later asks Meg why Chrissie wouldn't give him a straight answer. Bea admits privately to Lizzie that the newspaper article wasn't anything to do with her, but that she didn't sell the women out either and only acted as she did because she was desperate for love and male company after so many years without either. Debbie asks permission from Erica to see Bea, partly to explain about the misunderstanding that led to the newspaper article, but also because she has another more personal matter to discuss with Bea. Meg tells Chrissie she will still only have contact visits initially with Elisabeth and advises her to think seriously about Mick's proposal. Debbie apologises about the article to Bea and admits it was her fault that the reporter got Bea and Ken's names. She then launches into her main reason for the visit: she appeals to Bea to try to persuade her father to give up his work with the PRG, and to give his marriage another try. |
Script Editor: Patrick Amer (186)-(187); Ian Smith (188)-(189); Patrick Amer (190)
Storyliners: Dave Worthington, Alastair Sharp, Peter Brennan
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