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EPISODES (261) TO (265)

261 * 262 * 263 * 264 * 265


EPISODE 261

Broadcast on Channel 5 Friday 01 May 1998 04:40 Meg puts her marriage before promotion to Deputy Governor, the Department investigates possible fraud in the kitchen and Bea begins to suspect Kate.
CREDITS
Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne
Judy ~ Betty Bobbitt
Lizzie ~ Sheila Florance
Erica ~ Patsy King
Bea ~ Val Lehman
Doreen ~ Colette Mann
Officer Powell ~ Judith McGrath
Kate ~ Olivia Hamnett
Steve ~ Wayne Jarratt
Sandy ~ Louise Le Nay
Marie ~ Maggie Millar
Janet ~ Kate Sheil
Lori ~ Susannah Fowle
Ian ~ Peter Curtin
Wally ~ Alan Hopgood
Susie ~ Jacqui Gordon
Ron ~ Tim Robertson
Desk Sergeant ~ Bernard Barry
Sen. Sgt. Grant ~ Ivor Bowyer
Hazel ~ Belinda Davey
Jackie Donahue ~ Kathryn Lynch

  • Written by Wendy Jackson
  • Directed by Juliana Focht
  • The names in italics were missing from the credits broadcast by Channel 5 - looks like a whole screenful went missing somehow!

    Doreen asks Bea where Sandy is, having looked in her cell and not found her. She also comments that Marie and her gang also seem to be missing. Bea seems unconcerned and sends Doreen away, but goes after her when she leaves. Doreen hears a commotion in the shower block and rushes to help, giving Marie a wallop in the face with her plaster cast. Bea is right behind Doreen and cuts Sandy down: Doreen is sent to fetch help. Steve and Janet are patrolling the corridors and pass Marie (with a bloody nose) and her supporters just before Doreen fetches them to the shower block. Steve gives Sandy mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Even though they have seen the real culprits, both Janet and Steve assume Doreen and Bea are responsible for the attack. Judy tells Wally she's a bit nervous about talking to the police: she thinks they may remember Wally's address from the last time she escaped. Erica interviews Sandy in the infirmary: Sandy won't identify her attackers, but tells Erica she is wrong to suspect Doreen and Bea. When she questions them later, Erica seems inclined to believe their story that they found Sandy on the floor in the shower block. Erica decides to send Doreen to maternity to get her away from the influence of Bea and Marie. Wally drives Judy to the police station. Marie notices Steve coming along the corridor and provokes Bea to threaten her so he can see it. Sandy writes a note and hides it on the meal tray as it is collected from the infirmary. Steve tries to find out from Sandy what happened, but she won't tell him. Janet wants to take some time off, but Erica tells her she will have to speak to Colleen, who is to be appointed Deputy Governor. The note from Sandy is passed to Bea: Marie wants to know what it says, but Bea tells her it's nothing she doesn't already know. Bea sneaks out of the laundry to speak to Doreen about the note, in which Sandy implicated Kate as the person who set her up: Doreen remembers that Kate left the rec room just after Sandy was taken ill. Erica makes the official announcement of Colleen's promotion, and commiserates with Meg, saying that she hopes that at least her home situation is improved. Meg replies that she is getting a divorce from Bob. Colleen talks to Janet about her family and comments that her own husband is quite different to Meg's, and has no ambition to conflict with her own. Kate is worried that Sandy or Bea will suspect her and calls Marie stupid for messing up her part of the plan. Susie cuts her hand accidentally in the workshop, and Ian takes her off the infirmary: Kate is called to bandage the wound. Hazel talks to Lizzie about her children and her relationship with George, explaining that they never married because his wife is still alive in a mental hospital. Kate asks Colleen to help her and move her to another wing, as someone now knows that she's the one who passed on information about the women to the officers. Colleen tells her she's the wrong person to be depending on someone else's loyalty and refuses to have Kate moved. Erica tells Janet the Department is calling in the police to investigate the fraud in the kitchen, and it looks as if Bea will get the blame, as she's the only one to be caught in possession of the stolen goods. Judy is driving her taxi at night when a prostitute and her customer hire her off the rank to go back to a motel. The man doesn't seem to be able to wait that long and Judy tells him to leave the girl alone while he's in her cab. Janet confesses to Meg that she was very impressed by the way Ian managed to calm Susie down. At the motel, the prostitute changes her mind and says she doesn't want to go inside after all. The man tries to drag her out of the cab, but Judy intervenes, In the scuffle, his wallet falls out of his jacket and the prostitute helps herself to the cash. Judy takes the prostitute to the address she gives as her home, though as soon as Judy is out of sight, she leaves to go back on the street again. The customer goes to a police station to report he has been assaulted and robbed. Judy cleans out her cab at the end of the night, but fails to notice the customer's empty wallet among the rubbish as she throws it all into the bin outside Wally's cottage.

    EPISODE 262

    Broadcast on Channel 5 Saturday 02 May 1998 04:40 Judy is charged with assaulting Jock Stewart (?) and sent back to Wentworth.
    CREDITS
    Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne
    Judy ~ Betty Bobbitt
    Lizzie ~ Sheila Florance
    Erica ~ Patsy King
    Bea ~ Val Lehman
    Officer Powell ~ Judith McGrath
    Kate ~ Olivia Hamnett
    Steve ~ Wayne Jarratt
    Sandy ~ Louise Le Nay
    Marie ~ Maggie Millar
    Janet ~ Kate Sheil
    Ian ~ Peter Curtin
    Wally ~ Alan Hopgood
    Susie ~ Jacqui Gordon
    Ron ~ Tim Robertson
    Det Sgt Ross ~ Bill Garner
    Sister Franklin ~ Diana Greentree
    Visiting Justice ~ Howard Priddle
    Detective ~ Neil Thompson
    Officer Barry ~ Joy Westmore

  • Written by Ian Smith
  • Directed by Juliana Focht
  • Spotted by David Breeze: "Judy is brought back to Wentworth, she is presented to the Governor with dry hair! No shower?"

    Continuity corner: the level of liquid in the medicine glass miraculously gets higher between one shot and the next after Kate has picked it up.

    The man complaining of being robbed seems to cool off a little when the police tell him that Judy was involved in another incident two days earlier that led to a man being hospitalized. Judy tries to get some sleep as someone apparently plays a record of farmyard sound effects outside her window. Sandy is allowed to go back to her cell and Meg warns her not to try to take revenge for the attack on her. Det. Sgt. Ross tells Kate the information she gave him didn't check out: at first she blames Inspector Grace's incompetence, but realises that Sandy had deliberately given her false information. The police arrive to question Judy but search the outside of the house first and find the wallet. Judy denies their allegations, but the detective shows her the wallet and takes her in for questioning. Bea and Sandy sit down with Kate at lunch to wind her up by speculating on how Sandy could have become ill. Det. Sgt. Ross, who also seems to be in charge of the investigation into the kitchen fraud, wants to interview Bea, but tells Erica that he wants her isolated afterwards, as they suspect that drugs are being smuggled into Wentworth. Erica says it's highly unlikely that Bea would be involved, but seems to agree to the isolation. Judy is brought back to Wentworth. Sandy tells Susie that she's only making it worse for herself by trying to escape, but agrees to help her if she can come up with a "safe" way to do it. Det. Sgt. Ross tells Bea she will be charged with fraud, and as she is leaving the interview room asks her how the drug racket with Peterson is coming along. Bea puts him straight on her own attitude to drugs, and tells him he must be wrong about Kate as her appeal is coming up soon and she has a good chance with the new witness coming forward. Det. Sgt. Ross replies that he's the witness and Kate might be in for a big disappointment. Bea wants to know why he's telling her all this: he agrees that he had planned that he and Bea could swap information, but in any case has made sure she won't be able to do anything about it by having her sent to isolation. Bea doubts if he can stop her. Kate tries to confide in Judy about the "change" in Sandy, but Judy has already spoken to Sandy and is able to reel off a long list of things that might account for it, like not getting a certain letter which led to her husband's death. Bea is surprised to have Meg bring her breakfast, but takes the chance to bring up the subject of Colleen's appointment as Deputy Governor, claiming to know how she got the post. Meg says she has her own ideas, but would like to hear Bea's, so Bea tells her about Kate lagging to the police, and therefore probably to Colleen too. Bea is really angling for a visit from Sandy: Meg thanks her for the information but tells her she can't agree to that. Wally comes to visit Judy and tells her he's been trying to trace the prostitute. She says he shouldn't get involved, but at least he could have her mail forwarded so Lori won't know she's back in jail. The visiting justice finds Bea guilty of fraud and sentences her to an additional six months: Det. Sgt. Ross asks that she remain in isolation until "other" enquiries are concluded. Meg asks Kate straight out if she's been informing to the police and prison officers, but gets a blank denial. Bea tries to get Steve to allow her a visit from Sandy, or at least to get a message to her that she was right and not to trust her friends. Susie lifts some bread from Lil's plate to give to Lizzie, and incurs the wrath of Marie who comes over to their table. Sandy responds by stabbing a fork into Marie's hand. Steve calls Sandy out of the dining room and gives her Bea's message without saying who it's from, though Sandy gets the gist well enough without. Susie is discussing escape techniques in Lizzie's cell when Marie comes to teach her a lesson - Susie brandishes a kettle of boiling water to get her to back off and leave them both alone. Bea writes a note to Sandy and puts it in the pocket of the dressing gown Steve has earlier agreed to take away to be washed. On exercise period, Susie sees Joyce Barry put down her spectacles on the barbecue for a moment to rest her eyes, so she picks them up and pockets them. Joyce is half-blind without them and Steve tells the women they will have to be searched in reception unless they give the glasses back, but the women find the sight of Joyce groping around far too hilarious. Sandy is checked up by Sister Franklin (assisted by Kate) and complains of a headache. The Sister prepares a painkiller, but Kate adds something to it when her back is turned. However, the sister is called away to deal with an accident, so Kate has to give the medicine to Sandy herself. Sandy notices that Kate's hand is shaking, and says it might be better if she took it herself. Kate protests that she has nerves not a headache, but Sandy forces the glass to her lips and makes her drink.

    EPISODE 263

    Broadcast on Channel 5 Sunday 03 May 1998 04:40 Kate's ploy to poison Sandy backfires and Sandy forces her to drink the lethal draught herself.
    CREDITS
    Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne
    Judy ~ Betty Bobbitt
    Lizzie ~ Sheila Florance
    Erica ~ Patsy King
    Officer Powell ~ Judith McGrath
    Kate ~ Olivia Hamnett
    Steve ~ Wayne Jarratt
    Sandy ~ Louise Le Nay
    Marie ~ Maggie Millar
    Janet ~ Kate Sheil
    Hazel ~ Belinda Davey
    Ian ~ Peter Curtin
    Det. Sgt. Ross ~ Bill Garner
    Det. Insp. Grace ~ Terry Gill
    Susie ~ Jacqui Gordon
    Sister Franklin ~ Diana Greentree
    Mr Andrews ~ Alan Madden
    Mouse ~ Jentah Sobott
    Ted Williams ~ Roy Edmunds

  • Written by Michael Freundt & Andrew Kennedy
  • Directed by Wayne Cameron
  • The film posters happen to include two for films featuring Prisoner actresses: not only "Picnic at Hanging Rock" but also "The last wave" one of the stars of which is Olivia Hamnett.

    Kate rushes out of the sick room and bumps into Sister Franklin, who has returned already. To give herself time to search the medicine cabinet, she tells the sister she ought to check on Sandy but can't find what she wants. Instead she rushes to the dining room, takes a salt dispenser and goes back to her cell. Marie taunts Judy about being back inside. Kate makes a salt solution and drinks it to make herself sick. Sandy is allowed to leave the infirmary and goes to the dining room: she warns Marie that if she's the lagger, she's as good as dead. After the meal, Sandy goes to see Kate in her cell and notices the empty salt container. Meg tells Erica about Bea's suspicion that Kate may be lagging to Colleen: Erica delicately inquires if this has anything to do with Colleen's promotion. Sandy meets Kate in a corridor and challenges her about the salt: Kate claims she wanted it to remove a stain. Mouse asks Marie if she has any drugs to sell, and this swiftly develops into a face-off between Marie and Judy: Mouse chips in and unthinkingly tells Marie about Judy's pacemaker. Hazel finds Bea's note in the laundry bag. Marie demands to see it, and to stop her Hazel slams the drier door hard into Marie's arm. Meg breaks up the scuffle, but Hazel is unable to prove it was self-defence, as no-one apart from Judy will support her. Erica makes Hazel admit Marie didn't strike the first blow, and sends her to solitary for 24 hours. Kate's new solicitor tells her that her sentence could be reduced to manslaughter and she could be released within six months. Judy tells Sandy about the note but admits she didn't see it, and thinks Hazel must still have it. In solitary, Hazel opens the note, reads it and frowns. Sandy and Judy play with Kate by talking about Bea's note: Kate pushes her plate away so Sandy covers it with salt to improve the taste for her. Kate leaves the dining room and runs into Colleen. She offers Colleen money if she will have Sandy put in isolation, but Colleen firmly refuses. Ian tricks Janet into going to see an old movie with him. Lizzie tries to remember what a visitor's pass looks like, so Susie can fake one for her escape. Erica gives Colleen a tactful warning that a Deputy Governor should be more "reserved" in her dealings with the women. Inspector Grace is planning a major raid on McNally's drug operation and tells Sgt. Ross that afterwards they will have no further use for Kate. Susie collects a bundle from the garden including the fake visitor's pass and the women gather round her while she takes off her uniform to reveal her "disguise" beneath - the dress made from a sheet on the laundry sewing machine. Lizzie distracts Colleen while Susie tries to mingle with a group of visitors who are just leaving, but Colleen spots her in the distance. The gate guard stops Susie and Colleen turns her round to see Joyce's glasses perched on her nose. Colleen tells Erica she didn't think it was a serious escape attempt and would be inclined to be lenient, so Susie just loses her privileges. As she is sent away, Susie asks Erica why she is in Wentworth. Erica gives her the official explanation, which is that she was charged with vagrancy and was in moral danger living with a known prostitute, but it is clear she doesn't really understand herself either. Colleen strings Kate along by pretending to be willing to be bribed and finds out about Kate's bank accounts in her mother's name. Janet seems to be a convert to old movies after seeing "Now, Voyager" with Ian. When Inspector Grace arrives to see Erica, Colleen nervously asks him to be discreet about the meetings she arranged between him and Kate. Erica is outraged that the Inspector knew about the drug drops in Wentworth, but didn't inform her. He says that they have stopped now anyway and they are ready to charge Marie and Kate. He wants to interview them both individually. When Colleen adds that he can also charge Kate with attempted bribery, Erica is forced to wonder aloud if she'd even be told if Wentworth were on fire. Susie is already planning her next escape attempt. Kate is taken to see a "visitor" in Erica's office. Her reaction when she hears the charges and recognises her "witness" taking notes is a paranoid outburst about being used by everyone. She launches herself at Inspector Grace and tries to throttle him, and is dragged away shrieking to solitary.

    EPISODE 264

    Broadcast on Channel 5 Tuesday 05 May 1998 04:40 Sandy and Marie are in dispute about who will deal the death blow to Kate. Janet finds herself attracted to Ian Mahoney.
    CREDITS
    Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne
    Judy ~ Betty Bobbitt
    Lizzie ~ Sheila Florance
    Erica ~ Patsy King
    Officer Powell ~ Judith McGrath
    Kate ~ Olivia Hamnett
    Steve ~ Wayne Jarratt
    Sandy ~ Louise Le Nay
    Marie ~ Maggie Millar
    Janet ~ Kate Sheil
    Hazel ~ Belinda Davey
    Margo ~ Jane Clifton
    Ian ~ Peter Curtin
    Det. Sgt. Ross ~ Bill Garner
    Det. Insp. Grace ~ Terry Gill
    Susie ~ Jacqui Gordon
    Officer Parsons ~ Margo McLennan
    George ~ Geoff Parry

  • Written by John Mortimore
  • Directed by Wayne Cameron
  • Two of the extras in the garden

    Erica admits to Inspector Grace she is surprised at Kate using physical violence, but he tells her Kate is cold, calculating and treacherous. Marie tries to order Sandy around in the laundry, but her heavies don't move when she orders them to bash Sandy. Margo explains that they don't feel they've got proper payment for their services and wants to know when the drugs will be coming in. Colleen takes Marie away to the Governor's office, and tells Sandy to take over the press while she's gone. Marie challenges Inspector Grace to prove her involvement in drugs: Sgt. Ross holds up one of the letters she wrote to Fitzwater, and tells her that Kate gave it to him. Marie is fuming at lunch and tells her supporters that Kate was lagging all along: she warns them all to leave Kate to her to deal with in her own way. Hazel returns from solitary and gives Bea's note to Sandy. After reading it, Sandy says she will do to Kate what Kate tried to do to her, and hints that she plans to escape afterwards. Sandy goes to Marie's cell and finds her sharpening a knife she got from the dining room: she warns Marie not to touch Kate. Hazel gets a visit from her bloke George, who is annoyed with her for getting into trouble. He tells her he's got a new live-in housekeeper to help look after the kids. Meg warns Janet that the women are already passing comments about her and Ian. Marie conceals the knife in Kate's mattress with the blade pointing upwards so it will stick into her when she lies down on it. Hazel is upset after George's visit: she knows something is wrong, but is unable (or unwilling) to draw the obvious conclusion. Colleen walks into the staff room as Ian is doing an imitation of Erica: she says she hopes he doesn't repeat the performance in front of the women. Sandy searches around Kate's cell, and cuts her hand on the knife in the matters: she hands the knife back to Marie at lunch and tells Marie she'll have to do better than that if she wants to get Kate. Marie agrees to Sandy's suggestion that they play a game of cards to decide between them: whoever draws the ace of spades first will be the one to kill Kate. Colleen returns Kate to the rec room while the game is still going on. Sandy eventually draws the ace, walks over to Kate and drops the card in her lap without saying a word. Judy suggests Susie should try to get herself put in hospital as it's easier to escape from there. Kate shows the card to Meg and Colleen next morning. Meg suggests moving Kate to isolation, but Colleen won't hear of it and sends her to work in the laundry. Susie and Lizzie decide to fake a broken arm, so Sandy tells them to ask Kate how to make it look good. It is decided that Susie will pretend to have fallen while cleaning the air vent over the drier, and a scream brings Steve on the scene. He carries her to the infirmary to await an ambulance to take her for an X-ray. Colleen stops Kate in the corridor and finds out from her that Susie is faking, and exposes the trick in front of Steve by throwing a paperweight to Susie, which she catches with both hands. Steve admires Colleen's skill in seeing through the deception, but Meg tells him that Colleen has an informant, and points out how Kate appears to have vanished into thin air. Colleen tells Susie she hasn't decided yet whether to report the incident. Later in the rec room, Colleen tells the women they are lucky they aren't all being punished, but singles out Kate to take to the Governor. Sandy works out that it must have been Kate who lagged on Susie. Judy is surprised to get a letter from Lori and leaves the rec room in tears just at the sight of the envelope. Hazel notices she hasn't had a letter at all. Sandy and Marie agree on a plan: Marie is to set up the diversion to give Sandy time to act. They both go to Kate's cell and tell her there are things they need to discuss with her and she is to meet them both in the shower block during the exercise period, thus guaranteeing that Kate will be at the head of the head of the queue to go outside. She sees them join on the end at the last minute, but is swept along by the others. Kate runs over to the rubbish bins when she sees Marie and her cronies approach, but Sandy is hiding behind the bins and knocks one of them over so Steve will tell them both to clear it up. He tells them to clear up the mess and carry the bins to the dump as the garbage truck is due. Kate is seen to pick up a dustbin lid as she appears to follow Sandy. Marie taunts Hazel with her husband's infidelity, and Hazel attacks Marie with a hoe. Steve hears the disturbance and leaves Kate and Sandy alone near the garbage container. As the fight is broken up and the women are sent back inside, the truck slowly drives away in the background. Marie chuckles to Bev and Lil that she wouldn't be at all surprised if the officers found that one of the women had gone missing ...

    EPISODE 265

    Broadcast on Channel 5 Wednesday 06 May 1998 04:40 Suspicions grow when Sandy is found to be missing. Hazel breaks down when she hears that her husband is applying for custody of their children.
    CREDITS
    Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne
    Judy ~ Betty Bobbitt
    Lizzie ~ Sheila Florance
    Erica ~ Patsy King
    Officer Powell ~ Judith McGrath
    Kate ~ Olivia Hamnett
    Steve ~ Wayne Jarratt
    Marie ~ Maggie Millar
    Janet ~ Kate Sheil
    Margo ~ Jane Clifton
    Ian ~ Peter Curtin
    Hazel ~ Belinda Davey
    Susie ~ Jacqui Gordon
    George Goscombe ~ Geoff Parry
    Mouse ~ Jentah Sobott

  • Written by Ian Bradley
  • Directed by Lex Van Os
  • As the women troop back through reception, Marie hangs back near the door to check who's coming in. Kate saunters into reception just as it is noticed that she and Sandy haven't come back in. Marie asked her what happened. Kate replies "nothing, just getting rid of the rubbish". Steve reports back to Meg that Sandy isn't in the garden. The garbage truck is checked by a gate guard at the outer fence and allowed through. All the women are locked in their cells while the officers search for Sandy. Erica decides the police should be informed: she asks if any vehicles have left the prison and Steve tells her about the garbage truck, adding that no-one could have hidden inside it, as it was the crusher type. The women are assembled in the rec room and Erica tries to get information on Sandy's whereabouts, and to find out the reason for the fight between Marie and Hazel. Hazel won't say what it was about, and Erica concludes that she was in on the plot and tells her she will be charged with abetting an escape as well as assault. Ian tells Janet he has to go interstate for a few days to sort out some personal business. Marie is puzzled when Judy tells her Sandy had been planning to escape since her husband's death, and used Marie as a cover. Marie goes to ask Kate if she knew Sandy was planning to escape and advances on her menacingly. Kate is just feeling behind her for something hidden under her pillow when Steve interrupts and sends Marie packing. He also wants to know what happened outside: in return for a promise of protection, Kate tells him there was an escape plan and Marie and all the women were in on it. Judy persuades Hazel she should pass on the contents of Bea's note to Marie. When he takes her to the VJ later , Steve tells Marie to hide nothing about the escape attempt: he is worried that there are many people on the outside who'd want to harm Sandy. Marie says she doesn't think Sandy got out at all, or at least not alive. Hazel is worried how to break it to George that she's lost three months remission. Colleen is put in charge of an internal investigation into Sandy's disappearance, and asks Steve what he knows: he repeats to her the conflicting versions of Kate and Marie. George arrives unexpectedly to visit Hazel. Colleen tells Kate she's taking away her protection as she's evidently telling a pack of lies: she is particularly scornful of the idea of Sandy and Marie working together. Kate points out it was Steve who sent Sandy to the garbage dump where she was last seen, and wonders if Steve was helping Sandy because they were having an affair. Meg tells Hazel she can't keep her increased sentence from George indefinitely and urges her to tell him that day. Colleen informs Steve that there is one matter on which both Marie and Kate agree: that he and Sandy were sleeping together. She says that if she finds out he's been abusing his position, she'll make sure he is thrown out of the service. Susie is also pondering the potential of the garbage truck as a means of escape. Near the end of the visit, George explains he is at long last divorcing his wife, but not to marry Hazel, but his new housekeeper Joan. Hazel says she is welcome to him, but vows that she will not get her kids. Marie plots with Margo and Lil to ambush Kate on the stairs when she's on kitchen duty and collecting the dirty dishes from solitary. Lizzie gives Susie the money she's collected from the women to help with her escape. Hazel is served papers for George's application for custody of the children. Janet sends Kate alone down the stairs from solitary. Arriving at the bottom, she finds Margo and Lil waiting for her, so turns around and goes back up, coming face to face with Marie. Kate pulls out a knife and Lil and Margo scatter. Marie recognises the knife as the one she sharpened up to kill Kate. The last person to have it was Sandy: Marie concludes that Kate could only have got if from Sandy by killing her. 

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    Updated ~ 08 June 2008