EPISODE 266Broadcast on Channel 5 Friday 08 May 1998 04:40 Marie realises how Kate got rid of Sandy, and Hazel realises what her chances are of stopping George's custody application. 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 Ian ~ Peter Curtin Hazel ~ Belinda Davey Off. Bailey ~ Maureen Edwards Susie ~ Jacqui Gordon Mouse ~ Jentah Sobott Mother ~ Fiona Murphy  Hazel's snapshots of her children Erica tells Colleen that Kate could be released from solitary tomorrow, but it is two days later by the time she is released in (267) - thanks David Breeze. Mouse's attempt at Scrabble: before correction | Marie taunts Kate, saying she's finding it hard to believe that she really did manage to dispose of Sandy, but Kate insists Sandy was still alive the last time she saw her. They hear someone approaching and Marie scuttles back up the stairs. Kate's saviour turns out to be Colleen, who tells her to pick up the dishes she's dropped and clean up the mess. Lizzie explains to Susie why Judy won't work the press, due to the tradition that the job belongs to the top dog. Susie steps forward when Steve asks for volunteers for kitchen duty, as she knows she will be able to take the bins out. At the first opportunity, she empties the dustbin and climbs into the skip after it. Colleen suggests to Erica that Kate could be transferred to Barnhurst, but Erica thinks the Department is unlikely to agree to that so soon before her trial. Instead she suggests that Kate could be moved out of her single cell to share with Judy. Marie mooches around by the garbage skips looking for clues until Colleen notices and comes over to tell her to move away. They hear a cough and Colleen discovers Susie's hiding place  : she tells her the only ride she'd be hitching would be to the morgue as the truck compresses the rubbish after the skips are emptied. A light seems to go over Marie's head... Erica ask Judy if she could look after Kate if she was moved into her cell. Susie is sent o solitary for 24 hours, though Erica tells her she won't be charged with attempted escape. Marie tries to recruit Judy when she hears who's moving into her cell, but Judy says she won't put up with violence in her space. Colleen relents and takes a meal to Susie in solitary, having told her earlier she'd have to wait until breakfast. Kate sees the outline of a body in her bed. She pulls back the sheet and finds a pile of rubbish topped off with a solitary playing card - the ace of spades. Kate refuses Steve's order to clean up the mess, so he strips off the sheets and tells her she will have to take the filthy ones to her new cell. Next morning. Marie sees Judy and Kate walk out of their cell to the shower and asks how "the honeymoon couple" enjoyed their first night together. At breakfast, Judy warns Kate she's not interested being friends with her, and tells her to go and sit at another table. Marie, Lil and Bev call on Kate in her new cell: Marie says she wants to know exactly what Kate did to Sandy. She tells Kate she's not going to kill her for getting rid of Sandy - she's actually going to kill her for lagging - but she's just curious. Marie has a ligature round Kate's throat ready to strangle her when Judy enters the cell and tells Marie to go right ahead. Only then she will have to kill her too, and doesn't think Marie will be able to explain away two dead bodies and three unconscious attackers. The three of them leave, and Kate immediately fetches out a handful of pills and grinds them to a powder, telling Judy it's the nearest thing she has to "a life insurance policy". Kate is just slipping the powder into the kettle in Marie's cell when she hears someone coming and slams the door in their face. Unfortunately, it is Colleen. Meg tells Hazel the court have given custody to George. Colleen reports back to Erica after locking Kate in solitary, and says she is beginning to agree with Erica's suggestion that Kate is becoming paranoid. Meg asks Janet to take Hazel out in the garden for some fresh air, but she gets upset again when a visitor tells her little girl to get away from the strange woman when Hazel tries to talk to her. [Though the little girl looks like she can take care of herself if this cold stare  is anything to go on] Susie is returned from solitary to the laundry. Ian arrives at the prison and asks to speak with Janet somewhere private. He tells her he is divorced not separated, and he has just come back from dissolving his business partnership with his ex-wife ready to move on to something new. Janet is alarmed by this and tells him he's presuming rather a lot. Meg has to persuade Officer Bailey not to put Hazel on a charge for insolence when she refuses to get out of bed. At breakfast, Hazel overhears Susie talking about escaping, and loses control shouting that she's not the only one who wants to get out. She runs out of the dining room, followed by Officer Bailey, until she runs into a locked security gate. Cornered, she pushes Officer Bailey to the ground and starts to beat on her with her fists. |
EPISODE 267Broadcast on Channel 5 Saturday 09 May 1998 04:40 Marie starts throwing her weight around, and Susie begins her escape attempt.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 Marie ~ Maggie Millar Janet ~ Kate Sheil Susie ~ Jacqui Gordon Mouse ~ Jentah Sobott Ian ~ Peter Curtin Hazel ~ Belinda Davey Off. Bailey ~ Maureen Edwards Sister Franklin ~ Diana Greentree Margo ~ Jane Clifton Maintenance Man (Max) ~ Burt Cooper  Offsider (Ernie) ~ Benjamin Franklin  Thanks to David Breeze for pointing out Marie's (well, the scriptwriters' really) error when she says that Hazel can keep Kate company in "isolation". She means "solitary". And also that Judy seems to get through two shirts in one morning. Try anti-perspirant, love... | Colleen and Judy drag Hazel away from Officer Bailey and Sister Franklin is summoned to give her a sedative. Susie tells Judy she doesn't want to end up like Hazel and is going to get out as soon as she can. Judy warns her to be careful about who she talks to about her plans. Marie announces in the laundry that she's taking over, but Judy tells her she will need the women's support. if she wants to stay on top. Margo refuses to support Marie unless she can see some benefit for herself. Susie asks Mouse if she's ever been up on the roof. Mouse tells her about the riot after Sharon's death and tells her she only remembers two big air vents from the air conditioning. Marie gets an extra 12 months from the VJ. Erica tells Meg that Sandy is now officially listed as an escapee. Mouse notices Susie swapping buyup goods and works out that she's laying in supplies for an escape. Marie snatches half of the buyup from the women who aren't likely to fight back. Judy tells her to give it back, but she just throws it over to Margo, Lil and Bev to buy a little instant support. Hazel pounds on the door of solitary demanding to be let out, but she only attracts the attention of one of the mute prison officers who goes to Colleen and mouths a quick report. Colleen sends Sister Franklin to sedate Hazel again. Meg catches Mouse trying to smuggle out scraps of material as Susie had asked her to, and tells Meg she is making a patchwork quilt. Even Mouse is surprised that Meg falls for such an obvious lie. She takes the scraps to Susie, who jumps about a foot in the air when Mouse creeps into her cell as she's weaving the strips into a rope to climb down from the roof. Erica overrules Colleen's objection and follows Sister Franklin's recommendation to put Hazel back in her own cell. Marie announces she's going to be running a book. Margo tries to object but realises it's futile. Colleen walks in on Ian's "hilarious" imitation of Joyce Barry after losing her specs and hauls Janet out of the workshop to demand to know why she stood there and let him carry on. Janet puts up a good defence of Ian, pointing out that the women aren't going to making trouble if they are in good spirits. Colleen is for once lost for an answer. Susie excuses herself from lunch and is sent to her cell to lie down: she collects the rope and arranges pillows under the sheet to make it look as if she's in bed. Marie demands that Kate acts the waitress and gets the meals for her and her supporters. Bea walks in at that moment and tells Marie to get it herself. Having seen off Marie, Bea sits down opposite Kate and tells her to go and get her a meal. Susie unscrews the grille on the air-conditioning vent in the workshop and climbs in.  Judy has to bring Bea up to date and tells her that Sandy has gone. Marie comes to Margo's cell to heavy her for changing sides, but Margo points out that she doesn't have Bea's natural advantage which is that people actually like her and will do what she says without being heavied. Marie gives Margo a punch in the stomach and tells her to pass the "message" along to Lil and Bev. Susie crawls through the the ducting and comes upon a set of vertical bars at a corner joint. Trying to squeeze through, she just gets wedged tight and can't move either way.  Bea wants to know where Susie has gone, but Lizzie says she didn't tell anyone. Susie's cries for help are drowned out by the sound of the printing press. The temperature in the laundry rises as the air-conditioning stops working. Margo tells Marie she's passed the "message" on, and the three of them show Marie what they think of it by holding her head under the press.  Janet checks on Susie, but only looks through the peephole and assumes she is asleep in bed. Colleen sends the women from the laundry outside for an early exercise period until the maintenance men arrive. The workmen think it must be a blockage and say they can clear it by blowing chemicals back through the ducts. The women in the workshop hear banging but assume it's only the workmen. Mouse tells Bea about the rope and Susie's plan to get up on the roof. Bea works out how Susie is planning to get up there, and Lizzie tells her what she's overheard from the workmen. Bea dashes off to alert someone and runs into Colleen. But the workmen have already released the chemicals. Susie screams as she sees the fumes coming towards her. |
EPISODE 268Broadcast on Channel 5 Sunday 10 May 1998 04:45 Ian tells Janet he's not pressing her, while Judy is baffled by an apparent alliance between Bea and Marie.Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Judy ~ Betty Bobbitt Lizzie ~ Sheila Florance Erica ~ Patsy King Bea ~ Val Lehman Doreen ~ Colette Mann Off. Powell ~ Judith McGrath Kate ~ Olivia Hamnett Steve ~ Wayne Jarratt Marie ~ Maggie Millar Janet ~ Kate Sheil Margo ~ Jane Clifton Susie ~ Jacqui Gordon Hazel ~ Belinda Davey Mouse ~ Jentah Sobott Ian ~ Peter Curtin Solicitor ~ Alan Madden Maintenance Man (Max) ~ Burt Cooper Offsider (Ernie) ~ Benjamin Franklin Elaine (Pregnant Woman) ~ Marian Lees  Clerk ~ David Scott  Judge ~ Arthur Barradell-Smith  Margo is not in this episode (thanks Mark C) | Steve and Colleen stop the workmen and try to work out where Susie is. Susie is barely conscious and hears the voices of Colleen and Bea calling for her. Bea tells Mouse she was stupid not to let anyone else know what Susie was up to. Erica examines the plans of the building  with the workmen, and Colleen hears a faint knocking from above. Steve and Colleen go up into the roof space with the workmen and follow the sound along the pipe. Janet collects Kate to have her ready to examine Susie when she is brought out. A section of the pipe is cut away to get to Susie. She is suffering from burns to the skin from the chemicals, and Kate thinks it is possible her lungs could also have been affected. Bea asks Lizzie if she can get any old newspapers from the workshop, particularly any from around the time of Kate's murder trial. Kate's solicitor visits her and tells her he is not going to represent her. Furthermore, as she has no chance of getting off and will be bankrupted when she is forced to pay back the money, no other solicitor is likely to take it on. His advice is to give the money back now so she can qualify for Legal Aid. Kate shrieks at him and calls him a "sanctimonious cretin". Meg notices Kate is preoccupied after the visit and is surprised when Kate asks Meg to contact Legal Aid for her as she's sacked her solicitor. Steve asks Bea what she knows about Sandy, as the police seem to have given up looking for her on the outside. He says he remembers Bea's note and her warning to Sandy not to trust her friend, which he now thinks must have been Kate. Bea points out that Kate wins either way: there is no proof that Sandy is even dead, but if Kate were convicted of murder she wouldn't be brought back to Wentworth, but would probably get to serve her sentence in the more comfortable surroundings of Barnhurst. Meg suggests moving Hazel to work in maternity to lift her out of her depression. Kate watches another load of rubbish being collected. Steve tells her to move away - it's not as if she hasn't seen a rubbish truck before. Kate is lost in her own thoughts, and guiltily denies it. Steve reminds her that she and Sandy were emptying the rubbish, which finally makes the obvious connection in his own mind. Hazel is so heavily sedated that she doesn't recognise anyone as she's taken to maternity. She is given a baby to nurse, but when the mother tries to take it back, Hazel reacts angrily. Marie and Bea come to an agreement: Bea will be top dog again and she and Marie will work together to get Kate. Erica gives permission for the play reading group to begin again: Bea remarks that they may even make Kate the leading lady. Judy tells Bea that Kate is acting very strangely and seems convinced she is going to be given a pardon. At her trial, Kate pleads not guilty to the charges of fraud, conspiracy to commit perjury and drug trafficking. Hazel bitterly tells a mother-to-be that her husband could be up to anything and she wouldn't know. Doreen suggests to Meg that Hazel shouldn't be in maternity. Hazel is moved to a single cell in D block. Judy is surprised to be told by Bea to work the press: she glances at Marie, who confirms that Bea is top dog not her. Bea asks Steve to get Sandy's blue jumper: he is dubious but agrees to fetch it from the storeroom. Kate interrupts the Judge's sentencing with a tirade against him and her solicitor. When he is allowed to continue, he sentences Kate to a further ten years. Kate is returned to Wentworth in the evening and taken straight to the rec room. Bea asks how her trial went and Kate comments that they were a bunch of amateurs. Bea says he's sorry to hear she wasn't happy with her trial and hopes she will like the one the women are going to give her. Judy will be the defence counsel, Bea will herself be the prosecutor, and the Judge will be Justice Sandy Edwards, who cannot be there in person, but will be represented by a dummy wearing Sandy's blue sweater.  Kate asks what Marie will be doing and Bea tells her that Marie is the public executioner, and beckons her over to be introduced to her next "customer". |
EPISODE 269Broadcast on Channel 5 Tuesday 12 May 1998 04:40Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Judy ~ Betty Bobbitt Lizzie ~ Sheila Florance Erica ~ Patsy King Bea ~ Val Lehman Doreen ~ Colette Mann Off. Powell ~ Judith McGrath Kate ~ Olivia Hamnett Steve ~ Wayne Jarratt Marie ~ Maggie Millar Janet ~ Kate Sheil Margo ~ Jane Clifton Ian ~ Peter Curtin Susie ~ Jacqui Gordon Mark ~ Nick Holland  Wally ~ Alan Hopgood Charge Nurse ~ Berrie Cameron-Allen  Wendy Scott ~ Helen Noonan Policewoman ~ Honor Walters  Lil Stokes ~ Judith McLorinan Hospital Receptionist ~ Evelyn Bowie  | Judy sits Kate down and tells her to keep quiet and let her do the talking. Lil is the clerk of the court and reads the charges  : lagging to the cops and the screws, spoiling the kitchen racket and getting her mates longer sentences. Kate retorts that she hasn't got any mates, but Judy pleads not guilty on Kate's behalf. Bea says there is another charge that will be revealed later. Steve calls the police to give them information about Sandy: Colleen snidely hints he ought to be careful or he'll confirm the rumours about him and Sandy. Margo is on lookout outside the rec room and reports an officer approaching. Kate tries to call for help and is "suppressed" by Judy. Margo and another prisoner (the one usually called Joy Andrews  ) go to meet the officer, and seeing it's Colleen, let her overhear a conversation about drugs hidden somewhere in the prison to divert her away from the rec room. Marie "turns Queen's evidence"  and says that Kate intercepted and replied to a letter from Fitzwater, and helped her to get Sandy by making her sick with drugs from the infirmary. Finally, Marie tells everyone that the knife Sandy had is now in Kate's possession, and that Kate must have taken it from Sandy just before she killed her. Kate denies it vehemently. Bea remarks that Judy seems to be taking her role as defence counsel very seriously, but Judy insists that Kate must have a fair trial. She then argues that by Marie's own testimony Sandy was going to use the knife to kill Kate, so Kate only acted in self defence. Another officer approaches, which gives Kate the chance to make a run for it. Bea lets her go, saying they can continue the trial another time. Kate runs straight into Steve and tells him about the mock trial, but he only asks if she's being tried for Sandy's murder. If so, she can get all the protection she wants by confessing her guilt. Steve continues his patrol to the rec room, and warns Bea that as much as he'd like to see Kate pay, he will hold Bea responsible if any harm comes to her. After a bottle of wine, Janet invites Ian to stay the night, so he does. Kate searches her cell for the knife. Judy sees her and realises she is guilty. Marie walks in brandishing the knife, but Steve's lockup rounds saves Kate's neck. Janet leaves for work early and sets the alarm again for Ian - wrongly, as it turns out. Colleen asks Wendy to call and find out where Ian is, but Janet jumps in and calls him herself, though Wendy's sly smile shows she knows what's going on. Wally visits Judy to say he'll be a character witness at her trial, but she seems resigned to being found guilty. Kate wants Judy to back up her claim that she's being threatened to get herself a transfer, but Judy tells her she can only help herself if she admits to Sandy's murder. Meg tells Kate she thinks her claims of persecution are exaggerated. Susie is recovering in hospital guarded by a policewoman. A male nurse tells her she'll be well enough to go back to Wentworth in a couple of days. Meg reports Kate's wild accusations of a conspiracy against her to Erica: they agree that Kate is more likely to be pretending to crack up. Bea is a little concerned that so many of the women want Kate killed before the end of the trial, which is just about to resume in the garden. The final witness is Doreen, who wheels a pram outside and passes the baby to Lizzie, who uses it to distract Meg and Steve. Doreen reports that she saw Marie glance at Kate to send her after Sandy when she was taken ill. Colleen visits Susie out of uniform, and asks directions from the male nurse who assumes at first that she is Susie's mother. Bea seems to be having second thoughts about having Kate killed because of the repercussions for all the women, but Marie convinces her Kate is more of a danger alive. Bea tells Margo to pass the word along that it's time. Kate watches as the women give her the thumbs down one by one  and rushes screaming from the dining room. Steve follows her: Kate almost goads him into hitting her  , but he draws back at the last moment and refuses to put her in solitary. Next morning a van arrives for transfer of prisoners to Barnhurst. Meg goes to collect Kate and finds her still in bed, but she moves fast enough when she finds she's going to be transferred. In fact, she's in such a hurry to leave that when Meg tries to check out her property, Kate tells her to keep it, as if giving a tip in a restaurant. The male nurse brings Susie a bunch of flowers. Kate breathes the air outside and gloats to Steve that he's lost. But the smile  is wiped from Kate's face  when the van door is opened and she sees the other occupant. Marie Winter  chuckles a greeting: "G'day Doc! Looks like we're going to be making this trip together..." |
EPISODE 270Broadcast on Channel 5 Wednesday 13 May 1998 04:40 Bea and the other women are puzzled by the disppearance ofMarie and Kate. Janet and Ian's affair becomes increasingly obvious. Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Judy ~ Betty Bobbitt Lizzie ~ Sheila Florance Erica ~ Patsy King Bea ~ Val Lehman Off. Powell ~ Judith McGrath Kate ~ Olivia Hamnett Steve ~ Wayne Jarratt Janet ~ Kate Sheil Ian ~ Peter Curtin Susie ~ Jacqui Gordon Wally ~ Alan Hopgood Mark ~ Nick Holland Charge Nurse ~ Berrie Cameron-Allen Prosecutor ~ Robert Harrison  Magistrate ~ Alton Harvey  Defence ~ Ron Rodger  Mouse ~ Jentah Sobott Roger Ford ~ Howard Eynon  Officer Parsons ~ Margo McLennan Ron ~ Tim Robertson Julie (Receptionist) ~ Christine Jack Doctor ~ Norman Hancock  When Susie is hitching a lift she stops under a sign reading "To Manna Gum Road" | Kate refuses to get into the van and accuses Steve of being part of the conspiracy to get rid of her. Meg sees that Kate is in no fit state to travel, so they take her back inside and lock her in a single cell to calm down. Erica is surprised to hear that four trained officers couldn't get Kate into the van. Meg admits to Janet that Kate's behaviour really took her off guard, and this time she doesn't think she was faking being terrified of Marie. The doctor says Susie can go as soon as a prison officer arrives to collect her. Susie asks if she can see Mark, the orderly, before she goes. The women in the laundry note Marie and Kate's absence. Mouse wonders if Marie has already killed Kate and is in solitary for it. Meg tells Judy she'll be going to court with her later that afternoon. Erica goes to talk to Kate in the cell but gets nothing but a stream of contemptuous abuse, so she sends her to solitary. Susie says goodbye to Mark as Officer Parsons arrives to collect her. Ian tells Erica his work at Wentworth has almost finished as the women can operate the machinery. Steve visits Kate in solitary to try again to convince her to sign a confession to Sandy's murder. She refuses, saying she has nothing to worry about with Marie gone, but Steve reminds her that Bea is still around. As Susie leaves the hospital, she sees the lift open as Mark is coming down the corridor towards her. Their eyes meet, and Susie makes a run for it. Mark understands and turns his trolley sideways to block the corridor and give Susie a head start over the officer and policewoman. Despite running into the charge nurse as she gets out of the lift, Susie manages to get away. As Meg collects Judy to take her to court, she tells Bev to take over the press, and is forced to admit Marie has been transferred to Barnhurst. Susie hitches a lift and tells the driver she's heading for Sydney: he says he's happy to drop her in the countryside if she doesn't mind him making a few stops on the way. Bea and Lizzie are in the workshop and still don't know about Kate and Marie. Erica suggests to the women that they could run their own newspaper, and tells that Ian will soon be leaving. Lizzie is given a special job in the kitchen: Bea speculates it might be a tray for solitary and tackles Erica as she approaches along the corridor. Erica admits that Marie has gone to Barnhurst, but won't be drawn on the subject of Kate. Susie spins an elaborate story for the driver to explain why she is hitch hiking alone and how her hands got burnt. Lizzie reports back to Bea that it's Kate in solitary, but Bea has already worked that out. Although Lizzie is pleased that Marie is off the scene, Bea is concerned that it now falls to her to kill Kate. Colleen tells Jane she's glad Ian is leaving: if she were a prisoner the last thing she'd want to have to see is the two of them making eyes at each other all day. Ron Crosby gives a completely distorted version of events, and Judy does herself no good by protesting vocally. Colleen gives cryptic answers when Lizzie tries to find out how Susie is. The driver buys some cans of beer at a service station and presses Susie to join him in a drink. Judy's parole is revoked and she is sentenced to an additional six months. Bea is fretting about the prospect of Kate being released from solitary. Judy is brought back to Wentworth, and Meg takes over from Colleen so that she doesn't have to go through the full induction procedure. Colleen reports to Erica that some cans of fruit are missing from the kitchen. Bea and Lizzie comfort Judy when she breaks down at the thought of telling Lori she's back inside. Judy tells Bea what she has overheard about Susie's escape. The canned fruit is found wrapped in Bea's clothes at the bottom of her locker. Janet and Ian return from a showing of "Sunset Boulevard": he proposes marriage and she accepts. The driver hears a radio report about Susie's escape which gives a full description of her. He pulls the car over and looks at her again as she sleeps on the back seat. Susie shifts in her sleep and reveals the Wentworth emblem embroidered on her denim jacket. |
Script Editor: Ian Smith (269)
Storyliners: John Mortimore, Andrew Kennedy, Michael Freundt, Dave Worthington
| (261) to (265) |
