ACTORSCHARACTERSSTARTEPISODES

EPISODES (506) TO (510)

506 * 507 * 508 * 509 * 510

EPISODE 506

Broadcast on Channel 5 Sunday 25 April 1999 04:40 Reb is to be sent to Blackmoor; Myra takes over again as top dog; and Meg decides to have an abortion.
CREDITS
Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne
Judy ~ Betty Bobbitt
Joan ~ Maggie Kirkpatrick
Ann ~ Gerda Nicholson
Myra ~ Anne Phelan
Reb ~ Janet Andrewartha
Len ~ Maurie Fields
Pixie ~ Judy McBurney
Bobbie ~ Maxine Klibingaitis
Marlene ~ Genevieve Lemon
Joyce ~ Joy Westmore
Sam ~ Robyn Gibbes
Lou ~ Louise Siversen
Matt ~ Peter Bensley
Geoff ~ Les Dayman
Frank ~ Trevor Kent
Chris Sutton ~ Gregory Ross
Jane Doe ~ Maria Mercedes
Ray Proctor ~ Alex Menglet
Alison Webb ~ Pat Forbes
Dr Bruce Palmer ~ Rod Densley
Nurse ~ Joanne Rankin
Frances ~ Wanda Davidson
Alice ~ Lois Collinder
Sister Hall ~ Gael Andrews
Officer Hagen ~ Christine Andrew
Lorna ~ Barbara Jungwirth

  • Written by Coral Drouyn
  • Directed by Steve Mann
  • Ann says to Len "Does something about this episode seem strange to you?". Since you ask ... the way she refers to "Joan" (though it actually sounds like "Joe") Hagen, as she is usually known as Di.

    The second name of the background prisoner "Jenny" is used at mail call and seems to be "Lavelle".

    Fran, Lou and Alice are making a very poor show of beating up Pixie so Myra and Judy have no trouble putting them to flight. Myra says she has "Jane" to thank and it's about time they knew who she really was. She says her name is Yemil but won't give her second name and wants it kept secret. Her husband beat her when she couldn't have children and was escaping from him when she ran someone over, which is why she is in Wentworth. She adds she can never get out as it would dishonour her husband and family if it were known. Reb tells Frances and Alice that nothing has changed and Myra's trick won't mean she has to step down as top dog. Frank torments Matt by telling what he intends to do to Pixie. Joan deliberately asks Myra if she's seen the "new Queen of Wentworth": Myra tells her to look in the toilet block, where Reb feels most at home. The women try to understand Yemil's situation and her insistence that it is her fault if she and her husband can't have children. Ray at first refuses to believe Pixie when she tells him that Reb could have been responsible for poisoning Marlene. The women return from the dining room to find all their cells have been wrecked. Meg is released from hospital. Reb puts pressure on Ray to bring in drugs and drink, but he angrily refuses. Len asks Ann if he can try and arrange an apprenticeship for Bobbie. Chris takes Meg to visit Phil's grave: she says she won't get involved with a man again... Yemil refuses to be examined by a male doctor when Sister Hall tries to take her clothes off for her: they hear her speak briefly before she runs away. Ray tells Joan not to call him Reb's friend: he inadvertently undermines Reb's position when he says the letter is for his protection only and is nothing to do with Joan. Myra goes with Yemil to the Governor to explain her situation: Yemil is pleased to be sent to solitary. Meg tells Chris she wonders if the baby might be her only secure future. Sam gets a letter from her sister Sally which says that her mother has been ill and so she hasn't told her about Sam yet. Reb sells insurance to "protect their property" and demands half of the women's buyup. Myra says she has no intention of taking over from Reb unless the women beg her to. Joyce dashes off to sort Meg out when Ann accidentally lets her know that Meg is pregnant, and she assumes it was Phil's child. After Bobbie and Marlene tell her all the women want her back, Myra takes back the press from Reb . Lou runs the laundry trolley into Yemil to pay her back for scratching her face. Reb and Lou attack Myra, but Yemil raises the alarm. As an audience of the other women assembles outside the cell, Joan intervenes and lets it slip to Lou that it was Reb who lagged. Reb loses her temper with Joan and slaps her in front of a crowd of witnesses: she is grabbed by the throat by Joan , then taken to solitary before transfer to Blackmoor. The women discuss the events at breakfast next morning and they agree that Reb is finally finished and Myra announces she is back as top dog. Joyce is upset when she overhears Meg's decision to have an abortion. Joan is pleased that Ann agrees to transfer Reb to Blackmoor. Ann is about to leave for home but collapses in . Marlene finds Len coming out of her cell with a spray cannister: he has given Aussie a dose of insecticide and the talented cockroach actor does a touching little death scene kicking his legs in the air. Joan visits Reb in solitary to gloat , but Reb tells her she's a joke and it's only the uniform that lets her get away with it. As Joan locks her up, Reb reaches through the spyhole and grabs her , warning her that she'll be back...

    EPISODE 507

    Broadcast on Channel 5 Saturday 01 May 1999 04:40 Len is appointed acting Governor and takes his revenge on Lou. Yemil hears that her charge has been changed to manslaughter and decides to take her own life.
    CREDITS
    Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne
    Judy ~ Betty Bobbitt
    Joan ~ Maggie Kirkpatrick
    Myra ~ Anne Phelan
    Pixie ~ Judy McBurney
    Bobbie ~ Maxine Klibingaitis
    Marlene ~ Genevieve Lemon
    Joyce ~ Joy Westmore
    Len ~ Maurie Fields
    Sam ~ Robyn Gibbes
    Lou ~ Louise Siversen
    Matt ~ Peter Bensley
    Geoff ~ Les Dayman
    Frank ~ Trevor Kent
    Chris Sutton ~ Gregory Ross
    Jane Doe ~ Maria Mercedes
    William Coleby ~ Hu Pryce
    Norm Barry ~ Bill Johnston
    Nurse Jones ~ Glenda Walsh
    Driver ~ Adrian Benson

  • Written by Ian Coughlan & David Phillips
  • Directed by Sean Nash
  • The credits include the acknowledgement that "The producers would like to thank the City of Nunawading", probably for the use of the "Fertility Control Clinic".

    Reb is replaced by Bobbie in the opening mugshot credits: only her box is left .

    Joan is doing a crossword in the staff room during night shift when Len comes in: she tells him that Ann has collapsed. He is amused that she seems to be assuming that Joyce will turn the Acting Governorship down and she will be next in line. She gets stuck with a clue and asks for Len's help "Seven letter word for highly scented fruit?" Len answers "Proctor?". Chris offers to go the clinic with Meg when she goes for her abortion. Norm annoys Joyce with his insensitivity to her feelings about Meg's abortion, so when he tells her about the call from Wentworth that she will have to take over as Acting Governor, she indignantly refuses. Lou offers to take over Reb's place in the rackets, but Joan just laughs at her. Yemil tells Myra she thinks she deserves punishment and refuses to arrange for legal representation at her trial. Marlene is relieved that Aussie appears to survived the insecticide spray. After locking up the other cells, Len visits Lou for sex. As Lou gets away from under Len and tries to leave the cell, she runs into Joan listening outside. Len accuses Joan of trying to set him up and they fight . The women hear the noise and realise what is going on: Myra tells them at breakfast next day that they could use the fact that Len and Joan aren't the best of friends. Joyce tells Len and Joyce that Mr Coleby is coming to talk to the staff later about the Acting Governorship. Meg goes for an abortion but is horrified when the clerk refers to a "termination" and decides not to go through with it. Mr Coleby announces that Len is to be made Acting Governor with Joyce as deputy. Frank takes a knife from the shed and tapes it to his arm. Pixie worries Marlene by piling sheets high in the skip where she's hidden Aussie's matchbox. Frank uses the knife to cut the tops off the pumpkins in the garden. Pixie sees the missing cockroach - it has somehow got onto Joyce's shoulder (didn't she feel it crawling up her leg?) Len tests out his power by making Joan work an extra shift. When the women try to teach Yemil to disco, Marlene asks Matt to dance, which leads to an argument with Bobbie. Joan lets the women know that Len is Governor and intends to crack down on their "unnatural" practices, with a pointed (and somewhat hypocrital) glance at Judy. Len gives Lou a month's extra cleaning duties for the attack on Pixie. She tries to make eyes at him, but he turns nasty and accuses her of working with Joan to set him up. Myra finds Lou searching Reb's cell, but Lou won't tell her what she's looking for. The men in the garden watch the police van driving Reb away: Geoff says this must mean that Myra will become top dog again. With Judy's help, Myra searches Reb's cell and Judy finds Reb's master key . Len tells Yemil that her charge has been changed to manslaughter, as the other driver died in hospital. Frank gets Lou to tell Alice to smuggle sugar and yeast out in the kitchen garbage. Yemil fells guilty about killing a man and says that only a life can pay for a life. Frank goes to Bobbie's cell and tries to force himself on her.

    EPISODE 508

    Broadcast on Channel 5 Sunday 02 May 1999 04:40. Trogg returns to intimidate Meg, while Aussie is the lucky winner of the cockroach race.
    CREDITS
    Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne
    Judy ~ Betty Bobbitt
    Joan ~ Maggie Kirkpatrick
    Myra ~ Anne Phelan
    Len ~ Maurie Fields
    Pixie ~ Judy McBurney
    Bobbie ~ Maxine Klibingaitis
    Marlene ~ Genevieve Lemon
    Joyce ~ Joy Westmore
    Sam ~ Robyn Gibbes
    Lou ~ Louise Siversen
    Chris ~ Gregory Ross
    Geoff ~ Les Dayman
    Frank ~ Trevor Kent
    Matt ~ Peter Bensley
    Jane Doe ~ Maria Mercedes
    Shane Munroe ~ Robert Summers
    Ernie Rowland ~ John Larkin
    Trog ~ Jon Williams
    Boy ~ Cameron Kermaghan

  • Written by Christopher Milne & Ian Coughlan
  • Directed by Sean Nash

    Kerryn is mentioned in the context of Yemil's suicide attempt.

    The elaborate ring for the cockroach races .

    Although the writers never explictly say that Yemil is Muslim, this shot of her "prayer book" establishes it . I am assured by someone who knows that it is a Quran: the page is headed by the word "separa" which is the name of the thirty parts into which it is divided.

  • Geoff arrives on the scene to save Bobbie, but Myra also sees him standing over Bobbie and assumes it was Geoff who attacked her until Bobbie tell her what really happened. Geoff and Matt catch Frank in the shower block and beat him up, delivering a well aimed kick to Frank's crutch. Bobbie feels she can't report Frank as she will get Geoff into trouble for being out of bounds too. Frank hobbles into the dining room and Geoff tells Myra the women won't have any more trouble from him for a few days. Shane writes from the Taylors', saying he had a dream that Joan was his mother. Lou is suspected of cheating when her cockroach seems to have got a lot bigger: Aussie wins again anyway. Lou kills her cockroach when Marlene reminds her she's forgotten it. Yemil tries to hang herself: Pixie stops her in time, but Yemil tells her she's not a real friend if she won't help her die. Meg is welcomed back to work by Joan who tries to hint she shouldn't be back so soon. Meg is amazed to find out that Frank is inside for rape when Len tells her he doesn't think the Department is wise to put him in with so many women. Alice gives Frank the sugar and yeast and tries to suggests they should sneak off for a quick session, but Frank tells her he has his pride. Geoff catches Frank making the pumpkin wine and Frank goes for him with the knife. He is disarmed by Joan and Geoff, but Joan takes all the credit in the Governor's office. Geoff is told by Len that there is no chance of him resuming his correspondence course. Myra tries to make peace with Geoff and they agree to meet to talk things over. Joan asks Sam for a painting and gives her a photo of the Major and Shane to base it on. Meg puts Frank on a charge for saying she's "the only screw worth screwing". Geoff and Myra talk and after a shaky start they get so friendly that they end up kissing . Meg comes over all faint in the laundry and a casual remark from Bobbie that she must be pregnant and Joyce's reaction to it gives the women food for thought. Joyce tells Meg that she had an abortion so she couldn't have children so she and Norm had to adopt and Joyce is relieved when Meg tells her she has decided to go ahead with the pregnancy. Chris tells Bobbie about the apprenticeship Len has arranged for her. The men get a threatening note ("THE THREE OF YOU ARE DEAD!" ) thrown over the fence by a boy who immediately runs away. Meg seems to be changing her mind and wants to keep the baby after all and gets a call that Peter Wright's trial is coming up in a few days. Marlene is worried to hear that the prison is being sprayed but doesn't want to put him outside and Pixie suggests they give Aussie a farewell party. Chris has another group therapy session, which is predictably embarrassing, when Geoff turns it into a coded confession of love for Myra. Chris is annoyed with Joyce for putting pressure on Meg to keep the baby. Ernie Rowland tells Joan the dirt on Len: the suspicious "suicides" of two remand prisoners and the prisoner found at the foot of the stairs with a broken neck. He advises her to ask Geoff Macrae what he knows about Len. Peter Wright's accomplice breaks into Meg's house and threatens her to keep quiet at the trial: she unmasks him but he punches her in the face and escapes.

    EPISODE 509

    Broadcast on Channel 5 Saturday 08 May 1999 04:40 Yemil thwarts the plan to force-feed her, and her husband arrives at Wentworth.
    CREDITS
    Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne
    Judy ~ Betty Bobbitt
    Joan ~ Maggie Kirkpatrick
    Myra ~ Anne Phelan
    Pixie ~ Judy McBurney
    Bobbie ~ Maxine Klibingaitis
    Marlene ~ Genevieve Lemon
    Joyce ~ Joy Westmore
    Len ~ Maurie Fields
    Sam ~ Robyn Gibbes
    Matt ~ Peter Bensley
    Geoff ~ Les Dayman
    Chris ~ Gregory Ross
    Lexie ~ Pepe Trevor
    Yemil ~ Maria Mercedes
    Ahmed ~ George Harlem
    Dr Goldstein ~ James Taylor
    Alison Webb ~ Pat Forbes
    Fred ~ Tony Garrity
    Ron ~ Marcus Eyre [R]
    Off. Bailey ~ Maureen Edwards
    Detective ~ Gary McConville
    Policewoman ~ Carolyn Kennett

  • Written by John Orcsik & Betty Quin
  • Directed by Chris Adshead
  • The farewell party for Aussie continues, with vol-au-vents from Ray. Marlene makes a speech in praise of "a very special roach". Chris takes Meg to the police to report the attack on her. Myra tries to persuade Yemil to give up her hunger strike calling it selfish and narrow-minded. Meg is shown the mugshot book and identifies almost the first picture she sees: it is Bernard Mulhare (alias Trog). Marlene tells Bobbie she's a virgin as all her boyfriends treated her as "one of the fellahs". Sam hears from Judy about Myra's last escape and is obviously considering escaping when Judy tells her she has no chance getting Len to give her permission for a visit to her mother. At breakfast next morning, Sam suggests the women make up a teaching aid for the deaf children - some sort of robot perhaps. Marlene finds that Yemil has only been pretending to eat, so the women go to Yemil's cell and try to force feed her. Geoff and Matt decide to go on strike until they are allowed to work indoors. Lexie is brought to Wentworth on remand for larceny: Joyce is amused by her Boy George getup and her protestations of innocence. She tells Len she was framed and won the money at cards fair and square. After another attempt by the social worker to frighten her into having an abortion with the possibility that she might have a Down's syndrome child, Meg sees an obstetrician and is told she may have been pregnant longer than she thinks. Yemil's husband Ahmed visits Wentworth, and Joyce eventually realises who he wants to see. Lexie and Bobbie already know each other. Yemil finds out her visitor is her husband, and refuses to see him. Marlene gets a bit jealous about Lexie's friendship with Bobbie and tries to annoy her by calling Boy George a "pooftah". Geoff offers to help Sam build the robot. Yemil runs into the rec room screaming at Myra as she thinks she told the officers who she is. Geoff gets Joan to arrange for the men to work indoors in return for his information on Len. Myra asks Joyce to arrange for Yemil's husband to visit again as she wants to talk to him. Workmen arrive at Wentworth to exterminate cockroaches. Bobbie gets work release arranged by Len starting the following day. Marlene is disappointed to find that Len has also agreed to move her and Bobbie to share a cell with Lexie. Joan and other officers go to Len with demands that they will not supervise the men working outside. Marlene sets Aussie free in the grounds. The "workmen" plant a gas canister under one of the beds in the men's cell . Myra is no pleased to find out from Geoff that he's made a deal with Joan to get rid of Len. Lexie tries to make friends with Marlene by letting her win at cards. Myra has obviously read Poe's story "The purloined letter" and decides to "hide" the master key by sticking it to the collage in the rec room. Bobbie is annoyed to find Lexie playing cards with Marlene and wants to know what's going on. Matt seems jealous that Geoff had been talking to Pixie in the rec room. As the men are sleeping in their cell, the timer mechanism starts to release the gas.

    EPISODE 510

    Broadcast on Channel 5 Sunday 09 May 1999 04:40 Frank rapes Pixie, but the women frame Len for the attack.
    CREDITS
    Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne
    Judy ~ Betty Bobbitt
    Joan ~ Maggie Kirkpatrick
    Myra ~ Anne Phelan
    Len ~ Maurie Fields
    Pixie ~ Judy McBurney
    Bobbie ~ Maxine Klibingaitis
    Marlene ~ Genevieve Lemon
    Joyce ~ Joy Westmore
    Lou ~ Louise Siversen
    Chris ~ Gregory Ross
    Geoff ~ Les Dayman
    Frank ~ Trevor Kent
    Matt ~ Peter Bensley
    Lexie ~ Pepe Trevor
    Yemil ~ Maria Mercedes
    Ahmed ~ George Harlem
    Ralph ~ Charles Gilroy [L]
    Peter ~ David Whitney
    Dr Goldstein ~ James Taylor

  • Written by Fay Rousseaux
  • Directed by Chris Adshead
  • Marlene's nickname for Lexie as "Banjo" is an allusion to writer A. B. "Banjo" Patterson whose poem "The Ballad of the Man from Snowy River" provided a home for many ex-PCBHers in its TV series and film incarnations.

    Portrait of Judy

    Joan finds Meg asleep in the staff room and tactfully makes a noise to wake her up. She then spoils it by attempting to sympathise with Meg's decision to have an abortion and gets her head bitten off by Meg, who sweeps off in a huff to do her rounds. As she checks on the men in solitary, Meg smells the gas and rushes off to get Joan's help. Together, Meg and Joan save Matt and Geoff from being gassed by carrying them out into the corridor. Next morning the women speculate about Geoff being taken to hospital, but they are mildly disgusted to find that Joan gave Geoff the kiss of life. Myra admits to Judy without realising why, that she is worried about Geoff. Len tells Meg and Joyce that the poilce are treating it as attempted murder. Joan sees Bobbie after tarting up by Lexie and Marlene and threatens to phone the factory and cancel the work release unless she changes. Len visits Matt in the infirmary to warm him not to mention the threatening note thrown over the fence. Lou catches Lexie in her cell practising her card sharping techniques and threatens to spread the news unless they join up to get money from innocent punters. Bobbie starts work and is introduced to her fellow worker Peter who gives her a tough aptitude test in rewiring a conrtol for a crane. Lou challenges Marlene to give the women an opportunity to win their money back. Len tells Joyce the Department have given them a replacement officer - a certain Dennis Cruickshank. Bobbie proves her ability and wins a bet with Peter. Marlene is conned by Lou into agreeing to take on any challenger at cards. Frank comes out of solitary and pesters Lou and then Pixie. Frank tries it on with Lexie, but just gets laughed at for his trouble: Lou is annoyed at him for wasting his time flirting with any "piece" that passes. Myra has a visitor: it is Ahmed, who begs her to try to make her understand he is sorry. He says he genuinely wants to try again to have an equal relationship with Yemil and is upset to hear that Yemil seems determined to let herself die in payment for causing a death in a supposed "custom" unknown to any tradition in the world anywhere ever. Len covers his back by hinting to Chris that he should keep an eye on Matt for any signs of instability. Joyce gives Myra permission to talk to Yemil to try to persuade her that Ahmed is prepared to give up "the old ways". Frank meets Pixie in a corridor and pesters her again and when she raises her fists they engage in a horseplay boxing match. That is, until Pixie punches Frank: he drags her into the library and rapes her. Meg attends the hospital and is told she must have an operation to remove a tumour: she say it will have to wait until a ceratin court case the following week. She does not realise until told that she must lose the baby during the operation. Pixie arrives distraught in the laundry : Myra reluctantly agrees to Joan's suggestion to fix the blame on Len. Despite Judy's protests , Pixie is taken to her cell for the setup. Yemil finds Frank in the toilet block splashing water on the scratches on his face. Judy tells Myra she is sickened by her willingness to ignore people's feelings. Yemil's sighting of Frank confirms his guilt. Joan gets Len to visit the cell by saying the women are making booze in Yemil's cell [*]. When Len arrives in Pixie's cell, he realises it is a setup and hits out at Myra and Joan, who disables him with a punch to his ample gut .

    Most of the scene marked [*] was cut in the Channel 5 broadcast, presumably to remove Len's offensive response "Oh the wog's making jungle juice, is she?". The rest of the scene goes as follows:Joan: Someone is.
    Len: Beats me why you didn't handle this yourself.
    Joan: I thought you might appreciate the feather in your cap.
    Len: What?
    Joan: It's going to look very good on your record, isn't it, when the Department finds out that you nipped it in the bud single handed?
    Len: What are you after?
    Joan: I've changed my mind about working on your team. Well, you've shown me that a prison can be run efficiently with the right person behind the desk
    Len: That it?
    Joan: No, you were right. They'd never consider me for the job. I know that now.
    Len: Quite a change of heart. Good. Anyone else in there with her?
    Joan: I only saw Warren go in there
    Len: She see you?
    Joan: I don't think so
    Len: You don't think so? God, woman. What's got into you?
    Joan: All right, she didn't see me. Now do you want to catch them or..
    Len: Of course I want to catch them, but we'll wait a few minutes, let them settle down
    Joan: But if you wait ...
    Len: We'll wait.

    (501) to (505)

    Updated ~ 17 September 2008