EPISODE 541Broadcast on Meridian Tuesday 14 April 1998 23:40; Channel 5 Sunday 29 August 1999 04:40. Joan's plan to frame Myra for assault is foiled when Dennis agrees to do Terri's rounds. Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Joan ~ Maggie Kirkpatrick Ann ~ Gerda Nicolson Myra ~ Anne Phelan Nora ~ Sonja Tallis May ~ Billie Hammerberg Willie ~ Kirsty Child Dennis ~ Nigel Bradshaw Ruth ~ Lindy Davies Daphne ~ Debra Lawrance Lou ~ Louise Siversen Lexie ~ Pepe Trevor Ettie ~ Lois Ramsay Mrs Hartley ~ Aileen Britton  Jenny ~ Jenny Lovell Pippa ~ Christine Harris Terri ~ Margot Knight Mrs Goddard ~ Pam Murphy Sadie Grimshaw ~ Helene Jacoby Telecom Man ~ Steven Hutchinson  Fed. Supt. No. 1 ~ Scott Lucey Fed. Supt. No. 2 ~ Chris Hallam Bartender ~ Anita Keir Tammy ~ Gloria Ajenstat Parish Priest ~ Peter Moon  Billy Thompson ~ Rick Ireland Sally Morgan ~ Melanie Boxshall Thanks to Kim for spotting that Mrs Goddard is not in this episode - her first appearance is in (546). | Willie's nose is put out of joint when her trading is upstaged by Ruth handing out expensive gifts. Terri agrees to Joan's ideas, or at least enough for her to propose her scheme: she is to witness Joan's "bashing" by Lou or Myra. Ettie plans to give the two punks money and then pretend to rob them: Sadie is the voice of reason advising her of the shortcomings of her plan. Ruth tries to recruit Myra to work for her husband, but Myra tells her that her husband's organisation nearly killed her daughter and warns her not to try dealing drugs in Wentworth. Nora tells Meg she's aware of the dangers of a first pregnancy at her age (42, since you ask) and she knows that the child will be taken away from her at the age of five. Ruth hints to Joan that she can fix Lou and Myra in return for Joan smuggling in drugs. Ann decides not to send Nora to maternity but to keep her where she is and put her on light duties. Meg tells Ann that the second rapist has been sentenced to six years with hard labour. Terri bumps into Myra at muster call and and puts her on a charge with Joan's connivance. Ruth fills Daphne's cell with plants. Ruth's phone is installed. Joan starts to throw her weight around and puts Daphne and Lexie on charges for trivial offences. Ettie gives Billy and Sally money to take home so she can break in and steal it. As a result of Terri's charge, Myra loses phone calls and visitors for a month. Ruth asks Lou for the names of young inmates to be released soon, and to find out who would be interested in buying a bit of grass. May is convinced by Myra's argument for a complete ban on drugs and commits herself to supporting Myra. Ruth is given the key to her phone in return for the names of two of her husband's associates. Ruth pretends to have put in a good word for Daphne without success. Dennis' divorce comes through and he immediately asks Meg for a drink at his place to celebrate. Lexie and Daphne have privileges taken away as a result of Joan's charges: when Joan complains that the penalties are far too light, Ann warns Joan not to be too eager. Myra urges the women not to provoke the officers and insists that the Governor will relax the harsh discipline when she feels she can trust them again. Lou gets a heavying from Myra to warn her not to get involved in bringing drugs inside the prison. Ettie dons cowboy hat and mask to commit burglary, but she's been given the wrong address by the punks. It's a vicarage and the priest looks confused until Ettie declares that she wants to "confess". Jenny is told off by her grandmother, a supposed invalid who gets out of bed when she leaves the room. Jenny plays some Chopin at her grandmother's request to hear the expensive instrument she bought for her, but she breaks out in a fit of whining ("oh Mama! Why?!?"  ) when she glimpses a photo of her mother on the top of the piano  . Lou gives Ruth the list of names and gets a bottle of perfume in return. Pippa gets a telegram from Simon to say he's paying a visit to Australia and wants to see her. Joan sets up an incident with Myra by forcing her to drop a tray as she is taking meals to solitary. Joan tells Myra that Terri is about to arrive to witness her insubordination, but Terri has been delayed and Dennis is the first on the scene. |
EPISODE 542Broadcast on Ulster Tuesday 29 July 1997 00:10; Meridian Tuesday 21 April 1998 23:40; Channel 5 Saturday 04 September 1999 04:50. Ettie enlists the help of Fellowes, Myra covers for Joan and Jenny offends Mrs Goddard. [Not in this episode, she doesn't!]Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Joan ~ Maggie Kirkpatrick Ann ~ Gerda Nicolson Myra ~ Anne Phelan Joyce ~ Joy Westmore Nora ~ Sonja Tallis May ~ Billie Hammerberg Willie ~ Kirsty Child Dennis ~ Nigel Bradshaw Ruth ~ Lindy Davies Daphne ~ Debra Lawrance Lexie ~ Pepe Trevor Julie ~ Jackie Woodburne Ettie ~ Lois Ramsay Mrs Hartley ~ Aileen Britton Jenny ~ Jenny Lovell Pippa ~ Christine Harris Terri ~ Margot Knight Sadie Grimshaw ~ Helene Jacoby Norm Barry ~ Bill Johnston Lionel Fellowes ~ Will Deumer Frank Richards ~ Marcus Eyre  Young Jennifer ~ Melinda Watts  The credits on both Granada and Channel 5 started at Joyce, missing out the first four names as listed above. Daphne is not in this episode. Ettie mentions Brenda and Lexie mentions Marelen and Matt. | When Dennis arrives on the scene first, Joan has to back down. Myra supports Joan's version of events at which Dennis looks dubious. Myra lets Joan know she's going to be on the look-out for her next attempt to set her up. Ruth hints that May should consider making a play for top dog, while making it clear that she's not interested in the position herself. She manages to get May's approval for handing out grass. Joan snaps at Terri for letting her down, but immediately softens and and admits she has another plan to fix Myra - this time for good. Julie tries to make friends with Lexie. Joyce admits to Meg and Dennis that she's trying to avoid speaking to Norm. Joan takes up Ruth's offer to have Myra fixed in return for bringing in a parcel of grass for her. Dennis offers to move in with Meg, purely to force Joyce to make a decision about her future (of course). Terri makes out a false report that Myra has been causing trouble. Ruth offers to get Lexie a job in a casino when she's released. Ettie contacts Lionel Fellowes to get her money back, and tells him he can keep it if he gets her back in Wentworth. He is suspicious it's a setup and asks his associate to check it out. The money is duly returned to Ettie by Frank Richards (minus a few hundred dollars the punks spent on drugs) and she's told to meet Fellowes at his night club to make arrangements. Joan adds Lou to the list of people she wants disposed of as Ruth's part of their deal, but Ruth treats her demands with airy condescension, and gives Joan a letter to post as if she were her housemaid. Ruth gives Myra the phone number she has traced so she can speak to her daughter Kay, but Myra still refuses to give Ruth permission to bring in drugs. Willie is startled by Ettie's statue in the rec room, especially as it is wrapped in a pink housecoat, and suggests it ought to be moved out into the garden. Mrs Hartley tells Jenny that she is leaving her everything in her will. Julie phones her mother and finds out she is dying of cancer: she tells Lexie she is glad that she stole the money from work to give her mother a world trip while she was still well enough to take it. Nora asks Meg if her name could be put forward for consideration at the next parole board. Pippa and Ann have tea with the Hartleys and Pippa does her best to shock Mrs Hartley with frank admissions of her loose behaviour with a married man. Norm talks it over with Joyce: she tells him she can't live with him any more and wants a divorce. May gives Willie a cardigan she knitted for her six years ago, but has it thrown back at her when May admits she didn't give it to her in the first place as they'd just had an argument. After her grandmother tells her she can't go for dinner with Pippa after all and calls her a "whore", Jenny remembers being locked in a room as a child by her grandmother. Meg arrives home to find that Joyce has taken an overdose.  |
Not all of Australia saw the whole series. Apparently episode (542) was the last one to be shown in Perth (Western Australia)
EPISODE 543Broadcast on Ulster Monday 4th August 1997 23:40; Meridian Tuesday 28 April 1998 23:40; Channel 5 Sunday 05 September 1999 04:40. Joyce tells Lexie off for ridiculing her. Ruth tells Lou about her plan for hard drugs inside. Joan finds Myra tripping in the corridor. Nora says that someone is trying to frame Myra.Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Joan ~ Maggie Kirkpatrick Ann ~ Gerda Nicolson Myra ~ Anne Phelan Joyce ~ Joy Westmore Nora ~ Sonja Tallis May ~ Billie Hammerberg Willie ~ Kirsty Child Dennis ~ Nigel Bradshaw Ruth ~ Lindy Davies Daphne ~ Debra Lawrance Lou ~ Louise Siversen Lexie ~ Pepe Trevor Julie ~ Jackie Woodburne Ettie ~ Lois Ramsay Terri ~ Margot Knight Sadie Grimshaw ~ Helene Jacoby George Costello ~ Peter Stratford Lionel Fellowes ~ Will Deumer Frank Richards ~ Marcus Eyre Sister Hall ~ Gael Andrews Officer Radcliffe ~ Marion Dimmick Chauffeur ~ Cameron Allen Margot ~ Paddy Bernett  Brucie ~ David Beresh  [2nd from L]Spike ~ Jeff Kovski [R]Charlie ~ James Shaw [L] | Meg and Dennis walk Joyce around rather than report the suicide attempt, as Dennis says it would cost Joyce her job. May tries again to give Willie the cardigan she knitted, but Willie tells her she will never wear "that thing". Fellowes plans to use Ettie as a decoy for another job his gang are doing at the same time on the other side of town. He is also hoping it will be useful to have a contact inside Wentworth to check out Ruth Ballinger. Joyce admits to Meg she finds Norm unbearable and won't go back to him. Ettie is introduced to the members of the gang who are supposed to be her backup for the robbery. Meg doesn't tell Ann about Joyce when Ann comments Joyce has been looking ill. Joan objects to being searched, and gets through unscathed when Officer Radcliffe is distracted by answering the phone. After Joyce and Mervin leave her alone in the staff room. Joan takes an envelope from her overcoat pocket and puts it in her jacket pocket. Ettie hires a Rolls Royce to take Sadie to the races. Lexie jokes to Mervin that Joyce might leave her husband for him: he gets flustered and reveals that it is true. Joan hands over the goods to Ruth: including an extra package containing a hypodermic and heroin to finish off Myra. Ruth's solicitor passes on a message from her husband to give the names of two of Fellowes' associates to the police. When he questions involving an officer in smuggling drugs when she already has some hidden in her table lamp, Ruth says that compromising an officer means she can blackamil her. Joyce warns Lexie not to make any more trouble and reminds her that she knows it was Lexie who stole her purse. May is transferred to the kitchen to replace Lexie and finds out that Willie is collecting all kinds of junk from the kitchen rubbish. Ruth gives the drugs to Lou to distribute free to the woman. Lexie and Julie share a joint, which leads to trouble from Myra when they are still stoned later in the kitchen, Lou blames Ruth for handing out the drugs. Joan asks Terri out for another drink, and finds out she doesn't have a boyfriend. Ann tells Ruth not to make calls for other prisoners or give them presents or she'll end up in solitary. Ruth counters by telling Ann about the drug problem in Wentworth and claims Myra is behind it. Daphne is tricked by Ruth into give Myra a coffee spiked with acid. Julie is taken ill after smoking the joint, and because of the trouble it caused Ruth refuses to give Lexie another one. Myra starts to hallucinate and makes her way with difficulty and in soft focus along a corridor. Nora catches Lou in Myra's cell. Myra  ends up grovelling at Joan's feet  . Joan reports that Myra has been taken to the infirmary under the influence of drugs and Ann orders a cell search. Joan finds drugs planted by Lou in Myra's cell: Nora protests that it must be a frame-up. |
EPISODE 544Broadcast on Ulster Monday 11th August 1997 23:40; Meridian Tuesday 05 May 1998 23:45; Channel 5 Saturday 11 September 1999 04:40. Ettie is arrested in the bank robbery. Ann threatens to send Myra to Blackmoor. Joan tells Ann that she has just bashed Ruth.Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Joan ~ Maggie Kirkpatrick Ann ~ Gerda Nicolson Myra ~ Anne Phelan Joyce ~ Joy Westmore Nora ~ Sonja Tallis May ~ Billie Hammerberg Willie ~ Kirsty Child Dennis ~ Nigel Bradshaw Ruth ~ Lindy Davis Daphne ~ Debra Lawrance Lexie ~ Pepe Trevor Julie ~ Jackie Woodburne Ettie ~ Lois Ramsay Mrs Hartley ~ Aileen Britton Jenny ~ Jenny Lovell Pippa ~ Christine Harris Mervin ~ Ernie Bourne Fed. Cop No 1 ~ Scott Lucey Fed. Cop No 2 ~ Chris Hallam Simon Durrant ~ Vic Hawkins  Lionel Fellowes ~ Will Deumer Frank Richards ~ Marcus Eyre Dr Raymond ~ Les Tyrell  Bank Teller ~ Phillip Mushin  Security Officer ~ Richard Stubbs  Policeman No 1~ Justin Gaffney  Policeman No 2 ~ Peter Patay Customer No 1 ~ James McCrae  Customer No 2 ~ Agnes Malone | None of the officers believe that Myra is involved in drugs, and Joan presses for Myra to be transferred.
May and Nora confront Ruth about the set-up on Myra, but Ruth lays suspicion on Lou, and reminds them that Myra herself could be peddling drugs after all. Mrs Hartley is petulant when Jenny decides to go out to dinner with Pippa and Ann. Mervin invites Joyce round to his "apartment", but gets so excited he sprays her hair with champagne. Myra hallucinates that Dennis is appearing in a horror film (or has had a raspberry trifle thrown at the side of his face)  . Julie figures out that Lou and Ruth are working together and only want everyone to think they are enemies. Mervin and Joyce keep bumping into each other in Mervin's tiny flat, so Joyce turns down the chance to try out his folding bed. Jenny has dinner with Ann and Pippa, but is called home by her grandmother's doctor. Joyce surprises Meg by telling her she thinks she is about to agree to move in with Mervin. Dr Raymond tells Jenny that her grandmother is not really ill, but is faking to keep Jenny from leaving her alone. Lexie has a go at Julie for her accusation against Ruth. Jenny realises she has wasted years of her life, and declares her grandmother will have to take account of her wishes from now on. Mervin calls round to see Joyce to apologise for messing up their date. Ruth uses the tapped phone line to lay further suspicion on Myra, claiming that she got her own daughter hooked on drugs. Ann puts her foot down and tells Pippa she won't have her sleeping with Simon in her house. Nora delivers a tray to Myra in the infirmary and lets her know of thier suspicions. Mrs Hartley refuses to admit she's been faking when Jenny confronts her. The Federal officers play the tape to Ann, and also give her a file on their investigation into Ruth own business activities. Ettie makes a mess of holding up a bank  : she offers the teller her shopping list instead of the note telling him to "stick 'em up". When the police arrive at the bank, Ettie shoots one of them by accident as she tries to demonstrate that her gun isn't loaded. Mrs Hartley gets a letter  from her daughter Harriet, which she refuses to open and tells Jenny to destroy it, Ann questions Myra about the drugs: Myra complains Ann has had it in for her ever since she tried to frame Joan. Pippa collects her boyfriend Simon from the airport: she seems taken aback when he tells her he's left his wife. Ann asks the officers to keep Ruth's involvement with child pornography from the women: Joan immediately goes to Ruth and bashes her, ignoring Ruth's threat to publish incriminating photos of Joan picking up drugs from a courier  . Meg takes a call at the prison that Ettie has been arrested for armed robbery and the attempted murder of a policeman. Joan bursts into Ann's office, admits what she's done and challenges Ann to sack her  . |
EPISODE 545Broadcast on Ulster Monday 18th August 1997 23:40 p.m; Meridian Tuesday 12 May 1998 23:40; Channel 5 Sunday 12 September 1999 04:40. Ettie gets her wish and is returned to Wentworth. Pippa continues to evade questions on her life and the future with Simon.Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Joan ~ Maggie Kirkpatrick Ann ~ Gerda Nicolson Myra ~ Anne Phelan Joyce ~ Joy Westmore Nora ~ Sonja Tallis May ~ Billie Hammerberg Willie ~ Kirsty Child Dennis ~ Nigel Bradshaw Ruth ~ Lindy Davis Daphne ~ Debra Lawrance Lou ~ Louise Siversen Ettie ~ Lois Ramsay Mervin ~ Ernie Bourne Pippa ~ Christine Harris Simon ~ Vic Hawkins Det. Sinclair ~ Peter Sinclair  Det. Johnson ~ Ian Walker  Mr O'Lachain ~ Denzil Howson  Magistrate ~ A. Barradell-Smith  Fed. Cop No 1 ~ Scott Lucey Fed. Cop No 2 ~ Chris Hallam Police Prosecutor ~ David Bergin Waitress ~ Lauren Crathern Snooty Waiter ~ Don Gray  Fellowes' Thug ~ Lucky Hunter The variant (incorrect?) spellings Billie "Hammerberge" and Daphne "Lawrence" are used in the credits | Instead of accepting Joan's resignation, Ann pulls up a chair for her, saying they have a few things to discuss. Ruth asks Dennis to take her to the Governor and accuses Joan of bashing her  . Ettie is questioned about the bank job, and claims Cody Jarret gave her the gun. Ann covers for Joan and claims that she and Joan were in her office together for half an hour. She suggests that Ruth must have had a nasty fall in her cell and be sufffering from concussion. Joan admits she is amazed at Ann's attittude, but Ann tells her there must be no further action against Ruth. Ann decides that Ruth must be prevented from contacting the media or anyone else about the incident. Daphne finds the torn up photo in Ruth's cell, but Joan arrives to recovers it just as she is piecing it together. Neverthless, Daphne has seen enough to know a man was handing a parcel to Joan. Ruth returns to her cell to find her phone has been cut off: Dennis warns her not to kick up too much of a fuss or the women might find out about her child pornography racket. Ettie's lawyer tells Meg he thinks says he can get Ettie's charges dropped. Ruth instructs Lou on the next step in her plan: get rid of Myra, and wean the women off grass onto hard drugs. Ettie insists her lawyer tells the judge she is guilty and refuses to allow him to apply for bail. Ann and Dennis collude to delay Ruth contacting her solicitor. The police work out Ettie's probable involvement with the gang that pulled off the payroll job. When she is confronted by the women about the photo Daphne found, Ruth blames Joan for framing Myra. Pippa is offhand and nervous around Simon: Ann arrives home and meets him for the first time. Perhaps inspired by Mervin's gallant speech to Joyce when he comes to pick her up for a date, Meg suggests she and Dennis move in together. Dennis caps it by proposing to Meg, and is accepted. Ettie runs rings around the police who are trying to get her to admit she knows Fellowes. Ann realises that Pippa is not pleased that Simon has left his wife. Ruth gives Daphne some cocaine to get rid of her when she comes to her cell wanting to chat. After thier dinner date, Mervin and Joyce return to his flat and test out the sofa bed and his record collection  . When Joyce returns to Meg's early next morning, she finds that Norm has left a note for Joyce to say that his colleague Beryl Simmons is being "very supportive". Myra returns to the women and is brought up to date by May and Willie. At Ettie's hearing, she shouts down her solicitor and annoys the judge so much she is sent on remand to Wentworth. Pippa tells Simon she might want to work in Japan or England, and can't do that if she's tie down in a relationship. Ann persuades the Federal police  that Ruth's contacts with the outside world should be cut. Myra lets Ruth know that she's worked out that it was Ruth who doped her and is about to bash her when Dennis arrives to take her to the Governor's office. Ettie is taken to her cell by Joan  . The Feds put more pressure on Ruth by pretending that one of the people she exposed has given them a lot of information and they threaten to discredit her with her husband by making it look as though it came from her. |
Story Editor: Coral Drouyn
Script Editor: Ian Smith & Gail Meillon (541)
Storyliners: Coral Drouyn, Neil Luxmoore, Tony McDonald, John Coulter
| (536) to (540) |