EPISODE 546Broadcast on Ulster Monday 25th August 1997 23:50; Meridian Tuesday 26 May 1998 23:40; Channel 5 Saturday 18 September 1999 04:40. Ruth feeds Daphne's coke addiction; Jennifer defies her grandmother; Joan is becoming closer to Terri; Myra is furious with Daphne. Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Joan ~ Maggie Kirkpatrick Ann ~ Gerda Nicolson Myra ~ Anne Phelan Joyce ~ Joy Westmore May ~ Billie Hammerberg Willie ~ Kirsty Child Dennis ~ Nigel Bradshaw Ruth ~ Lindy Davis Daphne ~ Debra Lawrance Lexie ~ Pepe Trevor Lou ~ Louise Siversen Julie ~ Jackie Woodburne Ettie ~ Lois Ramsay Mrs Hartley ~ Aileen Britton Jenny ~ Jenny Lovell Pippa ~ Christine Harris Mervin ~ Ernie Bourne Terri ~ Margot Knight Simon ~ Vic Hawkins Mrs Goddard ~ Pam Murphy  Frank Richards ~ Marcus Eyre Off. Slattery ~ Dorothy Cutts | Myra warns all the women to stay clear of Ruth. Ettie wanders into the rec room and is confused to see her Barnhurst mates in Wentworth. Ann is worried about Arnie Ballinger's reaction if the Federal police carry out their threat to implicate Ruth. Ruth finds out about Ettie's connection to Fellowes when she asks her how she got inside. Myra asks May to distract Ruth to give her the chance to search Ruth's cell. Pippa pretends she has a headache and palms Simon off on Jenny. Ruth gives Daphne some more cocaine. Ettie is entrusted with the task of contacting Lionel Fellowes by Ruth: she is to ask him to visit her in Wentworth immediately but not to mention Ruth's name. Daphne is very excitable when she comes to the laundry, arousing Myra's suspicion. Joyce lets herself into Mervin's flat and sets to work in the kitchen. Ann tells Pippa she has to let Simon know where he stands. May keeps Ruth occupied during the exercise period by telling her she's considering making a bid for top dog. Myra searches Ruth's cell and finds the stash of drugs in the back of Ruth's TV, but Terri catches her in the act. Frank Richards visits Ettie, but she gets the message wrong and tells him that Ruth definitely did pass on the names to the police. Terri phones Joan for advice about what to do about Myra. Jenny gets a telling off from her grandmother for leaving her alone, so she tells Mrs Goddard the housekeeper she can leave at five o'clock as her grandmother can look after herself. Ettie borrows a "cigarette" from Lexie's locker. Mervin returns home and barely recognises his flat after Joyce has been working on it. Myra is puzzled that nothing has happened about being caught with the drugs. Ettie complains to Lexie about her funny tasting tobacco, but Meg overhears. Mervin is dismayed that Joyce has thrown away his file of recipes while tidying up. Over another drink in the bar, Joan explains to Terri that they can't report Myra without involving Ruth, which she wants to avoid at all costs. Pippa asks Jenny to come with her to Japan as a way to get away from her grandmother. Lexie loses her buyup for having the drugs and Ettie is giving a fortnight's cleaning duties. Joyce and Mervin have an argument when she burns the dinner and his favourite pan is "buggered". Joan comes out to Terri  by paraphrasing the Gloria Gaynor standard: "I am what I am, and I'm not going to make any excuses for that". Terri takes this as a come-on and asks if the two of them can go back to Joan's place. Lexie produces the "cheque" Ettie gave her when she left Wentworth and demands the $5,000. Lou sees Daphne preparing to sniff cocaine and finds out from he where she got it. Mrs Hartley wakes up screaming that she's been attacked in bed by someone trying to smother her with a pillow. Jenny assumes she just had a bad dream, but despite checking the windows she fails to see that one of the curtains got trapped when the intruder left. Ruth refuses to give Lexie any more dope. Joan catches Ruth frantically searching her cell for her lost stash and hands her the newspaper report  headlined "CRIME BOSS WIFE TELLS ALL" (which apparently wasn't in the morning paper Ann was seen reading two scenes before...). Myra finds Daphne sniffing coke from the front cover of a gardening magazine.
Freedom has now been moved out into the garden |
EPISODE 548Broadcast on Ulster Monday 8th September 1997 23:10; Meridian Tuesday 16 June 1998 23:10; Channel 5 Saturday 25 September 1999 04:40. Jennifer is sent to Wentworth having been charged with her grandmother's murder. The life of Nora's baby is threatened after she is assaulted by Lou.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 Lou ~ Louise Siversen Ettie ~ Lois Ramsay Mrs Hartley ~ Aileen Britton Jenny ~ Jenny Lovell Pippa ~ Christine Harris Simon ~ Vic Hawkins Mrs Goddard ~ Pam Murphy Sister Hall ~ Gael Andrews Det. Insp. Grace ~ Terry Gill Lionel Fellowes ~ Will Deumer George Costello ~ Peter Stratford Detective ~ James Patrick Policewoman ~ Patricia O'Sullivan Desk Officer ~ Christopher Stevenson  [?]Henchman 1 ~ David Berish  Henchman 2 ~ James Shaw  Mrs Hartley is not in this episode, although she is in the pre-credit sequence when Jenny finds her dead. | Joan meets Costello to collect the negatives: in return she gives him information on the timing of the women's exercise periods, the security arrangements and a plan of the grounds. He says he will contact her later with more details. Nora is anxious in case she doesn't get parole: she tells Myra she had given up hope of being released, but being preganant has given her hope again. Mrs Goddard brings the morning tea to Mrs Goddard's room and finds Jenny with the grandmother dead in her arms. Joan passes on the outline of the escape plan to Ruth, but tells her she won't be going anywhere unless Myra is dealt with first. Ettie asks Meg to go to the bank for her to transfer the money to an acouunt for Lexie. Pippa calls Ann at work to come to the police station to help Jenny, who has been arrested for her grandmother's murder. Inspector Grace questions Mrs Goddard: she tells him she always knew that Jenny would kill her grandmother and mentions the solicitor's visit. Pippa also seems to assume that Jenny did it, but Ann warns her to not to jump to conclusions. Ann gets to speak to Jenny, who is distraught, but she manages to remember the knocking from upstairs. Myra listens to Willie and May bickering, and from the look on her face she seems to be wondering if this Council idea is so good after all. Ann tries to tell Inspector Grace that Jennifer couldn't have done it, but he points out that only Jenny's fingerprints were found on the murder weapon. Furthermore, Mrs Hartley had recently changed her will to leave everything to Jenny. Ruth tells Lou that they have to get rid of Myra before the escape: Lou will hold Myra down while Ruth injects her with heroin  . Meg persuades Joyce she has to make the first move in apologising to Mervin. Simon visits Ann at Wentworth: he tells he he's going back to his wife, though without much enthusiasm. Joyce finds out that Mervin has already left to visit his sick mother, but he has made her a little cake to signify that they have made up. Inspector Grace tricks Jenny into making several damaging statements which seems to admit her guilt. Nora appeals to Ann to help her get her parole. Lexie finds out that Ruth has "forgotten" her promise to get her a job in a casino. Fellowes warns Costello to keep his doubts about trying to arrange an escape for Ruth to himself, as it doesn't pay to cross Arnie Ballinger. Meg heavies Lexie into handing over the IOU from Ettie. Jenny is brought to Wentworth on remand. Daphne seems to be sinking lower into depression. Ann has to explain to Jenny that she will have to stay in Wentworth until the trial, as bail has been refused. She also warns Jenny not to let the other women know they are friends. Jenny is taken to solitary. Meg gets a shoulder massage from Dennis in the staff room and playfully (but a little inaccurately) calls him "Butch". To set up the attack on Myra, Lou punches Nora in the stomach  and Ruth sends Daphne to fetch Myra, insisting that she must tell no-one else. Meanwhile, the other women go outside for their exercise period, and they are being watched from a car outside by Costello and two of Ballinger's henchmen. Ruth tells Myra that Nora is in the toilet block with stomach pains. Sister Hall calls a doctor for Nora, but doesn't think she is in danger of losing the baby. Myra dashes to the shower block: she is knocked out by Lou and, while Joan stands by, Ruth prepares the hypodermic  .
Meg mentions without explanation that she cannot have a family - this is presumably after the operation to remove the ovarian tumour? For some reason, this shot through a window of the police station Nothing says love like a shop bought cake |
EPISODE 549Broadcast on Ulster Monday 15th September 1997 23:10; Meridian Tuesday 23 June 1998; Channel 5 Sunday 26 September 1999 04:40. May saves Myra's life. The women give Jenny a hard time. Armed men penetrate Wentworth.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 Lou ~ Louise Siversen Ettie ~ Lois Ramsay Jenny ~ Jenny Lovell Pippa ~ Christine Harris Terri ~ Margo Knight Alice ~ Lois Collinder Sister Hall ~ Gael Andrews Ram ~ Robert Hughes  Al ~ Gerard Kennay  Max ~ Murray Fahey  Jay ~ Conor McDermottroe  George Costello ~ Peter Stratford Lionel Fellowes ~ Will Deumer Doctor ~ Rod Densley  Lorna ~ Barbara Jungwirth Henchman 1 ~ David Berish Henchman 2 ~ James Shaw Gate Guard 1 ~ David Blackman  [?]Gate Guard 2 ~ Alan Barrett  [?]The voice of Arnie Ballinger on the speaker phone sounds familiar... | Daphne tells May what happened to Nora, and May asks Jotce's permission to go back inside. As soon as Joan hears someone approaching the shower block, she lays into Ruth, which releases Myra, who attacks Lou. May has brought along Meg, who wants to know what's going on. Joan accuses Lou and Ruth of attempting to kill Mya: Myra backs up her story, saying that Joan saved her life. Fellowes' people outside give up waiting for Ruth, when they see that the women are being taken back inside. Myra declines to tell Ann the full story of what happened, even when Ann tells her that Lou and Ruth are in solitary and that they are to be charged with attempted murder and posession of drugs. She also apologises to Myra for what she's been through. Joan goes to solitary to gloat but Ruth warns her that there will be a contract out on her for her double-cross. Willie starts to make a speech to encourage the women to vote her onto the Council. Jenny's case makes the television news, and is watched by the women in the rec room. Arnie Ballinger talks on the phone to Costello and Fellowes: he says he will be arranging for "professionals" to get Ruth out, then they can decide what to do about Joan. Ettie promises Lexie that if she needs money when she is released, she has onlt to ask. Jenny refuses to eat the meal brought to her in solitary, and starts to whine that she didn't do it. Meg takes Jenny to her cell but has to wake Ettie who is taking a nap on her bed: Ettie immediately realises she's "the one who bashes old ladies for their money" and can't get out of the cell fast enough. The doctor warns Nora he needs to know the father's blood type as she is rhesus negative: she sighs and looks anguished. The women give Jenny a hard time when she comes to the rec room for the first time, so she runs away and returns to her cell, where Alice is helping herself to Jenny's things. She doesn't make matters any better by lagging to Dennis at the first opportunity. Joan tells Lou that Ruth double-crossed her and she was never going to get out anyway. Ann speaks to Jenny and fills her in about the no-lagging rule. Jenny is given permission to go to her grandmother's funeral, if she is accompanied by an officer. Nora admits she doesn't want her baby's father to know about her pregnancy, but is persuaded she has to for her baby's sake. Jenny runs out of the dining room when the women pick on her again. Terri is a little short with Joan and tells her she's confused about her role in Joan's life: they agree to go to dinner when they are both free. Alice finds out her trial date is set for tomorrow. Alice finds Jenny playing the pianola in the rec room and slams the piano lid on her fingers. Nora follows Jenny back to her cell and bandages her hands. Pippa starts to feel guilty about the way she treated SImon. May tells the women she had gatecrashed a party at Mrs Hartley's house to case it, and she thought Mrs Hartley was a "tight-fisted bitch". Lou returns from solitary. Men in camouflage gear outside the perimeter fence after dark. Julie, Willie, Alice, Ettie and Myra are elected to the Council. The siege begins when the men scale the outer fence, garrott one of the gate guards, and shoot the other. The terrorists enter reception as Joyce is on the phone  : she turns round to find a gun practically up her nose.
Mark Caffrey comments: Just a thought...is the woman who passes by Costello's office in 549 actually the fantastic Marilyn Rodgers? She looks familiar! |
EPISODE 550Broadcast on Ulster Monday 22nd September 1997 23:10; Meridian Tuesday 14 July 1998; Channel 5 Saturday 02 October 1999 04:45. The women are forced to face up to armed mercenaries who have invaded the prison complex to rescue Ruth. After long hours of tense negotiations, the armed gang announce that a woman is to be shot at dawn unless the police comply with their demands.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 Lou ~ Louise Siversen Julie ~ Jackie Woodburne Ettie ~ Lois Ramsay Jenny ~ Jenny Lovell Pippa ~ Christine Harris Alice ~ Lois Collinder Tammy ~ Gloria Ajenstat Det Insp Grace ~ Terry Gill Ram ~ Robert Hughes Al ~ Gerard Kennay Max ~ Murray Fahey Jay ~ Conor McDermottroe Detective ~ James Patrick Fed. Cop No 1 ~ Scott Lucey Fed. Cop No 2 ~ Chris Hallam Fire Officer ~ Mark Rowan Fireman No 1 ~ Anthony Christie Fireman No 2~ Mark Gogall Gate Guard ~ David Blackman House Owner ~ Nick Burke Marksman No 1 ~ Helmut Jensen Marksman No 2 ~ John Steele You'd have thought Marksman 1 & 2 might have been these two fellows | Joan is just unlocking a security gate when she hears Joyce being led along the corridors by the terrorists in their search for Ruth. Joyce is claiming she doesn't know where Ruth is, possibly as a tactic to delay the gang as long as possible. Joan sets off the riot alarm and the fire alarm for good measure: she urges the women to go back to their cells for their own safety. Myra realises that something must be seriously wrong and tells the women to do as Joan says. Just outside solitary, Joyce realises she's left her keys in reception: Ruth waits anxiously in silence. Ettie sees a man with a machine gun through a high window in her cell (though it seems ungallant that the youngsters Lexie or Julie didn't climb up instead of her). The women speculate that someone must be trying to escape. One of the terrorists brings back Joyce's keys, much to her relief as the leader has threatened to shoot her if they aren't found. Joan tries to get out through the kitchen, but a fourth member of the gang is outside. The gang take the women out of their cells and line them up to try to find out what Joyce cannot tell them: Lou obliges and tells them that Ruth is in solitary. The leader, Ram, decides that the women should be locked in the rec room. The fire brigade arrive and find the dead gate guard, so they call the police. Two of the gang return from solitary with Ruth. Joan goes for one of the terrorists, but Ram subdues the women with a warning gunshot in the air. Joan and Joyce are locked in the rec room with the women. Ruth leads the terrorists towards the kitchen, but they see the police have (already!) immobilised the getaway car by removing the car keys which have thoughlessly been left in the ignition. A gun fight ensues between the gang and the police, which drives the gang back inside. Ann is called at home by the police and she decides to go to the prison. May tries the pick the lock on the rec room door, but the gang returns and one of them is set as an armed guard to make sure the women don't try anything. Dennis and Meg hear about the incident at prison on the TV at home. Nora and Daphne get the guard Max to take them to the toilet block while the other stands guard. May suggests to Myra they might try to distract the terrorists by getting someone to flirt with them: Lexie looks like the best option. Inspector Grace phones the prison staff room and speaks to Ram, the leader, on the phone: he tells Inspector Grace they are coming out and have two officers as hostages. Lexie agrees to be decoy and offers the guard a game of cards. Myra kicks him in the stomach. Lou goes for his gun, but Ram returns, lets off a burst of gunfire and threatens to blow Lou's head off unless she leaves the gun where it is. Joyce has to take off her uniform for Ruth to wear and the gang leave with Joan as a hostage. The terrorists try to get out of the prison through reception, but one of them is shot by a police marksman and finished off by Ram. Joan runs back inside and tries to locks them out of reception, but they shoot through the door. Ram punches Joan in the face  to show her who's boss. Ram tells the gang they will wait for daylight to make their next move. The Federal Police want to prolong the siege to take Ruth alive and possibly get more information from her: Ann protests and Grace suggests they call in special operations. Joan tries to make an escape from the staff room, but is hit in the face with a rifle. Ruth stops Ram killing her  , saying she wants the pleasure for herself, so Joan is dumped back in the rec room. Inspector Grace phones the prison again with a proposition: the gang will be allowed to go free if they hand Ruth over. Ram makes his own demands in return, including a jet for them to get away. Ettie starts up the community singing as Ram returns: he says he has told the police he will shoot one of them each hour until they agree to his demands: he demonstrates (with an unloaded pistol) on Jenny after drawing a crude target on her forehead  .
The extras enjoy themselves hugely in this episode: "Tina" for instance lets out a "scream" that sounds more like a shriek of girlish glee. Ruth says they have "thirty" hostages, but there are only two officers and eighteen prisoners in the rec room. |
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