EPISODE 551Broadcast on Ulster Monday 29th September 1997 23:35; Meridian Tuesday 28 July 1998 23:40; Channel 5 Sunday 03 October 1997 04:40. The women are unable to overpower the men. Tammy is killed and her body thrown outside. Myra has to select the next victim. 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 Lou ~ Louise Siversen Julie ~ Jackie Woodburne Ettie ~ Lois Ramsay Jenny ~ Jenny Lovell Alice ~ Lois Collinder Tammy ~ Gloria Ajenstsat Det Insp Grace ~ Terry Gill Detective 1 ~ James Patrick Ram ~ Robert Hughes Al ~ Gerard Kennedy Max ~ Murray Fahey SOG leader ~ Roger Nolan  Fed. Cop No 1 ~ Scott Lucey Fed. Cop No 2 ~ Chris Hallam SOG 1 ~ Glenn Ruehland SOG 2 ~ Steve Roper SOG 3 ~ Peter Tandy SOG 4 ~ Roger Stephens SOG 5 ~ David Jackson SOG 6 ~ George Mulov Marksman 1 ~ Helmut Jensen Marksman 2 ~ John Steele Marksman 3 ~ Mal Billings Which SOG is this? | Myra urges the women to stick together and by this she includes the screws. Ram dreams of guns and wakes suddenly with a start  : he catches Max asleep on duty. Max finds Ruth changing the dressing on the gunshot wound in her arm, makes an impertinent remark and gets a slap in the face in return. Myra persuades Ram to unlock the rec room door to give them access to the toilet block and the kitchen. Joyce, Lexie and Lou are ordered to make breakfast for the gang and the rest of the women. As the seven o'clock deadline draws closer, there is further tension between Grace and the Federal Police: their boss has agreed to most of the demands, but doesn't want to give up Ruth and insist on doing nothing. Myra asks for suggestions for ways of defending themselves against the gang. Joan tells the women the police won't want to give up Ruth and tells them about Ruth's child pornography racket. While they are preparing breakfast, Lexie throws hot fat at Al and Lou tries to shoot through the kitchen door. Al overpowers them both. At just after seven o'clock, Ram is given details of the latest deal but he turns it down. Max inadvertently reveals to Ruth that Arnold had allowed them to kill her if they couldn't get her out. When they return with breakfast, the women are appalled by Lexie's injuries. Lou reveals she has taken knives and skewers from the kitchen by hiding them up her sleeves. Alice realises she should be in court this morning. Ram asks for Nora five minutes before the eight o'clock deadline: but he only wants her to dress Al's burns. Nevertheless, he tells the women the police have refused his deal so one of them has to die. Myra gives the signal for the attack: she goes for Ram with a knife while Lou skewers Max in the leg. Myra picks up Ram's gun  , but drops it when he threatens  to use his automatic on them all. As Tammy has picked up the knife Myra dropped and urged Myra to kill Ram, he decides she is to be the first victim. He drags her by her hair into the corridor  and shoots her. Ann is outraged when she hears about the gang's threat to kill someone every hour. Nora tries to give Al an injection of sodium pentathol under the guise of an anti-tetanus shot, but he becomes suspicious and stops her. Grace's insistence that the gang won't go through with their threat is disproved when Tammy's body is thrown outside. Ettie volunteers to be next, but Myra says no-one will volunteer. Dennis and Meg arrive at the prisoner in uniform as if it's just another working day. Grace forces the Federal Police to allow an immediate assault by the special squad. The special assault team get in via the roof and loading bay, but not the kitchen as the door lock is jammed. Julie volunteers to go through the air conditioning ducts from the shower block to alert the police that there are only three armed men inside. Two of the special officers reach the rec room while it is unguarded and they tell Myra to go to the security gate and wait for the other men inside to let them out. Al locks them back in the rec room and tells them he has shot two of the police officers. Unfortunately, all four of the special officers are killed: the Federal Police gloat about the failure of the operation. Julie crawls through the ventilation ducts  and reaches the Governor's office. At nine o'clock, Nora is chosen to be shot next, but Myra protests that he only said he'd kill one person: if he kills Nora he will be taking two lives. Ram shrugs and replies that she will be killed herself instead. Ruth overrules him and suggests that as Myra  is top dog she should be given one minute to choose someone else to die or Nora will be shot after all. |
EPISODE 552Broadcast on Ulster Monday 6th October 1997 23:40; Meridian Tuesday 04 August 1998 23:45; Channel 5 Saturday 09 October 1999 04:40. The siege of Wentworth Detention Centre reaches a bloody climax. Ruth and the armed mercenaries escape, taking Joan as hostage, and more shooting follows at the airport. With only a few moments left to foil the escape plan, Joan makes a life-and-death decision.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 Lou ~ Louise Siversen Julie ~ Jackie Woodburne Ettie ~ Lois Ramsay Jenny ~ Jenny Lovell Alice ~ Lois Collinder Ram ~ Robert Hughes Al ~ Gerard Kennedy Max ~ Murray Fahey Det Insp Grace ~ Terry Gill Bus Driver ~ Gerard Matte  [?]Harry (Driver) ~ Bob Halsall Fed. Cop No 1 ~ Scott Lucey Fed. Cop No 2 ~ Chris Hallam Detective 1 ~ James Patrick Detective 2 ~ Ian Walker Constable ~ Justin Gaffney SOG 7 ~ Wayne Hirst SOG 8 ~ Paul Hunter-Russell  [?]SOG 9 ~ Mark Muggeridge The bus driver doesn't seem to be the credited | Julie manages to get into the Governor's office through the ventilation system and immediately gets an outside line to phone the police. Ruth reviews Myra's options for the person she could choose as the next victim  and sarcastically applauds Nora's "heroic" speech saying that she was chosen first and it should be her. When Myra makes a move to attack Ruth, she decides that Myra should killed. Julie lets Inspector Grace that there are only three terrorists rather than the dozen or so they thought [how are they all supposed to have fitted in the getaway car the police have already seen?] As Ruth demands, Myra is shot in the head in front of the women, in the middle of a speech  asking Nora to get Geoff to look after Kay. Nora refuses to let Myra's body be removed from the rec room, and stands guard over it. Julie makes her way back through the ventilation shaft. Inspector Grace plans the transport to the airfield: he shows Ann a plan of the minibus which has a booby trapped gloved compartment and guns under the back seat. Ann is outraged at his apparent assumption that an officer will be taken hostage. Nora tells the women that Myra started the attack deliberately to make sure she was chosen as the victim and avoid having to choose someone else: Lou snaps back that she'd have found it easy enough to choose someone (with a quick glance at Joan). Max catches Julie climbing down from the ventilation shaft in the shower block. Ram tells Inspector Grace that they have killed another prisoner and four of his officers. Ruth realises that Julie wasn't in the rec room for Myra's killing. The terrorists prepare to leave, taking Ruth and Joan as well as a hostage. Ram orders Max to shoot Julie  , but the women rush him, Nora gets his gun and shoots him with it. Nora stands guard with the gun at the rec room door  in case the men come back to finish them off. The driver lets Grace know there are only four passengers, one less than they were expecting, and the plan is compromised by the fact that Joan's hands are tied. However, the minibus driver hints to Joan where to find the gun. The women hide in the rec room cupboard until the police special operations team arrive. Joyce is upset that she didn't behave more like an officer, but vehemently defends Nora for shooting the terrorist and saving all their lives. Nora refuses to leave Myra's body  and Ann has to talk to her to persuade her to rest. Lou insists she will be the new top dog and tells May not to assume she will be the obvious successor. Alice is taken to court. Ruth notices the driver is going round in circles to play for time: Ram insists they are driven straight to the airfield. Jenny is told she will have to miss her grandmother's funeral as there isn't time to organise transport. Jenny gives a colourful version of the killing of Max which puts Nora under suspicion of murder. Nora packs Myra's things and tells Lou she doesn't care who takes over. Even so, she manages to frighten Lou by reminding her that she has just proved she is capable of killing. Meg defends Nora and points out that Joyce's story doesn't agree with Jenny's. Nora ignores Daphne's distress, assuming that she is just upset over Myra's death. Joan and the driver exchange signals: with the booby trap and the gun, they kill Ram and Al as the minibus arrives at the airstrip. Joan races out of the bus after Ruth and has her at gunpoint  , but Inspector Grace persuades her not to shoot. |
EPISODE 553Broadcast on Ulster Monday 13th October 1997 23:40; Meridian Tuesday 11 August 1998; Channel 5 Sunday 10 October 1999 04:40. Daphne scales the roof and threatens to commit suicide. Nora talks her down. It appears that Joan is destined to meet with an untimely death.Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Joan ~ Maggie Kirkpatrick Ann ~ Gerda Nicolson Joyce ~ Joy Westmore Nora ~ Sonja Tallis May ~ Billie Hammerberg Willie ~ Kirsty Child Dennis ~ Nigel Bradshaw Daphne ~ Debra Lawrance Lexie ~ Pepe Trevor Lou ~ Louise Siversen Julie ~ Jackie Woodburne Ettie ~ Lois Ramsay Jenny ~ Jenny Lovell Mervin ~ Ernie Bourne Alice ~ Lois Collinder Det Insp Grace ~ Terry Gill Detective 1 ~ James Patrick George Costello ~ Peter Stratford Lionel Fellowes ~ Will Deumer Peter Moss ~ Telford Jackson  Off. Hagen ~ Christine Andrew Policewoman ~ Tanya Siminow  Lexie returns to the mugshot credits, taking Myra's place. | Nora goes in search of Daphne, who seems to have gone missing. She realises something is wrong when she finds Daphne's cell wrecked with her plants all over the floor. Inspector Grace tells Ann that Ruth has been sent to Blackmoor, and he and Detective Crabb want to interview the women immediately to make a report to the Minister. Nora accuses Lou of destroying Daphne's plants, but she denies it: Nora realises Daphne could have done it herself. Mervin returns from his mother's sickbed, having heard about the siege. He proposes that he and Joyce should live together. Lou offers round some goods pillaged from Ruth's cell, but no-one will touch them. Jenny warns Nora that they police suspect her of cold-blooded murder, as she is worried that she will be suspected of lagging. Lou puts further suspicion on Nora by telling Inspector Grace the terrorist was surrendering when she shot him. Willie suggests that May should take over as chair of the Council. Mervin asks Dennis if he and Joyce can take over his flat when he moves out to live with Meg. Inspector Grace brings up Nora's previous convictions when he interviews he: she accuses the police of incompetence and that he bears some responsibility himself for the deaths. He later admits to his colleague that he would have been tempted to pull the trigger himself. Costello and Fellowes realise that the only way they can escape Arnold Ballinger's wrath is to get rid of Joan. May asks for the women to be allowed out into the grounds. Ann tells Nora there will be no charges against her, but has to admit the incident might affect Nora's parole. While out in the rounds, Julie looks up  and sees Daphne on the edge of the roof  . Dennis reports it to the Governor, and Nora offers to try to talk her down. She is given permission to try until the police special team arrive and persuades Meg to stay out of sight. Alice is returned to Wentworth on a 10 year sentence for Sam's murder and she isn't impressed by Lou's attempts to talk her round. Jenny sees her lawyer and describes what she remembers of the night her grandmother died: he reminds her of how strong the evidence against her is. He tries to get her to plead guilty to manslaughter, but she refuses. Nora talks Daphne down, or rather "listens" her down as Daphne tells her about her childhood, including being sexually abused by a neighbour, though the appearance of a policewoman on the roof nearly makes Daphne jump. It is only Nora's description of the dinner she'll be missing that makes her turn back. The women read the report of the siege in the paper, but it is mainly about Joan's heroism. Lexie's notices an article about Jenny, saying she was a prisoner in her grandmother's home, but it only convinces the women she must have done it. While Joan sleeps in her butterscotch lounging suit, smoke starts to drift up around the edge of her bed. Dennis gives Meg an engagement ring  , but the moment is spoilt when Dennis gets a phone call to warn him that Frank Burke has escaped and is heading towards Melbourne. Joan is woken by the smoke, but can't get her front door open and she collapses in her hallway trying to phone for help.
According to Meg, Geoff Macrae and Marlene Delaney have phoned the prison after hearing about the siege. Two prisoners called Casey and Thomas are mentioned as the last to be interviewed. The visitor's pass worn by Jenny's solicitor falls off his jacket with a loud pop, and he makes no attempt to pick it up before leaving the visitor's room. |
EPISODE 554Broadcast on Ulster Monday 20th October 1997 23:40; Meridian Tuesday 18 August 1998 23:45; Channel 5 Saturday 16 October 1999 04:40. Joan asks whether Cynthia can do her a favour with regards to Ruth in Blackmoor. Dennis arrives home to find Meg has companyMeg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Joan ~ Maggie Kirkpatrick Ann ~ Gerda Nicolson Joyce ~ Joy Westmore Nora ~ Sonja Tallis May ~ Billie Hammerberg Willie ~ Kirsty Child Dennis ~ Nigel Bradshaw Daphne ~ Debra Lawrence Lexie ~ Pepe Trevor Lou ~ Louise Siversen Julie ~ Jackie Woodburne Ettie ~ Lois Ramsay Jenny ~ Jenny Lovell Mervin ~ Ernie Bourne Frank ~ Trevor Kent Terri ~ Margot Knight Sister Hall ~ Gael Andrews Mrs Goddard ~ Pam Murphy Det Ron Talbot ~ Ian Cumming  Brucie ~ David Berish  Allan Lewis ~ Phil Moye  Det Sgt 1 ~ Ian Walker  Det Sgt 2 ~ Simon West  Off. Radcliffe ~ Marion Dimmick Gloria Scott ~ Andrea Butcher  Ambulance Officer ~ Tony Cornwell  Gate Guard ~ Brad Lindsay Fire Chief ~ John Devlin Fireman ~ Glen Raymond Stake-Out Cop ~ Stewart Lowe Sniper ~ Sam Kaye  UNCREDITEDLionel Fellowes ~ Will DeumerOfficer Slattery (voiceover) ~ Dorothy Cutts Cynthia Leach (voiceover) ~ Beverley Dunn Terri is credited to Margot "Night". Officer Radcliffe and the Gate Guard are not in this episode. | Terri arrives at Joan's house and sees smoke billowing from the roof  . A neighbour armed with a pickaxe tells her he has phoned the fire brigade and he's just going to break in to "save a few things". Joan is found unconscious lying in her hall and is taken outside. The women have somehow heard about Frank's escape, but most of them haven't heard of him: Ettie remembers that he raped Pixie and Lou adds that Frank was fixed by Myra lagging on him, so they shouldn't be turning her into a saint. Nora responds that Lou herself had been doing a bit of lagging herself recently by talking to the police about her shooting the terrorist. Frank hitches a lift with a woman driving a truck. Joan is told that the fire was in her kitchen: she says it must have been a deliberate attempt to kill her. Frank pulls a gun on the woman who gave him a lift and forces her to drive the truck off the road (passing a "ROAD CLOSED" sign that is headed "City of Knox"  ). Terri insists Joan moves in with her, even though Joan tells her it is dangerous for her. Joyce and Mervin settle into their new flat and have a good old bicker when Joyce refers to "her" kitchen. The Council  vote for Nora as their representative at Myra's funeral. Joan phones Fellowes  to offer him a deal, but he won't hear of it. Frank finds a phone booth with a phone book intact (those were the days!) and rips out the page listing the Cruickshanks. As Dennis leaves for work, Frank is watching the flats from a plumber's van  he seems to have stolen. Terri urges Joan to go to the police if her life is in danger. Frank phones the prison and Officer Slattery gives Dennis's flat number when he says he already knows the rest of the address. Julie drops a stack of plates when Ettie swats a fly with a wooden spoon and it sounds like a gunshot. The police don't take Joan's complaint seriously and say they don't have the manpower to put a guard on her. Fellowes sends his incompetent henchman out again and tells him not to come back until Joan is dead. Daphne is to see Dr Weissman: Sister Hall suggests PMS as a possible reason for her erratic behaviour and blames the doctor at Barnhurst, who doesn't believe it exists and therefore wouldn't have diagnosed it. Joan surprises the women by returning to work. Nora challenges her with her failure to kill Ruth and reminds her of her debt to Myra. Daphne starts piano lessons with Jenny. Frank breaks into Dennis's old flat. Ann meets the Council, with Nora and May sitting in for Julie and Myra: she promises to make their views known to the Department, but in return they are expected to keep control of troublemakers. Lexie asks Ettie to lend her some money so she can give Joyce back the money she stole from her. Mrs Goddard comes to visit Jenny and tells her that George the gardener had seen ladder marks under the window the morning before Mrs Hartley was killed. Jenny begs her to take George to the police and repeat his story. While the women are on exercise period, a sniper takes a number of shots at Joan  in the garden, but misses. The police still don't seem to want to do much about it, so Joan phones her friend Cynthia Leach at Blackmoor and asks for Ruth to be roughed up. Frank realises he has the wrong flat and sneaks out while Joyce is busy unpacking. Jenny tells Ann about Mrs Goddard's visit. Dennis comes home to Meg: he notices she is acting strangely  and looks up to see Frank  is pointing a gun at her.
Ettie can only know about Pixie by repute as she first arrived in Wentworth in (514) and Pixie left in (510) Frank helps us settle how Dennis' surname is spelt when he looks through the phone book Mark Caffrey comments: "When Joan arrives at Terrie's place, we can see the same print hanging on the wall that Ruth admired in Ann's office |
EPISODE 555Broadcast on Ulster Monday 27th October 1997 23:40; Meridian Tuesday 25 August 1998 23:40; Channel 5 Sunday 17 October 1999 04:40. Frank is recaptured by the police. Dennis is kneecapped. Joan has Ruth bashed at Blackmoor.Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Joan ~ Maggie Kirkpatrick Ann ~ Gerda Nicolson Joyce ~ Joy Westmore Nora ~ Sonja Tallis May ~ Billie Hammerberg Willie ~ Kirsty Child Dennis ~ Nigel Bradshaw Daphne ~ Debra Lawrence Lexie ~ Pepe Trevor Lou ~ Louise Siversen Julie ~ Jackie Woodburne Ettie ~ Lois Ramsay Jenny ~ Jenny Lovell Alice ~ Lois Collinder Terri ~ Margot Knight Frank Burke ~ Trevor Kent Det Insp Grace ~ Terry Gill Detective Sergeant 1 ~ Ian Walker Peter Moss ~ Telford Jackson Dr Kenny ~ David Robson  Lionel Fellowes ~ Will Deumer Sister ~ Sarah Ryan  Dr Weissman ~ Bryon Williams Police Driver ~ Bill Binks Ambulance Officer ~ Tony Cornwell  Detective Sergeant 2 ~ Simon West Cynthia Leach ~ Beverley Dunn Constable 1 ~ Peter Patay  Constable 2 ~ Bill Fozz  Constable 3 ~ Steve Ahearn  Constable 4 ~ Bill McLorinan Nurse ~ Betina Eijsma  | Frank holds Meg and Dennis at gunpoint and threatens them both. Joan arrives home  to find ambulances and fire engines leaving and is told that a next door neighbour of Terri's has been blown up borrowing her car. Jenny tells Daphne she has thought of a way she can prove her innocence. Lou tries to get back in Lurch's good books by giving her a bar of soap, as she wants to be voted onto the Council in Myra's place. Joan meets Cynthia in a bar and passes her a copy of the file on Ruth for her to give the women in Blackmoor. Frank leeringly considers raping Meg in front of Dennis, but this train of thought is interrupted when Joyce calls on Meg to see if she's going in for the evening shift: Meg sends her away. Frank gets Dennis to phone in sick for Meg. Joan calls Fellowes to tell him what's about to happen to Ruth - he pretends to be unimpressed. Julie tells Lexie she can't stand being inside with her mother suffering in hospital. Meg tussles with Frank for the gun, but he gets it back. Joan sends Terri to live at her parents' place as Joan now has police protection at her own house. Joyce phones Meg to check she's all right: Frank makes Dennis answer  and he pretends to be talking to Inspector Grace. Joyce doesn't get the point, but when she tells Joan about it, Joan realises what this means. Ettie and Julie discuss what they will do when they get out of prison: Ettie wants to use her money to help war veterans or young people. The police interview Lionel Fellowes about the "accidents" that have been happening to Joan. The police led by Inspector Grace arrive at Meg's block of flats just as Frank raises the gun to kill Dennis. Meg lunges at him to deflect the gunshot and Dennis is wounded in the leg. As Meg tries to comfort Dennis, Frank puts the gun to Dennis' other leg and shoots him point-blank in the kneecap. Frank is wounded while trying to escape. He is brought to the same hospital where Meg is waiting for news of Dennis: she sees him and grabs him by the throat until the police haul her off. The women hear about Frank's attack on Dennis on the TV news. Lexie admits to Joyce that she stole the money from her purse. Frank is taken away next day from hospital by van. Joan admits to Ann that she wishes now she had shot Ruth when she had the chance. Willie seems to have been swung to Lou's side by the gift of two packets of biscuits, which sparks off a full-scale communal bicker in the laundry until Nora lowers the temperature with one of her furrowed-brow "we're all in this together" speeches. Daphne sees Dr Weissman and is upset by his personal questions about her periods. Joan and Meg swap condolences about their respective calamities, and Meg passes on a message from Cynthia that her "cousin" has been taken seriously ill and will be in hospital for several days. Lexie passes on the news about Ruth to the women. Jenny's solicitor has bad news for her: Mrs Goddard has been killed in a hit and run accident on her way to the police station and George the gardener has been fired by her Aunt Harriet and is now untraceable. Dennis overhears the doctor tell Meg he may never walk again.
Dr Weissman has grown a rather ill-advised moustache. |
| (546) to (550) |
