EPISODE 576Broadcast on Carlton / LWT Thursday 26 February 1998 23:40; Meridian Monday 26 April 1999 23:25; Channel 5 Saturday 01 January 2000 04:40. David agrees to take Eve's case. Daphne is upset when her mother fails to put in an appearance. Pippa and Ben get engaged. Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Joan ~ Maggie Kirkpatrick Ann ~ Gerda Nicolson Nora ~ Sonja Tallis May ~ Billie Hammerberg Willie ~ Kirsty Child Daphne ~ Debra Lawrance Lexie ~ Pepe Trevor Lou ~ Louise Siversen Julie ~ Jackie Woodburne Jenny ~ Jenny Lovell Eve ~ Lynda Stoner Pippa ~ Christine Harris Terri ~ Margot Knight Ben ~ Kevin Summers David Adams ~ Richard Moss  Cynthia ~ Beverly Dunn Barry Lockwood ~ Bruce Kilpatrick Receptionist ~ Lucinda Cowden | Daphne is told the tests are over, so she doesn't have to go back to the hospital: the doctors report agrees she has a hormone imbalance and she is to get progesterone treatment. Ben meets David Adams for lunch and offers Eve's case to him, but he has scruples about taking on cases he doesn't "believe" in. At an eventful mail call, Lexie gets a letter from Marlene and reads it out, despite the fact that few of her audience will have heard of Marlene, and Nora gets a birthday card - from her mother, who she hasn't heard from for many years. Joan confronts Terri at work: Terri reiterates that their relationship is over and Joan realises that Terri's boss Barry doesn't know about them. Ann warns Ben that she can't allow him to hurt Pippa, even while she agrees that Pippa does need to be taught a lesson. Terri and Joan go for a walk: Terri tells Joan she thinks she is a "weak gutless old woman crawling to her and begging" and that Joan has changed so much she can no longer respect her. Ben tells Daphne her mother is coming to see her: Daphne's face falls as she thought her parents had rejected her. David visits Eve. Lexie is obnoxious to everyone in the laundry. Eve turns on the charm and the tears for David's benefit, and he appears to believe her and agrees to take up her case. May is the only one who knows about Nora being contacted by her mother, but tells her the other women will soon notice how pre-occupied she has become. Pippa delivers some teeshirts for Lexie to do her designs on. Eve attends the class and finds out from Pippa about David's broken marriage. Joan ignores Terri when she knocks on her door begging to be taken back after Barry has rejected her. Pippa tells Ann she's going back to London as she doesn't think Ben is interested in her. Eve gets a hard time from Lou about being a kept woman, and the other women are pretty unsympathetic at her lack of concern for her lover's wife and children. Ann warns Ben about Pippa's travel plans. Joan seems to be back to her usual self at work and threatens to thump Daphne when Lou pushes her so she collides with Joan. Meg's attempts at sympathy reduce Joan to tears. Lou finds her sobbing in a corridor and taunts her  . Meg sees Joan hit Lou, but covers for her. Ben checks the airlines and finds that Pippa hasn't booked a flight. Meg tries to urge Joan not to bottle up her emotions and dredges up some soothing cliches along the lines of "time heals all wounds". None of the women believe Lou's story of Meg backing up Joan. Meg asks Ann if she can send Joan home as she is too upset to deal with the women. Meg denies it when Nora faces her with Lou's allegations: Nora agrees to lie to the women, but says she reckons Meg owes her a favour in future. Pippa comes back home and tells Ann to phone Ben and get him to come over. Joan gets a call from Cynthia demanding to meet her immediately. Daphne is disappointed a second day running when her mother fails to visit. Ann tricks Ben into admitting that he is in love with Pippa so that Pippa can swan in, look smug and anounce they are engaged. Joan meets Cynthia in an underground car park: as usual we do not see her face, but only one (scarred) hand on the steering wheel  . Cynthia tells Joan that Reb Kean is to be transferred to Wentworth after being beaten up and hospitalized, and Cynthia wants her dead.
Big day for Tina Murray: she get two letters at mail call, and mutters "Thanks, Mrs Morris" in gratitude. Brodie's name is also called, but the recipient is off camera, so we can't see who is meant. Lou's allusion to "Whelan the Wrecker" (her nickname for Eve as a marriage wrecker) is puzzling to UK viewers at least. From a couple of references on the Internet, it appears Mr Whelan made his name and fortune in salvage (particularly from shipwrecks?) in the Thirties and Forties. Presumably the Nick Cave song of the same name refers to the same person. |
EPISODE 577Broadcast on Carlton / LWT Thursday 05 March 1998 23:40; Meridian Monday 03 May 1999 23:35; Channel 5 Sunday 02 January 2000 04:40. Mervin tells the women that he must do the contest. The women help Lexie repair the clothing. Lou thinks Reb is faking.Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Joan ~ Maggie Kirkpatrick Ann ~ Gerda Nicolson Joyce ~ Joy Westmore Nora ~ Sonja Tallis May ~ Billie Hammerberg Willie ~ Kirsty Child Daphne ~ Debra Lawrance Eve ~ Lynda Stoner Reb ~ Janet Andrewartha Julie ~ Jackie Woodburne Jenny ~ Jenny Lovell Lexie ~ Pepe Trevor Lou ~ Louise Siversen Ben ~ Kevin Summers Pippa ~ Christine Harris David Adams ~ Richard Moss Pat Slattery ~ Dorothy Cutts Robin Sanderson ~ Michael Cole Mrs Sanderson ~ Jan Lord  Willard Bremner ~ Hugh Halliday  Mrs Graham ~ Dawn Klingberg Mr Graham ~ Ron Pinell Policewoman ~ Carolyn Kennett UNCREDITEDMervin ~ Ernie BourneAlice ~ Lois Collinder Mr Graham does not appear in this episode - or any other. | Lexie puts her teeshirts all over the rec room to dry, much to Lou's annoyance. Nora is still considering what to do about being contacted by her mother. David discusses Eve's case with the prosecuting lawyer, who refuses to do a deal to reduce Eve's charges - mainly it appears due to the point about the missing bullet. Ann fights back the urge to vomit as Pippa and Ben play cute on the sofa right in front of her. Eve finds her cell wrecked, but tries to pretend to Meg that she made all the mess herself. Joan fakes astonishment when she is shown Reb's transfer papers  , but Ann warns her to stay away from Reb. Alice is disgusted with Nora's refusal to do anything about Joan bashing Lou, but Nora points out it would be difficult to undermine Meg's evidence. Mrs Sanderson visits Eve in Wentworth. Julie reports overhearing the officers in reception talking about Reb. Alice fills the women in about Reb and gleefully tells Nora that Reb tricked Myra in to handing over the top dog's job to her. Ben visits Daphne's mother to take her to Wentworth as she has been staying away because of her husband's disapproval. Lou is not pleased by the prospect of Reb's return. Eve tells David she was surprised to hear from Mrs Sanderson that her lover Robin was about to go back to his wife, and throws in a reference to David's own marriage to disconcert him and give her the chance for a bit of flirting. Daphne's mother has to admit to her that her father doesn't know she visiting her. Eve spills a bottle of red nail varnish on her blanket  , prompting her to a flashback of what really happened: she shot  Robin in bed when he told her he was going back to his wife. She pulls his body onto the floor and replaces the sheets. Mervin gives his recipe for Beef Wellington to Willie by mistake at the cookery lesson, so he has to tell the women about the contest he's entered. Eve recovers the nail varnish and lipstick she gave to Lou. Pippa sends Lou out of her printing class when she keeps pestering Lexie. She tells Jenny about her engagement and Jenny announces it to all the women. Joan takes Lou back to her cell, where Daphne's side of the cell has been daubed with cosmetics - the nail varnish matching the colour she is wearing. Reb is brought in: she doesn't recognise Joyce or Meg or seem to know where she is  . Lou attacks Eve, tipping her off her chair in the rec room. Eve pleads her innocence and no-oe believes Lou. Ann thinks Reb is faking with her little girl lost act and puts her to share a cell with Nora. Mervin decides to practice his recipe and amazes Alice and Daphne by saying he needs to start with a roux, as they think he means (kanga)roo. Reb calls Nora "Myra" by mistake and is amazed to find Myra was killed in the Ballinger siege. Ann tells the staff Reb's breakdown and transfer to a mental hospital followed a severe bashing. Lexie returns to her cell to find her teeshirts ruined and dumps them in front of Nora to demonstrate how little faith she has in the Council to do anything about Lou. Julie persuades Lexie to ask the women for help in fixing up her handiwork. Lou and Alice drop in on Reb. Alice is convinced Reb isn't faking, but Lou sees her looking in the mirror, turning up her collar and combing her hair, just like the old Reb. We are shown Reb's bewildered reflection in the mirror  .
When Reb gets confused over Nora's identity, a subliminal flash of Myra at the washbasin Mark Caffrey comments "One of the documents about Reb that Meg and Ann are looking at is in fact a treatment for Prisoner or 'Women in Prison'." |
EPISODE 578Broadcast on Carlton / LWT Thursday 12 March 1998 23:40; Meridian Monday 10 May 1999 23:30; Channel 5 Saturday 08 January 2000 04:10. After Lou admits sabotaging Lexie's garments, the two get into a fight which Nora has to put a stop to. Reb faints when she suddenly remembers that Joan tried to kill her. Mervin wins the cookery contest.Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Joan ~ Maggie Kirkpatrick Ann ~ Gerda Nicolson Joyce ~ Joy Westmore Nora ~ Sonja Tallis May ~ Billie Hammerberg Willie ~ Kirsty Child Daphne ~ Debra Lawrance Eve ~ Lynda Stoner Reb ~ Janet Andrewartha Julie ~ Jackie Woodburne Jenny ~ Jenny Lovell Lexie ~ Pepe Trevor Lou ~ Louise Siversen Mervin ~ Ernie Bourne Pippa ~ Christine Harris Ben Fulbright ~ Kevin Summers Bob Michaels ~ Paul Makin  Floor Manager ~ Geoff Graham  Francois Capri ~ Steven Smith  Jonathon Edgely ~ Richard Aspel  Mr Somerville ~ Gary Daniels Young Man ~ David Peatfield Special Appearance by: Pippa and Ben Fulbright do not appear in this episode Lexie says the teeshirts are to be photographed (rather than sold), so why didn't she just give them the designs rather than finished garments? | Lexie appeals to Joan to let her do some work to fix up the teeshirts and Nora has to threaten to use her phone call to contact the Governor before Joan will relent and let them use the laundry. Joyce regards the cookery contest as already won and looks forward to her new microwave - until she tastes Mervin's practice run. The women help Lexie clean up and repair her T shirts. Reb meets the women and mistakes Willie at the piano for Judy: Lexie can hardly believe that the withdrawn young women is the Reb she's heard so much about. Reb leaves the rec room in confusion and meets Joan for the first time since her return to Wentworth. Joan tells Reb her father is dead, but Reb has no idea what she's talking about. Nora makes Lou admit she damaged Lexie's teeshirts, and demands she comes to help fix them, but Lou just laughs in her face. Lexie doesn't feel she got a satisfactory result in the limited time she has, and Julie has to remind her how ungrateful she is being. Reb finds out from Nora some of the things she did when she was last in Wentworth, and is warned to stay away from Joan. Willie takes over the kitchen for the day: Reb is brought to do kitchen duty and asks where Ray is. Nora tells Lou why she won't bash her: she claims she is afraid of going too far. Mervin has a fit from the stress, thus delaying his appearance at the cookery contest. His opponents are a French chef who's won the competition twice before and a Englishman who's worked at the famed "Bon Appetit" in Paris. The host of the TV programme makes stale jokes about "porridge" and the like. Nora invites Reb to try the press, which reminds her of the time her head was under it by Myra. She runs out of the laundry and finds the staircase where Joan pushed her over and looks back to see (or imagine) Joan following her up  . Nora and May find her unconscious on the landing. The celebrity Peter Russell-Clarke has a chat to Mervin and tells him that "Francois" actually comes from Ballarat. Reb explains what she saw on the staircase to Nora, who takes it literally and tells Meg. Reb's accusation is reported to Ann in Joan's presence: for a moment Joan looks nervous, until she finds out the incident is supposed to have taken place a half hour ago, and she is able to point out that she has been in the Governor's office all the time. When she is questioned by Ann, Reb asks to be sent to Blackmoor, but Ann has to tell her the women there tried to kill her. Mervin wins the cookery contest over his snooty "English" and "French" rivals. Meg finds out from Reb's file that as well as a long history of physical ill-treatment (broken collarbone, ribs, arms, legs and a ruptured spleen) she was given ECT twenty seven times in the eight weeks following her nervous breakdown. |
I withdraw my previous suggestion that the hulking form at the piano when Reb thinks she sees Judy 
might not be an old shot of Betty Bobbitt but rather a stunt person in a grey wig. The clutter on the table in front of the piano and the noticeboard above it do look different from the way they are in the current episode 
, but thanks to David de Menna for suggesting and Mark Caffrey for confirming that the shot is from (526) when Dennis shouts at Judy for not listening when called. The brief shot when Reb imagines her head under the press does seem to be the actual shot from episode (506), but it doesn't include anyone else but Reb.
The intercut flashes to represent Reb's memory of Joan's attempt to push her off the catwalk do seem to come from episode (485) - Joan is wearing a uniform with trousers, which was standard at that time.
The shots representing Reb's memory of being beaten at Blackmoor are wierd. The uniform seems to be a navy boiler suit, and whoever it is hitting her, it clearly isn't Cynthia Leach, at least to judge from the flicked back blonde hair 
. The black leather gloves worn by the assailant fit the bill though, and Reb is shown without the lighter highlights in her hair.
EPISODE 580Broadcast on Carlton/LWT Thursday 02 April 1998 23:40; Meridian Monday 24 May 1999 23:25; Channel 5 Saturday 15 January 2000 04:10. There's mystery over Nora's mother and a surprise for Lexie. David is falling further into Eve's trap.Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Joan ~ Maggie Kirkpatrick Ann ~ Gerda Nicolson Joyce ~ Joy Westmore Nora ~ Sonja Tallis May ~ Billie Hammerberg Willie ~ Kirsty Child Daphne ~ Debra Lawrance Eve ~ Lynda Stoner Reb ~ Janet Andrewartha Julie ~ Jackie Woodburne Jenny ~ Jenny Lovell Lexie ~ Pepe Trevor Lou ~ Louise Siversen Mervin ~ Ernie Bourne Alice ~ Lois Collinder Ben ~ Kevin Summers Pippa ~ Christine Harris David Adams ~ Richard Moss Adrian Foster ~ Peter Dunn Berryl Simmonds ~ Jennifer Jarmen-Walker  Mrs Davis ~ Rosie Sturgess  Jim Barry ~ Iain Murton  Nurse ~ Michelle Rowan Doctor ~ Mark Gogall | Joan follows Reb to her cell and to push Reb to suicide by taunting her about her brother's death and her attack on Phyllis. Nora interrupts having followed Joan, and tells Reb to forget Joan's suggestion that Reb should take her own life to pay back for the lives she ruined. Pippa shows off her engagement ring to the women. Eve asks Pippa about David, as she is worried that he hasn't been in contact. Nora tells Meg she has been contacted by her mother and asks if she will go and see her, as the letter says her mother will be leaving the country in a few days. Joyce gets a phone call to tell her that her husband Norm has had a heart attack, and leaves for the hospital. She and Mervin meet Norm's girlfriend Beryl who is also waiting at the hospital. Norm asks to see Joyce, but only one visitor at a time is permitted meaning that Mervin and Beryl are left together outside the hospital room. Beryl is upset that Norm was still in love with Joyce and talked about her all the time. David has dinner with Pippa and Ben: he admits to Ben that he has been avoiding the prison as he is falling in love with Eve. Lexie reads out Julie's article about Reb, but Nora tells them they can't use it as it won't help Reb to be reminded of her past. Norm has another heart attack and Joyce and Beryl comfort each other after they are informed of his death. Lexie tells Julie she's entered her for the beauty contest, and refuses to take it back, saying that Julie will have to do it herself. Norm's son Jim arrives and makes clear that he disapproves of Mervin, calling him a "spineless prat". Ann gives approval for the prize money for the beauty contest and agrees to let the women to wear their own clothes. Jim seems to blame Joyce for his father's unhappiness, but Joyce cuts him short when he starts to criticise Mervin. David tells Eve he has found another solicitor to take her case, but Eve persuades him he must carry on with it and tells him she loves him. Jenny is slightly shocked by Eve's cynical attitude to manipulating men through sex, and shyly confesses she is a virgin. David finds out more about Eve from her original solicitor after a squash match: Adrian Foster tells David he thinks Eve was bad for Robin Sanderson and thinks it's possible that Eve killed him. Daphne's appeal is to begin next day, but Ben tells her she won't have to appear in court straight away. Lou suggests to Alice that they start a book on the contest but increase their odds by disposing of the likely winners. Alice is slightly worried that she means permanently, and points out with remarkable equanimity that she is already serving a sentence for Sam Greenway's death thanks to Lou. The newspaper comes out as Pippa arrives for another class: she is outraged by the article on Reb and asks to take a copy home. Meg visits the address given her by Nora, but is told by Mrs Davis that Nora's mother Mrs Gibson died two weeks ago. Mrs Davis agrees to visit Nora, but when she goes back in the house another woman's voice can be heard calling for her: Mrs Gibson is still alive. May tells the women about the time she saw the Mona Lisa in Paris. Daphne offers to get the article on Reb by passing it to her mother. David falls asleep at his desk and dreams about Eve, but wakes with a guilty start when it starts to get a bit steamy. Pippa shows Ben the article on Reb, but he isn't interested in taking on another case. Meg tells Nora about her mother's death. With all the long lost mothers around, Lexie can't be left out and makes the apparently preposterous claim that she recognizes her mother from a newspaper photograph of her and her husband  : but, as Willie points out, they are Lord and Lady Brooke-Giddings...
By not showing the actual deathbed scene, the writers manage to avoid using Norm in this episode... Lexie objects to "Hagen and the Freak" judging the beauty contest and "perving on them" - is this an implication that Di is a dyke too? |
Story Editor: Coral Drouyn
Script Editor: Alister Webb (576); Marie Trevor & Alister Webb (577); Kit Oldfield (578); Alister Webb (579); Kit Oldfield (580)
Storyliners: Coral Drouyn, Tony McDonald, John Coulter, Kelly Bermingham
| (571) to (575) |
