EPISODE 641Broadcast on Channel 5 Saturday 19 August 2000 04:45. Kath turns Wentworth into a casino, while Rita finally sees a way to kill the Freak. Ann ~ Gerda Nicolson Joan ~ Maggie Kirkpatrick Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Joyce ~ Joy Westmore Marty ~ Michael Winchester Rodney ~ Philip Hyde Rita ~ Glenda Linscott Lexie ~ Pepe Trevor Alice ~ Lois Collinder Nancy ~ Julia Blake Kath ~ Kate Hood Lorelei ~ Paula Duncan Roach ~ Linda Hartley Merle ~ Rosanne Hull-Brown Vicki ~ Rebecca Dines Capt. Muldern ~ Keith Eden Sist. Hall ~ Gael Andrews Health Off. ~ Niall O'Donell Delia ~ Desiree Smith Mick ~ Nick Carrafa | Rodney tells the women in the laundry to stop work and go to the rec room immediately. Kath's suspicions are aroused when he says that Roach, who's on skip duty, shouldn't touch any of the linen from maternity: however Kath is more concerned about whether Roach will be able to hide the casino equipment in time. Lexie is returned to her cell, and is later told by Ann that she'll be staying in H block rather than returned to maternity. Captain Muldern is a hard taskmaster and tells Rita and the women off for messing about. Alice finds some rum while making a drink in the kitchen but realises the Captain has taken a fancy to her  . Lorelei is assigned to look after Lexie in her cell, though the women are disturbed to hear they will all be tested to see if they have been infected  . Merle comes across masked and white suited men disinfecting the corridors  . Rodney comes to the harbour to bring the women on work release back to Wentworth to be tested. Kath sets up a casino in the rec room and proves to Rita that it can be dismantled immediately when Rodney passes by on patrol. Marty and Delia share out the women's first buyup  for three months. Alice is delighted at her success on the roulette wheel, as well as a bit surprised that Kath paid up. Kath offers Joan a cut of the proceeds of the gambling, but Joan warns her not to bribe her so openly in future and hedges on whether she will give Kath protection in return. Roach is told she's taking Lorelei's place on the work release scheme. Kath won't let Alice cash in her buyup chocolate for (roulette) chips, but she obviously finds some cash from somewhere as she is seen betting later. Alice tries to take her chips back while the roulette wheel is still spinning, but Kath sets Merle on her. Rita lets Kath know she disapproves of the way she's using Merle, but Kath assures her Merle is in no danger of being put in and institution. Lorelei tries to dissuade Joan from supervising work release, as she fears that Rita will try to carry out her threat but makes matters worse. Nancy also sticks her oar in and pleads with Rita not to take revenge against Joan. Kath has to calm Merle down as she is feeling guilty for hurting Alice. During a break in the work experience next day, Rita plots with Alice and Roach to keep Nancy out of her way and Roach is to persuade Mick to take the boat out in the bay. Rodney catches Merle playing with the roulette wheel, confiscate sit and hauls her off to the Governor but Kath stops him. Rita and Alice cast off from the moorings and Mick pretends to Joan that he's been told by the Captain to try out the engines. Kath offers Rodney a deal - she will set it up so that he can catch some of the other women gambling. He hands her back the roulette wheel. |
Many thanks to Scott Carson, who tells us what happened at this point during the original run in Adelaide (Southern Australia):
At episode 641 (when they all go out to sea), they stopped Prisoner screening at its weekly evening timeslot and the following week started from episode 1, 5 days a week at the 1pm timeslot! This went on for about 8 months when eventually they stopped screening the early episodes and recommenced episode 642 (without any publicity) at 11pm and took nearly another year to get to the finale. Weird thing was that towards the end (around 670) the network went overboard promoting the finale and increased the screening to three times a week until the last episode (screened the day before Xmas)
EPISODE 644Broadcast on Channel 5 Sunday 27 August 2000 04:40. Joan is still missing, Rita ends up in solitary and Kath takes advantage of the situation.Ann ~ Gerda Nicolson Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Mervin ~ Ernie Bourne Marty ~ Michael Winchester Delia ~ Desiree Smith Rodney ~ Philip Hyde Kath ~ Kate Hood Merle ~ Rosanne Hull-Brown Lexie ~ Pepe Trevor Lorelei ~ Paula Duncan Vicki ~ Rebecca Dines Nancy ~ Julia Blake Rita ~ Glenda Linscott Alice ~ Lois Collinder Peter McCormack ~ Steve Bastoni Dani McCormack ~ Sarah Machin Tanya Fellows ~ Elizabeth Rogers  Ronnie Kennedy ~ Lyn Ford Angela Hopkins ~ Rosie Lalevich  Gate Guard Roger ~ Bryon Dolan Mr Watkins ~ Bruce Crowl UNCREDITEDJoan ~ Maggie Kirkpatrick (possibly because she only appears at the end?)"Mr Watkins" is credited in error - he doesn't appear until (646). There is no gate guard in this episode. | Rodney overhears the women's conversation in solitary, but Nancy hears his keys clinking and warns the others to be quiet. Kath collects protection money from a reluctant Ronnie. Lorelei pays up too, and Lexie finds she has to pay "for two". Delia tries to find out from Mervin if he's heard anything from Joyce about the trainees' permanent placements. Kath asks Rodney to put a note in Rita's food in return for information about what happened on the boat trip. Ann points out to Meg that Joan's disappearance won't look good on Delia and Marty's records. Lorelei sets up a swap shop: junk in return for cigarettes and of course everyone wants to join in, even though it puts Kath's nose out of joint. Kath tells Merle to put furniture polish in all three meals for solitary. Rodney baits Marty and Delia about what they will put in their reports on the work experience. Mervin sends the doctored meals to isolation instead of solitary. Merle follows and bumps into Tanya, knocking her flying and sending the meals onto the floor. Marty asks Rita what happened to Joan: she says she left Joan alive and hopes she comes back. Kath assures Merle she did the right thing by stopping the meals getting to isolation. Delia brings some tarts Mervin has made for a surprise party for Mervin, and Lexie has drawn a special card for her, depicting "Captain Merle-velous"  . Rodney ignores a direct order from Ann not to let Nancy know that her son Peter is coming to visit her and swaps the news for information about Joan. Peter arrives for his visit and threatens to contact the press when he is forbidden to see his mother  . Rita finds out that the reason Nancy is so upset is because Rodney has told her Peter had come to visit and been refused. The idea behind Lorelei's party is to get Merle to change sides: after initial mistrust she is delighted. Rita demands to see Ann, and tells her about Rodney's deal with Nancy. While Rita is in her office, Ann receives a call from the Minister authorising Peter's visit, as Joan has been found alive. Merle notices that Lexie has drawn a little dog in one corner of her card: it is Pocco  . Vicki alerts Kath to Lorelei's attempt to befriend Merle. Nancy is in for a few surprises when she sees Peter: he tells her that he is married, and that his new wife Danielle is pregnant. Rodney denies making any promises to Nancy, but Ann makes it clear she does not believe him. Vicki and Kath push a locker over to distract Delia and drag her away from supervising the party, so they can turn it into a food fight: Merle runs away in tears. Kath makes Merle promise not to make friends with the other women. Nancy is taken back to solitary after her visit, and Rita realises that something funny is going on. Kath realises she has to make a challenge for top dog. Sounds of a helicopter approaching signal Joan's return to Wentworth  . |
EPISODE 645Broadcast on Channel 5 Saturday 02 September 2000 04:40. Kath uses her brains and plenty of brawn to establish herself as the new top dog.Meg Morris ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Marty Jackson ~ Michael Winchester Delia Stout ~ Desiree Smith Rodney Adams ~ Philip Hyde Dani McCormack ~ Sarah Machin Peter McCormack ~ Steve Bastoni Mr Watkins ~ Bruce Crowl Joan Ferguson ~ Maggie Kirkpatrick Rita Connors ~ Glenda Linscott Alice ~ Lois Collinder Nancy McCormack ~ Julia Blake Ann ~ Gerda Nicolson Joyce ~ Joy Westmore Lexie ~ Pepe Trevor Lorelei Wilkinson ~ Paula Duncan Kath ~ Kate Hood Merle Jones ~ Rosanne Hull-Brown Vicki ~ Rebecca Dines Harry McCormack ~ Peter Tabor Sister Hall ~ Gael Andrews (misspelt as Gail) UNCREDITEDMargie Anson ~ Samantha CarterMr Watkins, Harry McCormack, Sister Hall and Peter McCormack appear in (646) not in this episode. The credit sequence is given above exactly as it appears on screen, with the names seemingly taken at random, some with surnames, some without. | Rita, Nancy and Alice are taken from solitary. Lorelei asks Joyce if it was Joan who just arrived by helicopter but gets no answer. Lorelei nevertheless tells Kath she'd better watch out as Joan's return will inevitably mean Rita's release from solitary. Delia and Marty are worried about what Joan will say about them. Kath tells Lexie that Joan will probably press for Rita to be transferred to Blackmoor without anyone seeing her: Lorelei holds Lexie back from attacking Kath. Joan tells Ann she was lucky to find a team of surveyors on the island who radioed for help. When she wants to know what punishment she will be giving Rita and the others, she finds that Ann is unwilling to act without more evidence after the women tell a different story. Kath decides to take over when Vicki tells her that Rita has been sent back to solitary: she sets Vicki on to find out more information about Rita and Alice. Ann asks Joyce to put as many officers on overtime as possible in case there is trouble. Vicki fakes a migraine and is taken to the staff room by Delia as Sister Hall is too busy with the Golden Staph outbreak. Rita finds out about the protection racket from Nancy and declares war on Kath. Vicki passes on the gossip she overhears from the staff room, and says that Rita will be in solitary for a long time. Joyce is invited to feel Lexie's (suddenly much larger) bump to feel for the baby. Kath and Vicki beat up the women, starting with Margie  , to make them support Kath's bid for top dog. After getting a note in her meal, Rita gets the others to make a racket in solitary to let Marty get the credit for quelling it. Rita demands in return that Marty arranges for her to see Joan alone. She tells Joan that if she doesn't get her out of solitary she will tell the VJ that Joan was running away rather than going for help. Joan punches Rita in the stomach and leaves. Lorelei decides to face up to Kath. Joan suggests to Ann that Rita is let out of solitary to defuse the tension building up, but Ann refuses as the matter is now out of her hands especially after her own report. When Lorelei confronts Kath in the gym, Kath takes Merle away from the gym and allows the others to beat up Lorelei after they have left. Rita is upset to hear about Lorelei being beaten up and vows to do something about it when she gets out of solitary. Danielle turns up at Wentworth asking to see Nancy: although she is stopped at the gate, Delia and Marty agree to ask the Governor for permission. Kath rallies her troops  and Vicki privately admits to Kath she thinks it's all been a bit fast. Joan is not pleased to be told there will not be an enquiry, and that Rita and the others will be released from solitary without any charges. Ann warns her not to do anything foolish, like going to the Minister. Kath pleads for Lorelei's support, but she refuses and so does Lexie. Kath tells Lorelei that she cannot guarantee to protect either her or Lexie. Danielle asks Nancy's advice about the rows she is having with Peter and Nancy tries to reassure her. Lexie tries to get out of her exercises when Lorelei comes to the gym to tell her that Rita and the others are out of solitary. Ann tells Marty and Delia that they are to be posted permanently to Wentworth, but she will not tell them what's been decided for Rodney. Kath is ambushed by Rita, and is lifted up with her plait wound around her neck  . |
Story Editor: Gwenda Marsh
Script Editor: Pauline Clayton (641); Neil Luxmoore (642); Ian Smith (643); Pauline Clayton (644); Pauline Clayton and Neil Luxmoore (645)
Storyliners: Tony McDonald, John Coulter, Bob Greenberg
| (636) to (640) |
