EPISODE 686Broadcast on Westcountry Thursday 9th October 1997 23:45; Channel 5 Saturday 27 January 2001 04:40. Spider pushes Rita too far. Rodney is out to get Lisa, and Kath's escape might be in a pine box. Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Joan ~ Maggie Kirkpatrick Ann ~ Gerda Nicholson Joyce ~ Joy Westmore Rita ~ Glenda Linscott Alice ~ Lois Collinder Kath ~ Kath Hood Rodney ~ Philip Hyde Marty ~ Michael Winchester Spider ~ Taya Straton Spike ~ Victoria Rowland Vicki ~ Rebecca Dines Brumby ~ Sheryl Munks Pat Slattery ~ Dorothy Cutts Martha Dimmock ~ Annie Ryall  Matt Denson ~ Ross Thompson Dr Lunn ~ Denzil Howson  Sister Morgan ~ Mary-Rose Casey Bob Burton ~ Jeff Kovski  Bartender ~ Hardy Stow  Newscaster ~ Jennifer Keyte Rodney recovers Lisa's file from the drawer marked A-K. Sloppy filing... Thanks to Dave Siddons for pointing out that it has been subtly amended. It would look odd if we saw Nikki Paull's photo, but even so Lisa's hair wasn't "BROWN" Thanks to Vicky for transcribing these credits from the Westcountry broadcast in 1997. | Joyce searches Joan, telling her that she won't let her intimidate her again. Ann orders Rodney to replace Brumby's tape recorder which he broke in a rage and warns him not to return to work until he calms down. Vicki runs to the rec room saying she's seen the Freak in uniform but no-one believes her. Ann makes it plain she doesn't want Joan back and will put in a report on her every mistake. Joan taunts the women, asking them if they missed her. Rita stands up to her, but starts to feel ill again. Kath hears on the radio that Merle is in Ingleside but Matt won't let her phone to check. Rodney studies Lisa's file. Kath tries to phone while Matt is outside, but he returns with an axe to warn her not to be so foolish. Spike decides to phone Marty to ask him to go and see Merle to get information on the escape, but Meg answers and tells her Marty has gone away on holiday. Rita collapses: the doctor asks for a blood sample to be taken and for Rita to be transferred to hospital for tests. Spider and Vicki trash Rita's cell to find her key, but when they find nothing Spider takes some family photos instead. Joan catches Spike and Alice talking to Brumby in the punishment cell and orders them back to their cells. Joan suggests a way Rodney can get back at Lisa. Rita doesn't want to be held in the infirmary overnight after her tests and persuades the sister to ask for permission for her to be sent back to her cell. Spider asks Joan for protection from Rita if she uses what she has over Rita. Spike phones Marty and this time manages to speak to him to suggest he goes to see Merle. Rita comes out of the infirmary and Alice tells her that Spider has her photos. Joan overhears about the key and puts Rita on a charge. Rita hands the key over to Joan, Spider rips up Rita's photos anyway and Rita collapses again. Joan calls Ann back to Wentworth and gives her the key. Matt puts a key-ring on the door-handle outside the room where Kath is sleeping so he can hear her if she tries to get out during the night, and phones his brother for instructions what to do next. Kath overhears and realises they intend to kill her. He hears the keys drop and knows that Kath has been listening. As Joan locks her in for the night, Spider shouts to the other women that she has been told she is to be transferred to Barnhurst. Ann asks for Rita's help in improving conditions, but she says she is very weak. Rodney looks for Bob, a contact given him by Joan to do the job on Lisa. Vicki is upset that Spider is leaving, but Spider is unable to be acknowledge they are even friends. Ann is goaded by Joan's insults including a snide implication that she is showing favouritism to Rita because of her "bikie boyfriend". Ann lands a resounding slap on Joan's cheek  , but Joan is not cowed  and takes the remark back - of course, she really meant Ann's "ex bikie boyfriend". |
EPISODE 687Broadcast on Westcountry Monday 13th October 1997 23:45; Channel 5 Sunday 28 January 2001 04:40. Kath escapes from her minders. Rita receives some shattering news.Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Joan ~ Maggie Kirkpatrick Ann ~ Gerda Nicolson Rita ~ Glenda Linscott Alice ~ Lois Collinder Kath ~ Kate Hood Merle ~ Rosanne Hull-Brown Rodney ~ Philip Hyde Marty ~ Michael Winchester Lisa ~ Terrie Waddell Spike ~ Victoria Rowland Brumby ~ Sheryl Munks Vicki ~ Rebecca Dines Off. Slattery ~ Dorothy Cutts Tom Lucas ~ John McTernan  Terry Denson ~ Robert Ratti Matt Denson ~ Ross Thompson Doctor Lunn ~ Denzil Howson  Policewoman ~ Patricia Anthony Orderly ~ Peter Boland  UNCREDITEDIngleside Gate Guard , Female Ingleside Worker  The attempts to disguise Terrie Waddell's pregnancy | Meg warns Ann that Joan may try to goad her into hitting her in front of witnesses. Ann tells Meg the next two for the reward flat are Brumby and Vicki: she explains it would be a good opportunity for them to make up now that Spider has left. Ann orders Rodney to publicly hand over the new tape recorder to Brumby, but Ann makes sure the women accept that he is being generous. Rodney finds out too late that it was the Department who were reponsible for paying for a replacement tape recorder. Kath tries to sneak out while Matt is on the phone to Terry, and makes a run for it after she is shot in the arm (or pretends to be). Ann announces she will be making tours of the work areas unescorted. Terry goes after Kath with a gun, and he manages to spot her running through the trees. Marty visits Merle in Ingleside, and finds her heavily sedated. Through her rambling, he manges to work out that Kath drugged Spike with a chocolate. Kath is cornered and held at gunpoint: she tells Terry that Merle knows everything and will reveal it if anything happens to her. Marty has brought Merle a comic, which seems to pacify a little. Matt and Terry confer about the threat represented by Merle and decide ring Mr Willis for advice. Despite both doing lots of kitchen duty, Vicki and Brumby are unable to work out what to cook for themselves. Lisa is returned to Wentworth on assault and theft charges: Joan lets Rodney do the induction. Tom Lucas arrives a new teacher for the women: his informal attitudes alarm even Ann and of course Joan takes an instant dislike to him. Lisa tells Ann that she was framed by Rodney, but her charges are unsupported so Ann cannot follow it up. Mr Willis phones back to tell Matt that Merle is certainly no threat to them. Realising she is in danger, Kath turns Matt's gun on Terry and shoots him in panic, then makes Matt hand over her getaway disguise. Tom is introduced to the women and immediately challenges Rita to a bench press contest. Joan calls in her favour with Rodney and demands his help to fix the women who stopped her getting a job. As Alice feared, Rita is too weak to continue with the bench presses. Spike apologises to Lisa for getting her into trouble, though Lisa doesn't bear her any grudges. Kath poses as Meg (not in that wig  , which might just pass as Joyce) and gains access to Merle at Ingleside. Merle rejects Kath  and her shouting draws the attention of the hospital staff who catch Kath. Dr Lunn tells Ann that Rita has non-Hodgkins lymphoma, a form of cancer. |
EPISODE 688Broadcast on Westcountry Thursday 16th October 1997 23:45; Channel 5 Saturday 03 February 2001 04:40. Rita struggles to come to terms with her inevitable death. Kath has nothing left to live for and attempts suicide.Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Joan ~ Maggie Kirkpatrick Ann ~ Gerda Nicolson Rita ~ Glenda Linscott Alice ~ Lois Collinder Kath ~ Kate Hood Merle ~ Rosanne Hull-Brown Rodney ~ Philip Hyde Marty ~ Michael Winchester Lisa ~ Terrie Waddell Spike ~ Victoria Rowland Brumby ~ Sheryl Munks Vicki ~ Rebecca Dines Off. Radcliffe ~ Marion Dimmick Tom Lucas ~ John McTernan Doctor Lunn ~ Denzil Howson Harry Grosvenor ~ Mike Bishop Detective ~ Peter Sinclair  Male Attendant ~ Peter J Murphy Gate Guard ~ David Le Page UNCREDITEDMatt Denson ~ Ross ThompsonMarty refers to "Christine Dunn". Erm, wasn't it Ditton? Tom is irritating enough without such failed bad taste humour as "I've been through more doctors than the Nuremberg Trials". | Rita is brought to the Governor's office to be told her diagnosis, but she refuses both medication and even the offer of an arranged pardon. Spike is delighted with the news of Kath's recapture as it may help her case, but Brumby looks a little nervous. Rita pushes Joan out of her cell when she tells her to return to work. Joan storms in to see Ann and demand that she is punished, so Ann has to tell her of Rita's illness. This stops even Joan in her tracks, for a moment, but she argues back that it would be bad for discipline to keep someone inside who has nothing to lose. Marty comes to Wentworth to see Meg: she orders him to leave and threatens to have him arrested for trespassing. Alice is worried about Rita, especially when she wrecks her cell and dashes away into the garden. Meg allows Alice to go and talk to her in the grounds  : Rita tells Alice that she's going to die, but that she musn't let the other women know. Tom creates a stir by confronting a prison official (one who is supposedly called Pringle) outside his home to try to get Merle transferred back to Wentworth. Marty waits to talk to Kath as she is brought back to Wentworth, but is prevented by the escorting officer. Kath offers her story but only if Ann promises that Merle is got out of Ingleside. As a result, Marty is reinstated and Spike's case is re-opened. Rita disappoints the women by failing to express enough interest in getting back at Kath. Rodney gets the brush-off from Alison by phone while he is at work: she's got her eye on an advertising executive who could get her work in a commercial. Marty sarcastically pretends to Rodney that he got his job back through his mother's influence and offers to work together with him to fill the women with drugs. Rodney realises a little too late that it's a joke. Kath is put in the punishment cell and Vicki and the other women taunt her: she retaliates by revealing Brumby's part in the escape. Joan comes to talk to Rita to warn her that she shouldn't cause trouble, but concentrate her energies on her illness. Spike refuses Brumby's attempts at reconciliation. Tom arranges Merle's transfer and offers to get Rita information on her disease if she has the courage to face up to her situation. Vicki and Brumby go back to the reward flat and threaten to cut off Kath's pigtail  , but they drop the scissors when caught by Rodney and Kath kicks them under her bed. Merle is brought back to Wentworth  and Tom annoys Joan by taking over the induction and deciding which cell she should go in. Rita and Alice are next in the reward flat: Merle visits them but she refuses to acknowledge Kath. Ann urges Rita to have chemotherapy and draws on her own experience with cancer to convince Rita it is worthwhile putting up a fight. Rita sees Kath with the scissors  and realises she is considering suicide. |
Story Editor: Bevan Lee (686); Alison Nisselle (687)-(689)
Script Editor: Morgan Smith (686); Morgan Smith & Neil Luxmoore (687); Morgan Smith (688); Morgan Smith & Neil Luxmoore (689)
Storyliners: Tony McDonald, John Coulter, Bob Greenberg
ITV regional broadcast dates:-
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