PRISONER: EIGHT YEARS INSIDE

Love it or mock it Prisoner has enjoyed enduring popularity in the decades since it was first produced. As with many long running serials, there are different phases a series passes through during its run with different styles and flavours and varying levels of quality. The series is perhaps the world’s only television serial to prove popular in repeated screenings decades after the original episodes were produced, particularly in the UK, despite the series not appearing there until after actual production on the series had almost ceased. Thousands of fans throughout the world devote considerable time energy and money to their love of Prisoner, many religiously retaining videotaped copies of each of the 692 fifty minute episodes originally produced in Australia between November 1978 and September 1986. The series has also spawned several theatrical spin-offs in the United Kingdom which have been successfully staged in several cities there. Shortly after its Australian premiere the series was sold to the US and successfully screened in many areas. It achieved high ratings for a couple of years, but the US saw only the show’s first three years and subsequently it has been largely forgotten there. In the 2000s, all of the 692 one-hour episodes were released on DVD.

Prisoner has stood up remarkably well to criticism over the years and is indeed superior to many similarly produced television serials produced more recently with more time and more money than was available to the Prisoner producers. While much criticism seems to point out that various similar storylines were constantly re-worked throughout the run of the series this is no more the case in Prisoner than with any other series to have such a lengthy run. During its original run in Australia, the series did garner a few good reviews (though many were quite negative) and was regularly applauded for providing meaty roles to talented actresses who were never likely to succeed on looks alone.

1979

THE FIRST TWENTY EPISODES

Prisoner was originally devised by Reg Watson and was intended as a sixteen-part serial with a definite beginning, middle and end. The initial emphasis according to publicity at the time was realism, although entertainment value played a big part too. The original cast basically represented each character type that may well be found in any women’s prison, intentionally ignoring the fact that in reality the vast majority of women prisoners are serving time for drug charges.

THE ORIGINAL PRISONERS

Bea Smith (in for murder - was released March 1979 having served ten years)

Franky Doyle (armed robbery and murder - life sentence)

Karen Travers (murder - life sentence)

Lynn Warner (kidnapping - ten years)

Doreen Anderson (forgery, theft)

Lizzie Birdsworth (murder - had served around twenty years when the series began)

‘Mum’ Brooks (murder - had served 15 years and was due for parole as the series began)

Marilyn Mason (prostitution - sentence of six months)

THE ORIGINAL STAFF

Erica Davidson (Governor)

Vera Bennett (Deputy Governor)

Meg Jackson (Officer)

Dr Greg Miller (Doctor)

The show’s other original regular character was electrician Eddie Cook.

THE INITIAL STORYLINES

The introduction to the series was provided by two naive and relatively innocent young women prisoners entering Wentworth. They arrive during the opening scenes of the first episode and dumbfounded shock quickly escalates to sheer terror as the twosome encounter the horrors of Wentworth: everything from the perfunctory induction to sadistic screws and unwelcoming and dangerous fellow inmates. The horrified newcomers, Karen Travers (Peta Toppano) and Lynn Warner (Kerry Armstrong), are our eyes and our introduction to the strange and unfamiliar Prison and its inhabitants.

Early scenes detail the problems of Karen and Lynn settling into Wentworth. Karen is preyed on by tough lesbian inmate Franky Doyle (Carol Burns) between romantic interludes with her former fiancé, who just happens to also be Wentworth doctor Greg Miller (Barry Quin). Lynn, meanwhile, quickly finds an enemy in tough and unsympathetic “top dog” Bea Smith (Val Lehman) who knows just how to deal with a suspected child kidnapper.

Lynn did have one friend, the wise and forgiving Mum Brooks (Mary Ward). Mum led a quiet and dignified life tending the Wentworth garden while serving a twenty-year sentence for the mercy killing of her terminally ill husband. Mum is soon released and the problems of a long term prisoner entering an unfamiliar and hostile outside world are explored. On a lighter note was a serving of sex and romance in the form of seductive blonde nymphomaniac Marilyn Mason (Margaret Laurence), cunningly enticing the prison electrician Eddie Cook (Richard Moir) into amorous trysts which quickly develop into a cute though sometimes rocky romance.

The officers were not left out of the proceedings with contrasting vignettes featuring sadistic Vera Bennett (Fiona Spence) exploring the person behind the stern facade, while nice officer Meg Jackson (Elspeth Ballantyne) deals both with teenage rebellion and a personal tragedy that underlines most emphatically the concept of giving ones life to the prison service. Patsy King enacted the prim governor Erica Davidson, a progressive but somewhat misguided academic.

Due to the envisioned short run of the series the storylines move along very quickly. These early episodes were extremely well written and produced, and are definitely a far cry from the typically padded out serial fodder of most continuing series. The early scenes have a stilted, almost theatrical feel which actually works very well considering the prison setting. Much of the storyline progression of this period lay with hugely popular character Franky Doyle, detailing her one sided love affair with Karen Travers and her attempts at replacing Bea Smith as top dog of the prison. Finally, with Bea firmly back in place at the helm and the realisation that any relationship with Karen is pure fantasy, Franky stages a daring escape, taking along two previously under utilised members of the original regular cast, Doreen Anderson (Colette Mann) and Lizzie Birdsworth (Sheila Florance). Originally the death of Franky Doyle was to form the conclusion of the series.

TV MOVIE: THE FRANKY DOYLE STORY

Such was the quality and popularity of the program’s early episodes – and the character of Franky Doyle - that the Reg Grundy Organization later produced a TV movie entitled The Franky Doyle Story. The movie did not contain new footage – it was created by editing together key scenes from previously transmitted episodes. However the Reg Grundy Organization hit a major snag with the special when the show’s actors learned they would not be paid for their work being used in the special. They initially assumed they would be paid and when learned they would not, the cast called a stop work meeting. Three hours later, when Reg Grundy Organization had still failed to make an acceptable offer, the actors went on strike.

Grundy executives made an immediate application for an Arbitration Commission hearing in Sydney while the actors chose cast members George Mallaby and Colette Mann to represent them. Mallaby and Mann flew to Sydney to testify before the Arbitration Commission and two officials from Actors Equity spearheaded the actors’ case. The hearing lasted several hours before being adjourned. The following day Grundys agreed to most of the actors’ demands and the cast went back to work, after being on strike for 48-hours, confident there would be no further recompiled TV movies of this type. The incident was publicly reported by TV Week in an article in the magazine’s 7 June 1980 edition, which described the two day strike as having occurred “recently”. The report said the actors considered that the “bits and pieces” method was “parasitical”, with the article surmising their opinion that techniques like this do not create work or jobs… for anyone. [1]

THE REMAINDER OF 1979

After the first ten episodes the popularity of the series prompted the decision to extend it from sixteen to twenty episodes, and then into an indefinitely running serial. The production rate on the series was also increased from one hour a week to two. With this change came the announcement that four cast members: Carol Burns, Mary Ward, Margaret Laurence and Richard Moir would be leaving. Producer Ian Bradley rejected the idea that the quality of the series would suffer. “We will be producing more, but we’ll be working on twice as many days.” A blow to the production at this time was the sudden death of one it directors, Graeme Arthur, leaving the show a director short. To help out, veteran actor and television director Charles “Bud” Tingwell signed on to direct some episodes. [2]

After the first twenty or so episodes the tone and overall feel of the series changes. Previously scenes seemed to have been very carefully blocked and lit, and looked as if they had been shot using the single camera technique where each shot in the scene is carefully arranged and lit. Later the series was clearly shot multi-camera with a much flatter and more standard soap opera look. The careful lighting, staging and camera angles that had given such an effective, atmospheric look had apparently been sacrificed in the reshuffle to produce two hours a week.

As the storyline and characters had initially been devised with a foreseeable conclusion, some retooling was needed to extend the situation into an ongoing serial. As the story moves past episode 16 we begin to see a slight shift in focus and a slackening of the brisk pace while writers take stock of the situation and try to adapt the characters and situations into a continuing serial format. Though Karen was to originally have been released at the end of the sixteen episodes her trajectory was changed to keep her in Wentworth longer. With the departures of their portrayers Margaret Laurence and Richard Moir, Marilyn Mason and Eddie Cook, involved in basically a lightweight romantic storyline, were written out of the series at their storyline’s original conclusion.

Carol Burns left because she felt that she could not continue her intense characterisation of Franky Doyle at the increased rate of two transmitted hours each week, fearing that the quality of her performance (and that of the series as a whole) would suffer. One of the more senior cast members, Mary Ward who played Mum Brooks, did not have such a draining character to play, but also left the show believing that the increased workload would not be sustainable.

Margaret Laurence who played dim blond prostitute Marilyn initially had concerns about taking a “sexy” role. “I really enjoy character roles and have done quite a few Shakespearean plays, but on television they always want to cast me as the dumb blonde. I really had to think hard before taking the Prisoner role,” Laurence told TV Week. “I don’t particularly like the character of Marilyn, and I was worried it would compound the sexy label, but I finally decided to take it for a few reasons. In later episodes Marilyn has a chance to develop, so she doesn’t come over as a shallow, one-dimensional character for too long. Having just returned from America – where you never turn any work down – also had an influence. And I needed the publicity to let everyone know I had returned after being away for so long and losing ground here.” Laurence had been in America for two years with her American husband, actor Brandon Smith. Smith played in three of the early 1979 episodes of Prisoner as assistant to celebrity inmate Helen Masters (Louise Pajo), even sharing one scene with Laurence. Prior to leaving for America Laurence was best known for her six month stint in Number 96 from mid 1975 to early 1976. “I played Liz Feather, Arnold’s wife, in 96 and that eventually turned into a sexy role too. It was then I started to have a problem with my looks. People here like to label you. Since then, I’ve been really careful about the roles I accept. I don’t consider myself sexy, and I don’t want to risk being type-cast.” Laurence explained that she and her husband split their time between Australia and America due to the large number of work offers her husband was receiving there. Laurence herself found it harder to find work in the US but reported she had had roles in Days of Our Lives, The Young and the Restless, Black Sheep Squadron and Scanlin. [3]

Back on Prisoner the writers did manage to come up with some entertaining situations almost immediately. These included the return to the series of recurring bit-part prison officer Ann Yates (Kirsty Child). Yates was the briefly glimpsed corrupt screw who would help out whenever the script needed to have contraband smuggled into prison, but the character was previously undeveloped. Now she had been fired from the prison, and reentered the storyline when she ran into Vera Bennett and struck up a friendship. Anne Yates was now working as a drug dealer. Lonely Vera put aside her better judgment and continued the friendship, especially after starting a romance with Ann’s associate George Lucas (Bill Hunter). The romance ended with George’s arrest. He severed contact with her and insisted to police that Vera had been an unwitting participant in order to save her career. Meanwhile intriguing new prisoner Susan Rice (Briony Behets) showed up in Wentworth. Her effective storyline involved her mysterious association with dashing television celebrity Jason Richards (David Bradshaw).

Storylines that traced the sequence of events leading to a character’s crime, arrest and imprisonment were first introduced at this point. A new character Catherine Roberts (Margot McLennan) joined the show as the mother of a teenage girl who was raped. After several scenes depicting the domestic dramas that ensued after the attack on the girl, Catherine killed the rapist by running him down in her car. Subsequent episodes depicted Catherine’s trial and her imprisonment in Wentworth where she befriended Bea Smith. These storylines tracing the events leading to imprisonment would be featured regularly throughout the run of the series, though some fans would rather have seen just the in-prison antics of their favourite prisoners. Indeed even the writers seemed to dislike the Catherine Roberts storyline; shortly after her trial was over she was abruptly transferred to another part of the prison and never seen again.

Though the Susan Rice story and the return of Ann Yates were enjoyable storylines, in some ways overall series here seems to lack focus with its attempts to hurriedly introduce a range of new situations. The new storylines are short, and are not necessarily well integrated into the overall storyline: something to be expected given the recent change in production style. However as the new production routine became established things gained momentum and several effective new ongoing characters rounded out the regular cast. Bea gained a rugged lieutenant in Monica Ferguson (Lesley Baker) and an irritating adversary in scraggy career criminal Noeline Burke (Jude Kuring). Garrulous social worker Jean Vernon (Christine Amor) arrived followed by stern Deputy Governor Jim Fletcher (Gerard Maguire).

A stern army man and veteran of the Vietnam war, Jim Fletcher was a particularly effective character. He showed animosity towards most of the prisoners, was particularly disgusted by any lesbian behaviour, and he often let his personal prejudices cloud his dealings with prisoners. Frequently he showed favouritism towards lovely elderly inmates (though not the wicked recidivist Lizzie), and towards attractive middle class types who sometimes found themselves behind bars. His portrayer Gerard Maguire credited his acne-scarred skin for his repeated casting as heavy types such as the resident baddie, bikie or rapist. “In one year, I did 13 episodes Homicide, Division Four, Matlock Police, and Bluey, playing one of these characters,” he told TV Week. While the script explained that Jim Fletcher had served in Vietnam, Maguire reported that it was his acne that prevented him from serving. “They wouldn’t sign me up because of my skin. Tropical ulcers can cause all sorts of problems.” [4]

With these new characters quickly established we see the storylines and pace pick up again, the plots move along very quickly and various guest characters appear and disappear at a rapid rate. Memorable characters from this period include Toorak socialite Clara Goddard (Betty Lucas) in on embezzlement charges, cocky career crim Joyce Martin (Judy Nunn), Noeline’s daughter Leanne (Tracy-Jo Riley), and the wife of a powerful crime boss Toni McNally (Pat Bishop). In fact there are so many different things going on during this period missing just one episode could prove disastrous. Also notable at this point is the gritty, hard-edged nature of many of the characters and events, which contrasts the softer, soapier style that seemed to creep in during the later years of the series.

Initially a rather severe and efficient professional, Governor Erica Davidson soon evolved into more a parody of a well-meaning but hopelessly naive bureaucrat. As Erica, actress Patsy King created an often humorous character, which with her towering blond hair-do and refined accent, sometimes descended to the level of caricature. As time went on we saw more of the staff politics within the prison. While Erica usually found support in caring officer Meg Jackson and varying support from tough and often cynical Deputy Governor Jim Fletcher, officious Vera Bennett would always present a hostile front, frequently at odds with all the other officers. Though Jim and Vera often seemed to have similar methods and ideals they were often rivals and rarely agreed, with Jim mainly siding with Meg.

Various storylines would explore relatively ordinary family and social aspects of Meg and Jim’s lives away from the prison or their personal involvements in various prisoners. Events depicted as the source of Vera’s frequently nasty demeanour would be also explored, along with subtle indications of a special Vera-Lizzie understanding. Later we would also occasionally see a guest officer patrolling the corridors of Wentworth, and any corruption or illegal activities by officers was usually handled by these interlopers who would be promptly removed from the proceedings once their nasty proclivities came to light. Wentworth, it seemed, was home to only the most ethical and law abiding of prison officers.

Karen Travers and Lynn Warner who had been the initial leads in the series had meanwhile settled into slightly lesser roles. Unfortunately as the show’s storyline progressed it soon became apparent that there was little remaining storyline potential for Lynn. She was not a career criminal or recidivist prisoner. So after Lynn’s main original storyline where the truth of her innocence was revealed and she was released from prison, new reasons to explain her continued presence in the storyline needed to be developed. This was initially effective with her continued association with Doug Parker (John Arnold), a former male prisoner she had met while she was imprisoned and he was part of a visiting prisoner work party repairing Wentworth’s outer fences. Lynn had fallen pregnant after being raped prior to entering prison and her family and friends had turned against the pregnant ex-jailbird, even if innocent Lynn had been raped and was innocent of the crime she was imprisoned for. Doug and Lynn married but he soon convinced her to assist him in a payroll robbery. Doug and his accomplice Bernie (Robert Thompson) where shot and killed while Lynn was captured and thrown back into Wentworth. Unfortunately there was little material to work with when a jaded Lynn ran through the emotions of being imprisoned again, especially since she actually had committed the crime this time and would have to accept her sentence.

Lynn was written out of the series after 44 episodes and in the show’s storyline she was paroled, presumably moving back to live with her parents. The show’s executive producer Godfrey Philipp explained to TV Week the reasons for Lynn’s departure. “Lynn has been in the program since it started – and there’s only so much we can put a character through. After all, during those 40 episodes we’ve had her wrongfully imprisoned and victimised by the other inmates. She’s had her lover die on her and a miscarriage as well. When you think about it, there’s not much else that can happen to her unless we exceed the bounds of credibility. That’s why we’ve had to write her out of the serial.” [5] Lynn’s portrayer Kerry Armstrong went straight into a recurring role in the Crawford Productions drama series Skyways, and a long and illustrious career in television and feature films followed. Of her relatively brief Prisoner role Armstrong later admitted that “the cast thought I wasn’t trying as hard as I should’ve been, but I was. I never felt confident when I was there and I guess that was partly due to my soggy character.” [6] The character of Lynn did seem to lack depth which limited the storylines she could realistically be involved in, and Armstrong’s work here is certainly not her best acting (which is usually very good). Lynn’s generally whiny character was not helped by her voice, described by Armstrong as “a high-pitched country wail” that she said was put on intentionally for the part. [7]

The writers persevered with the character Karen with more success, and the character continued with a range of credible and engaging new storylines. This included the understated romance with her appeals lawyer Steve Wilson and the quite intriguing antics of the lecturers and fellow students she meets after being granted day-release to attend university. Finally Karen is granted parole and we see a thoughtfully handled and quite compelling exploration of the problems facing a recently released prisoner; problems of finances and finding work and accommodation, well-meaning but misguided friends, and simply the mundane problems of settling back into normal life. After struggling for awhile Karen is rescued by stylish lesbian lawyer Angela Jeffries (Jeanie Drynan) who offers Karen support and a job and finally appoints her as live-in manager of the new halfway house, a house providing accommodation and support for recently released women prisoners. Despite a new romantic involvement with Meg, Greg Miller remained interested in Karen and, partly as he was wary of Angela’s intentions, was quite heavily involved with Karen and in the halfway house project. The halfway house provided a home for the newly paroled Doreen, and we see an effective personal storyline when Doreen’s estranged mother Alice Hemmings (Anne Haddy) appears.

By the end of 1979 Monica, Noeline (though she would return the following year) and Jean Vernon had departed, while new characters in substantial roles were Pat O’Connell (Monica Maughan), a concerned and caring mum and Bea’s new confidante, and the young but embittered Roslyn Coulsen (Sigrid Thornton). Chrissie Latham (Amanda Muggleton), the despised tart who had made such a pleasing impression during the very early episodes, returned for the first of many stints in the series.

While Karen’s storylines remained interesting actress Peta Toppano decided to leave at the end of 1979 and the character was written out of the series. Karen’s departure also spelt the end for Greg Miller, with whom she had resumed a romantic liaison.

In all, an excellent year, with mostly thoughtful, convincing and enjoyable storylines, few goofs, and good characters and acting.

1980

As the series continued on into 1980 the regular cast became slightly larger than before with up to three different storylines running concurrently. Guest characters who previously might appear in only a few episodes in which they would be extensively featured now seemed be around for up to three months while their particular storyline slowly pans out.

Three such characters were new prison social worker Paul Reid (George Mallaby), his wayward son Tony, and inmate Sharon Gilmour (Margot Knight). The storyline concerning Sharon Gilmour, a spiteful drug dealer and enemy of Bea Smith, was particularly memorable. Here the series began to show more complicated plotting in comparison to what had been seen before, with longer running storylines and various complex characters and events interwoven contrasting the earlier style that was characterised by a high turnover of short-lived characters in relatively brief storylines.

Unlike some of the storylines that had featured during the first year of Prisoner, much of the action of the next few years concentrated on the internal dramas of Wentworth Detention Centre. Storylines usually revolved around short-term prisoners and their interaction with the more established inmates. The success of this period lies squarely with the popular Bea, Lizzie and Doreen trio, a perfect vehicle for all manner of storylines and enough comic relief at other times. Bea was the tough leader, Lizzie the loveable but crotchety old dear, and Doreen the wayward youngster finding support and guidance from the other two. Each had quite marked weaknesses and temperaments which, combined with their gleeful rebellion against authority, led to many explosive situations and unpredictable events over the years. Likewise the mix of officers; nice Meg, acidic Vera, stern authoritarian Jim and the progressive Erica was an ideal combination.

This dynamic worked well with effective and appealing portrayals, though it might have all been very different. Val Lehman, who became one of the program’s most popular figures forever synonymous with the role of top dog Bea, reports she had initially been put up for the role of Vera Bennett. “My agent sent me to audition for the role of the ‘gestapo’ style prison officer, but when the casting people saw me, they said ‘we think you’re Bea Smith material’, so I came back for a screen test, and got the job.” [8] Meanwhile the show’s makers had had much difficulty finding the right Vera, and it was the final role to be cast. During auditions actor Fiona Spence was waiting in a room adjacent to where producer Ian Bradley was on the telephone. He put his head around the door a number of times after hearing her voice, and after looking at her, suggested she pull her hair back – and Prisoner’s Vera Bennett was born. [9]

The producers had always agreed that drug use should not be shown and violence should be kept down, so while the prisoners mostly delighted in causing trouble, in many ways it was depicted as girls’ boarding school gone wrong. There would always be more unscrupulous prisoners battling the goodies (notably Noeline Burke and Chrissie Latham during the early years) but they usually came to no good with Bea and her gang always remaining victorious. Apart from these measures, Prisoner is nonetheless one of the most consistently violent modern television serials ever produced.

The Bea, Lizzie and Doreen dynamic was soon joined by newcomer Judy Bryant (Betty Bobbit). Initially introduced as Sharon Gilmour’s lover and intended as a tough but short-lived rival for Bea, Judy soon softened and became a permanent fixture in the series, eventually becoming Bea’s new off-sider, though she was not always willing to accept Bea’s sometimes prescriptive leadership without a fight.

The halfway house continued in the series with Rhonda West (Joan Letch) replacing Karen as manager. Lizzie was paroled and moved into the halfway house where she and Doreen continued their comical routines. Later Doreen met and eventually became engaged to Kevin Burns (Ian Gilmour). However Lizzie and Doreen were sorely missed in the inside Wentworth scenes which meant their freedom could only be short-lived.

The halfway house was also used to introduce Caroline Simpson (Ros Speirs) and her mother Vivienne Williams (Bernadette Gibson) to the main proceedings when they arrive there seeking refuge from Caroline’s abusive father. Turned away by Rhonda they return home and the father ends up with a knife in his back. The two women are promptly charged with his murder and arrive at Wentworth. Vivienne takes the familiar role of middle-class woman completely out of her depth in prison, while stylish and attractive daughter Caroline begins a romance with officer Jim Fletcher. Though it provided a more direct link to new characters destined to commit a crime and wind up in Wentworth, as well as serving as the locale for a bailed Caroline to conduct her romance with Jim, without continued sustenance from the main Wentworth crew the halfway house scenes quickly became monotonous and it soon disappeared from the storyline.

Pat O’Connell also left the series, while Jim Fletcher suffered personal and professional problems connected to his involvement with Caroline and his soured friendship with former army colleague Geoff Butler (Ray Meagher). The shocking conclusion to this storyline featured the death of his family and resulted in Jim’s storyline involvement being temporarily scaled down for some weeks. Various recurring guest characters including Colleen Powell (Judith MacGrath), bookie and second-rate thug Margo Gaffney (Jane Clifton), and general prison rabble such as Phyllis Hunt (Reylene Pearce) and ‘Mouse’ Trapp (Jentah Sobbot) popped up in regular appearances.

With the main core cast members all in place the scene was set for a series of memorable storylines: ex-con Ken Pierce (Tom Oliver) helps the women set-up a drama group, a scheme succeeding purely because of Bea’s romantic interest in him. Later crusader Ken arranged for his wayward daughter Debbie (Dina Mann) to be sent to Wentworth as an inmate for two days in an attempt to scare her straight. After an impassioned speech from Bea Smith, seems this scheme was a success. Meanwhile evil new officer Jock Stewart (Tommy Dysart) attempts to coerce Doreen into selling her mother’s house after making a deal with the developers.

This period also saw the eventful appearance of artist inmate Kerry Vincent (Penny Downie), the surprise appearance of Lizzie’s long-lost daughter Marcia (Judith Dick), and the shocking death of Sharon Gilmour. Sharon’s demise led to a climactic protest staged in an attempt to expose the identity of her killer, a protest that famously featured the reappearance Leanne Burke, who was at this time a prisoner at Wentworth. All fondly remembered classic highlights in the series.

Soon after this Noeline Burke made her triumphant return, and with a lull in the storylines the knockabout stirrer dominated stories for awhile. Pace picked up again with the women’s work release at the factory becoming the major plot-thread. After an extended quiet and pensive period, Jim Fletcher slowly began returning to his normal stern self, while whiny housewife Gail Summers (Susanne Haworth) entered Wentworth as a despised new inmate. The factory plotline saw Doreen being victimised yet again, this time by gruff foreman Vince Talbot, and the storyline also introduced a suave and sinister new character in the form of the shady office manager Kay White (Sandy Gore). Meanwhile a new dimension was added to the Erica Davidson character when she was romanced by factory owner Andrew Reynolds (John Lee).

Tracey Morris (Sue Devine) was a remand prisoner charged with drug smuggling. The crime made an enemy of Bea Smith while Judy befriended a naive youngster. This friendship caused many perceived problems due to prejudice from others over Judy’s lesbianism, but ultimately it was the engagement of her father Bob Morris (Anthony Hawkins) to officer Meg Jackson that prompted Tracey’s transfer to Barnhurst. Then there was Jacki Nolan’s (Diane Craig) association with Jim and Vera’s excellently handled alcoholism storyline. Finally the tunnel escape storyline and the activities of unbalanced prisoner Anne Griffin (Rowena Wallace) took the storyline to the end of the 1980 season.

Vera Bennett had emerged as a particularly interesting character, and was in no way a one dimensional villain. Vera was generally a strict and officious stickler for the rules. Her cruel and scheming moments – she was gleefully sadistic in the earliest episodes before the character was fully developed, then agreed to smuggle in a drug filled doll to prisoner Barbara Davidson as part of a supposed set up shortly after – were often followed by guilt and misgivings. The prisoners occasionally repeated the nickname “Vinegar Tits” that Franky had initially invented for her, but generally understood that her bark was worse than her bite.

Fiona Spence shone as the socially inept spinster who was in control only in the cellblocks of Wentworth. Only there Vera had power over others, and was utterly convinced that her strict and unerring adherence to prison regulations was the proper way to run a prison. Vera judged Governor Davidson as too soft, believing the women took advantage of this, and believed she could show them all how a prison should be run - if only she had the chance. Vera had nursed her sick but shrill and demanding mother for years, causing her to be stuck at home and be left on the shelf when it came to boyfriends and marriage. The mother dies early on in the series leaving Vera all alone. Resentful of this she decided that mere prisoners, whom she referred to as “animals”, did not deserve to be mothers, and on a couple of occasions conspired to ruin prisoners’ relationships with their children. Knowing that custody might be granted if prisoner Rosie Hudson (Anne-Marie MacDonald) was seen to be emotionally distraught on separation from her young son, Vera convinced the young prisoner that custody would only be granted if she remained cool, calm and level headed. Seeing the girl’s blasé attitude, authorities refused to give custody. Rosie’s outburst when the truth came to light led to her transfer to a mental institution. Later, Vera similarly interfered with Pat O’Connell’s relationship with her children. Several times during her run in the series Vera had enjoyed short-lived romantic interludes. Unfortunately she was terrible at picking men, frequently ending up with sinister types with ulterior motives. Vera’s strong sense of morality meant that these unions would always be short-lived.

Meanwhile fellow authoritarian officer Jim Fletcher was consolidated as a key character through the 1980 season. His portrayer said of the soap role that “I had a very good reputation as a stage actor but due to some strange prejudices in this business, a TV series was considered beneath the dignity of a lot of actors. But when Prisoner came along I looked at the quality of the people who were involved in it and saw it was an opportunity to play a character and not be a personality. And the financial security that comes with doing a soap opera was tempting. So, after 13 years of avoiding this work I thought I’d give it a go.” Maguire had a lot of praise for the largely female cast. “In Prisoner, more than any other series in Australia, the women exist in their own right. They’re not there as somebody’s girlfriend or their wife. They have their own identity. The actresses working in the series are very talented and I enjoy working with them.” [10]

GEORGE MALLABY’S FINAL EXIT

Paul Reid acted as Wentworth social worker for several months and was involved in several key storylines. His portrayor George Mallaby had previously left his role in Cop Shop due to stress and high blood pressure. The self-confessed “workaholic” had signed on for 13 weeks in Prisoner because the role offered greater flexibility compared to Cop Shop. Paul was not such a pivotal character and his presence was not crucial to all of the Prisoner storylines, meaning he could realistically operate as a peripheral figure in some storylines. In contrast his Cop Shop character was head of CID so realistically would have to have a reasonably large involvement in the majority of activities in the storylines of that show. Indeed Mallaby had been promised a certain amount of flexibility to take time off from Prisoner if required and agreed to the role with hopes that flexible schedule would mean the problems of over work would not resurface. This flexibility would also give Mallaby the time to write four Prisoner scripts, as specified in his contract. [11]

Eventually an undisclosed health scare prompted his abrupt departure from the show in June 1980. At the time of his departure Mallaby’s contract was soon to expire and his character was in the process of being written out of the storyline by returning to Adelaide with son Tony. The unexpected illness prompted Mallaby’s departure four episodes earlier than expected, and with no proper farewell scene in the can scripts had to be urgently rewritten to work around Paul’s premature disappearance. In the show Paul’s son Tony kept Meg up to date with all of his and Paul’s plans and discussions, while an unseen Paul was said to be brooding in his office, and Tony was seen making preparations to leave. Later, Paul was found to have not reported for work as expected, leaving only a resignation letter for Erica. George Mallaby himself wrote what was originally to be the final episode of his character Paul Reid, but with the illness Paul’s final onscreen appearance had occurred four episodes earlier. [12]

In December 1980 it was revealed that it was a heart attack that forced Mallaby’s sudden exit from his on-screen Prisoner role. [13] Mallaby had continued to contribute scripts for Prisoner after leaving the role of Paul. In May 1981 TV Week magazine reported that the arrangement where Mallaby writes scripts for the series was terminated when he came into conflict with the Reg Grundy Organisation after he had rewritten a script, reportedly without formal permission. The program’s then Executive Producer Philip East told TV Week that “the effects of his story had serious ramifications at that stage and affected a lot of following scripts. George didn’t agree with us over a story and we had to end the arrangement. He agreed he was in the wrong. There was no falling out. It was all very mutual. We were very pleased with George’s work and we didn’t want to lose him. We are always looking for good serial writers.” Mallaby himself refuted the claim it was “mutual” and presented his side of the story. “I was led to believe that I could change the script. I was led to believe that the changes I had made would improve it. Other people chose to assert themselves and it was rewritten. I was not planning to quit at all. Philip East may say that it was mutual but that is not so. I have a letter from Philip East which contradicts that.” [14] Co-incidentally Philip East had previously been involved in a dispute with several actors during the taping of the final-ever scene for serial The Box in 1977 when they asked an element of the script be changed. East was the director of that episode, and when he refused to alter the script some of the performers made their objections apparent as the cameras rolled to tape the scene. One the actors involved in that incident was John Stanton, who had joined The Box playing the character who replaced George Mallaby’s character in the show.

1981

The 1981 episodes seemed to be aiming for entertainment and excitement with less emphasis on social commentary or realism. While many of the 1980 stories had been thoughtful and serious the 1981 episodes were less so, however the quality remained and stories remained enjoyable with some great highlight storylines appearing during this period. These included the appearance of journalist Sandra Hamilton (Candy Raymond) who had herself imprisoned hoping to get the scoop on the recent tunnel escape. Of her six-week stint in the serial Raymond told TV Week that “Prisoner and The Sullivans are my favourite TV series. They are of high quality and the cast members are very professional.” [15] Then self-righteous herbalist Evelyn Randall (Julia Blake) was imprisoned after being accused of poisoning a patient, and was ridiculed by the prisoners as a quack. The presence of idealistic new prison teacher David Andrews (Serge Lazareff) did little to help the mood of ambitious and spiteful union-representative Colleen Powell, although David had some success with rebellious young prisoner Georgie Baxter (Tracey Mann). Young prisoner Jenny Armstrong (Sally Cooper) serves time in prison in lieu of paying a fine, but when Georgie attacks her she promptly pays the fine and is released. However news soon comes through that recent international traveler Jenny might have been infected with a mysterious tropical disease. Sure enough inmates and staff soon begin to fall ill and a quarantine of the prison is instituted. Evelyn comes to the rescue with herbal remedies that quickly cure the tropical fever, however attending physician Dr Granger (Peter Regan) quickly discovers the shocking truth behind the disease and the cure. Elderly Sid Humphrey (Ed Hepple) began as prison handy man providing a romantic storyline for Lizzie while vicious Vera, rather smitten with an attentive David and friendly with jolly Sid, softened considerably.

Margo Gaffney got a major storyline of her own when she was released and made a concerted effort to go straight... unfortunately she was soon involved in a failed payroll grab with dim boyfriend Wayne Bradshaw (Vincent Gil). Next came Bea Smith’s abrupt transfer to Barnhurst. The action at this point briefly extends to the rural prison and there we meet that prison’s top dog Marie Winter (Maggie Millar) for the first time. This was quickly followed Bea’s unforgettable amnesia storyline which included the return of the Mum Brooks character. Despite being rather far-fetched, this was one of the best storylines ever seen in the series, an excellently handled further exploration into the character of Bea with the acting of Val Lehman and Mary Ward riveting.

It is perhaps at this point that the series seems to be moving into its next phase. After her involvement with the hostage dramas that ensued after Margo’s bungled payroll robbery, Meg was convinced (mainly by husband Bob) to switch jobs and become a parole officer, which she promptly did. Though she continued to make regular appearances within the prison Meg had many other outside storylines during this period thus opening her character up to new stories such as her over-involvement with sulky young parolee Nick Clark (Ned Manning) and also making her more accessible to events occurring outside Wentworth, as seen during Bea’s amnesia plotline.

Terry Harrison (Brian Hannan) joined as a new officer. He initially seemed rather caring, supporting Bea through her amnesia and romancing Vera, however soon afterwards he rather foolishly became embroiled in some blackmail strife after trying to cultivate Margo Gaffney as an informant. He then had even greater problems when his ex-wife Kathy Hall (Sue Jones), who was apparently in trouble with a ruthless organised-crime boss, arrived in Wentworth as a prisoner. Terry was eventually revealed to not be the nice-guy he initially seemed.

Briefly seen guest characters included scheming remand prisoner Michelle Parkes (Nina Landis), a beautiful and cunning athlete who had Jim Fletcher spellbound, and the appearance of Judy’s long-lost daughter Lori Young (Sussannah Fowle), which gave Judy something to do finally after a period of inactivity. Fowle had enjoyed a brief brush with fame after playing the lead role in acclaimed 1977 Australian feature film The Getting of Wisdom. At the time of her Prisoner casting she told TV Week that “for the two years Prisoner has been on air, I wanted to act in the series. Finally my dream has come true.” [16]

Then we got the irritating Alison Page (Fay Kelton), a troubled housewife from suburbia thrown into prison after trying to run down her husband in her car during an argument. Alison alienated inmates and officers alike by constantly asserting her superiority to the other prisoners but convincing no one. Alison filled the familiar role of the middle-class woman thrust into prison and completely out of her depth. Alison’s histrionics brought out the viciousness in Vera again, after a rather thoughful period for the officious screw.

GOODBYE VERA

Late 1981 saw the first major change to the show’s regular line-up with the departure, in episode 224, of deliciously evil Officer Vera Bennett who had been with the series from the beginning. The move was prompted by the decision of actor Fiona Spence to leave the series in order for her to play other roles and develop new characters, and was major news many months before the event occurred on screen. Spence advised producer Philip East of her decision to finish work on the series on 5 June 1981, while TV Week speculated that the news was probably the biggest shock for Prisoner fans since the 1979 departure of actor Carol Burns who had played the cult figure Franky Doyle in the show. Spence told TV Week that “Certainly, I’ve enjoyed working on the show and, therefore, I had to put a lot of thought into my decision. It’s also been very nice to feel secure. I’ve been able to buy a house and other luxuries. But, naturally enough, I didn’t go into showbusiness assuming total security, and I’ve left Prisoner to play other roles. It’s been a lot of hard work, but I’ve enjoyed it enormously. I’ve had the opportunity in the past couple of years of working with some of the best actresses in Australia, and it’s been lovely to be involved in the huge success of Prisoner both here and in America.” [17]

Terry Harrison had also departed and, on Vera’s departure, Colleen Powell became a regular character. Colleen soon made her presence felt and emerged as an officer whose temper rivaled that of Vera is her darkest moods. In her previous, relatively brief, stints in the series, Colleen had already been seen as frequently spiteful and ambitious. Audiences had already seen her cause much angst through her overzealous application of prison – and union – rules, and she had forced teacher David Andrews out of his job in this manner. Immediately after Vera’s departure we got another such storyline for Colleen with her terrifying clashes with middle-class inmate Alison Page and with new political-activist prisoner Andrea Hennessey (Bethany Lee). While Colleen alienated her colleagues during this period and then started a rivalry of sorts with Meg, Colleen’s nasty period here lasted only a few episodes. After this Colleen settled down again, but would remain a smug and sarcastic presence. Sometimes her scheming, ambitious side would re-emerge.

Fortunately by this point the writers had also allowed Meg to return to her previous job as officer. Though the career change had initially generated some good storylines for the character, the rather limited scope of storylines in this area had by now become exhausted. A new officer, Janet Conway (Kate Sheil), arrived soon after. She started out rather a sympathetic character and suffered the usual dramas befalling any new inexperienced officer while also playing romantic interest for Jim Fletcher. Janet’s other twist was that she had previously been a remand prisoner at Wentworth, and had known Bea Smith from those days. The cosy chats between the pair made the other prisoners suspicious for awhile. Certainly Janet was a well-drawn character, and Kate Sheil good in the role. Unfortunately Janet Conway was a bit too serious, and eventually got a bit dull.

Janet’s portrayed Kate Sheil described working on the show for TV week. “I was hesitant about accepting Prisoner because I didn’t like the thought of people hassling me in the street. I’ve found a way out, though. I’m going to cut my hair when I leave the show. Prisoner is about the only TV series that attempts to comment of social issues, and it’s a chance to work with women in their own right. I find the style of work in a soap is very difficult. You have to find a line between going over the top and playing too low. You’ve got to find a level otherwise you’ll kill a scene.” Sheil watched a playback of one of her early scenes but wasn’t happy with it, so stopped viewing the playbacks. However it was her appearance and not her performance she disliked. “I look so old. We’re not allowed to wear makeup, and the word has come through that I’m not allowed to curl my hair.” During her Prisoner stint she took time off to play a glamorous role in the film The Perfect Family Man. “I did the movie Puberty Blues early this year [1981] and I looked horrible, just like my Prisoner role. So I wanted something to make me look pretty for a change.” [18]

While there was a constant stream of guest characters moving through the series, Bea, Lizzie, Doreen and Judy remained the dominant figures in most of the storylines. That said, increasingly priggish Doreen had become rather repetitive with her childish jealousies, while Judy now seemed to have few storylines of her own.

After a memorable period dominated by obnoxious activist Andrea Hennessey’s stay in Wentworth where her extreme views antagonised the other prisoners and incited the kidnapping of Erica Davidson we see another major change to the usual formula. Doreen and Judy were abruptly transferred to Barnhurst, Lizzie was transferred to another block and Bea sent off for a lengthy stay in hospital. With these departures high-powered recent arrivals, tough career-criminal Sandy Edwards (Louise Le Nay), and Dr Kate Peterson (Olivia Hamnett), rose to the top of the prisoner pecking order. Then Marie Winter was transferred back in from Barnhurst to become chief villain. This was a welcome change from the usual formula that had dominated for so long. It also allowed such semi-regular support characters as Phyllis Hunt and Hazel Kent (Belinda Davey) to grab a bigger piece of the pie, as usually they didn’t get much of a chance. At the time the program’s new producer, John McRae, made clear some of his planned changes for TV Week. “When the show first started it had a permanent cast of about 11. But when I arrived we were down to six or seven. So I’m trying to populate the cast a bit more and try to introduce new permanent characters.” [19]

1982

Shortly after her reappearance Marie started an explosive prison riot. This formed the memorable 1981 end of year cliff-hanger in which new officer Steve Fawkner (Wayne Jarratt) and Janet Conway are held hostage. In a familiar storyline seen throughout the series, two dominant prisoners, in this instance Marie and Sandy, vied for the top dog position. The storyline featured an interesting twist in the dynamics between Sandy, Marie and Kate, with all sorts of scheming and plotting ending in a shocking murder. Judy and Lizzie returned midway through the storyline though would temporarily take a back seat to the main proceedings. Finally Bea and then Doreen returned in time to witness the demise of Kate, Sandy, and Marie (who was shipped back to Barnhurst) and to resume their leading roles in the series. In reality actresses Val Lehman and Colette Mann (Bea and Doreen) took time off to appear in a film. Nevertheless it was a breath of fresh air to see someone else dominating Wentworth for awhile.

The riot had an alarming effect on Janet, who had been stripped and forced to don a prisoner’s uniform while Sandy read the charges and inducted her for the crime of becoming an officer (having previously been a remand prisoner). Janet developed an intense hatred of the prisoners and began barking orders at them, Vera style. She also became overly possessive of Jim, and soon took to following him about and turning up at his flat unannounced at odd hours. Later, in a vengeful mood she demolished his lounge room and took to openly sniping at Meg after a paranoid Janet decided that she and Jim were in fact enjoying a secret affair and were laughing at her behind her back. Each of Jim’s attempts to end the affair just resulted in more intense possessiveness and jealousy from Janet, and more bitter accusations of an affair with Meg.

In any event new producer John McRae, who had arrived some months earlier and had begun instituting changes to revamp the show, here decided to dispense with Gerard Maguire’s services. [20] Jim Fletcher, a good character who had possibly played out most of his possible situations by that time, was abruptly written out of the series by being given the job of Governor of a juvenile prison.

This new producer apparently also managed to patch-up the technical problems that had slowly crept into the series over the preceding months which had resulted in a spate of such on-air goofs as fluffed lines and overhead mikes in shot. While Marie Winter’s riot had generated some suspense, those scenes unfortunately yielded perhaps the show’s greatest concentration of on-air technical glitches ever. In contrast, the early 1982 episodes seemed to