Prisoner Cell Block H Volume 1 - 40 All 692 Episodes

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 terrors of Wentworth: everything from the perfunctory induction to sadistic screws and unwelcoming and dangerous fellow inmates. The horrified newcomers, Karen Travers and Lynn Warner, 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 in between romantic interludes with her former fiance, who just happens to also be Wentworth Doctor Greg Miller. Lynn, meanwhile, quickly finds an enemy in tough and unsympathetic 'Top Dog' Bea Smith who knows just how to deal with a suspected child kidnapper. Lynn did have one friend, the wise and forgiving Mum Brooks, who led a quiet and dignified life tending the Wentworth garden. Mum is soon released however and the problems of a long term prisoner entering an unfamiliar and hostile outside world are explored. On a lighter note was a serving sex and romance in the form of seductive blonde nymphomaniac Marilyn Mason, cunningly enticing the prison electrician Eddie Cook 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 exploring the person behind the stern facade, while nice officer Meg Jackson deals both with teenage rebellion and a personal tragedy that underlines most emphatically the concept of giving ones life to the prison service. 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 almost a theatrical, stilted 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. Such was the quality and popularity of these episodes, Network 10 edited together many of Franky's scenes to produce a TV movie titled 'The Franky Doyle Story' aired later the same year. 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 and Lizzie Birdsworth. Originally the death of Franky Doyle was to form the conclusion of the series. The remainder of 1979 After the first 10 episodes the popularity of the series prompted the decision to extend it from 16 to 20 episodes, and then to an indefinitely running serial. With the scripted conclusion to the Franky Doyle storyline coinciding with the decision to continue to produce the series indefinitely we begin to see a slight shift in focus and a slackening of the fast pace while production trundles along without a break. Many of the original characters simply had not been written to last the long haul, and many of the actresses involved did not want to commit to this sort of workload. The initial storylines also were not written for this long-term run and therefore an eerie 'limbo' effect was felt for awhile where the writers are quite obviously scratching around and experimenting with different directions in which the series may go. Actresses Mary Ward (who played Mum) and Carol Burns (Franky) left the series as they did not want to be part of a long-running serial. This was actually a blessing as their characters had really reached their conclusion and it would have been unconvincing had they been stretched out any longer. The characters Marilyn and Eddie were also written out as they had reached the end of their storyline. The initial storylines also were not written for this long-term run and therefore an eerie 'limbo' effect was felt for awhile where the writers are quite obviously scratching around and experimenting with different directions in which the series may go. The writers did manage to come up with some entertaining situations almost immediately, such as the return to the series of former Wentworth officer Ann Yates and the appearance of intriguing new prisoner Susan Rice, though not all of the 1979 storylines were this successful. Karen Travers and Lynn Warner, who were not career criminals but were only included to guide the viewers through the introduction to the prison were left with very little to do. Their original storylines were basically re-hashed, with varying results. Lynn was eventually written out after the first 6 months. The writers persevered with Karen. Additional storylines to keep her amused included a brief story where Karen helps a young Greek inmate who cannot speak English, Karen then attends University lectures by day which somehow results in her lecturer, sleazy psychologist Peter Clements, appearing at Wentworth to use the inmates for psychological research. Karen is finally released and opens a halfway house for women who are just out of prison. Unfortunately all these storyline attempts seemed only to propel other characters into the spotlight while Karen waited uncomfortably in the wings (for example, the appearance of Peter Clemens inside Wentworth developed storylines for Doreen, not Karen, and even Karen's appeals lawyer Steve Wilson found himself more prominently featured than poor Karen as he went on to represent several other needy cases amongst the Wentworth inmates while romancing social worker Jean Vernon). Once in the halfway house Karen was mostly seen sitting at the kitchen table with a chequebook and pad of paper in front of her and an anguished look on her face - no doubt trying to come up with additional storylines for herself. She apparently failed and actress Peta Toppano left the series at the end of 1979. Karen's departure also spelt the end for prison Doctor Greg Miller, with whom she had reconciled after her release from prison. During 1979 several additional characters were added to fill the gaps. Two that caught on were stern, no-nonsense Deputy Governor Jim Fletcher and troublesome inmate Noeline Burke. Bea's former cell-mate Monica Ferguson returns and though she is given a prominent role in the proceedings, lasts only a few months. Another major character to join early on was Pat O'Connell, an ordinary housewife who became friends with Bea Smith. Pat also stayed in Wentworth several months. With the aforementioned experimentation of the script writers, this period is remembered by many as being quite disjointed with many new and sometimes incongruous characters appearing in storylines often occurring outside the prison with only the most tenuous of links with Wentworth Detention Centre. The social and romantic activities of various solicitors, social workers and prison psychologists are an example of this. Other storylines traced the events leading to the crimes that lead to the women's incarceration in Wentworth Detention Centre, with new character Catherine Roberts featured in an early occurrence of this type of story. These storylines, featured regularly throughout the run of the series, would often include courtroom sequences depicting the women's battle with the law prior to their imprisonment. One noticeable characteristic of this period of the series was the alarming rate at which characters appear and then disappear again without warning. Many of the new characters of this period disappear so abruptly with only the vaguest of explanations that many viewers were left wondering if the missing character had actually left the series. Monica Ferguson, Barbara Davidson, Joyce Martin, Jean Vernon, Catherine Roberts and even Lyn Warner suddenly and unceremoniously departed, leaving fans wondering just what had become of them. These departures had the pleasing effect of bringing the remaining (and more interesting) cast members into more prominent roles, particularly Lizzie and Doreen. The writers tried various stories for these characters, mainly, an extended stint with Doreen and Lizzie being released from Wentworth and living at the halfway house with Karen though their presence was sorely missed in the inside Wentworth scenes. This meant they could not be allowed to run free for too long and soon the script writers happily obliged. While completely watchable (one particularly good character of this period was prisoner Joyce Martin who unfortunately disappears too soon), this period was hardly classic Prisoner, and even the popular prison threesome of Bea Lizzie and Doreen were separated much of this time. These varied storylines met with limited success and the writers soon realised that more fun was to be had with the regular day to day antics of Wentworth's established inhabitants. The Peak of Popularity At the end of 1979 the series began to take the form that fans know and love. Beginning with the emergence of some more interesting guest characters such as Roslyn Coulson, and then Sharon Gilmour and hated Officer Jock Stewart the series happily gets back on track. The following three to four year period was the most popular and best remembered period of the series. Around this time several popular characters first appeared and began their lengthy stints in the series, most notably Judy Bryant, Margo Gaffney, Helen Smart, and 'Mouse' Trapp. The end of 1979 also saw the welcome return of Wentworth's favourite tart, Chrissie Latham. Unlike some of the storylines that had featured during the first year, most of the action of the next few years concentrated on the internal dramas of Wentworth Detention Centre. Events often 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 gang of prisoners: a perfect vehicle for all manner of storylines and enough comic relief at other times: Bea was the tough leader, Lizzie the lovable 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, lead to many explosive situations and unpredictable events over the years. 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'. To this end, the main prisoner characters were basically 'good' prisoners, who, for example, would never allow the use of drugs within 'their' prison. There would always be more unscrupulous prisoners battling the goodies (notably trouble stirrers Chrissie Latham and Margo Gaffney) 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 joined in 1980 by newcomer Judy Bryant. Judy provided the much needed blend of sensitivity, toughness and independence to the series: up to then everyone followed what Bea said - or else. Judy was tough enough to stand up to Bea whenever she saw fit and as a result quickly became an integral character in the series. The twist was that Doreen and Lizzie were close friends with both Bea and Judy. Bea and Judy soon made peace and became friends but Judy always stood up for what she believed in - even when it conflicted with Bea, sometimes providing for some interesting power struggles, particularly in those cases where Doreen and Lizzie side with Judy. The officers side of things generally revolved around Queenly Governor Erica Davidson who would shift between being strict and severe or soft and syrupy depending on the script requirements. As Erica, actress Patsy King evidently subscribed to the 'boarding school' concept with a character that was almost a caricature, using a somewhat comical style in the delivery of her lines. 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 cynical Deputy Governor Jim Fletcher, officious Vera Bennett would always present a hostile front. Various storylines would explore relatively ordinary family and social aspects of Meg and Jim's lives away from the prison and sometimes events depicted as the source of Vera's nasty demeanour would be explored. Jim provided some interesting developments within the walls of Wentworth with his incorrigible habit of taking a personal interest in many of the prettier young female inmates or the innocent and helpless elderly jailbirds (not wicked old Lizzie however). Occasionally we would also 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. The first major change to this successful lineup occurred late 1981, episode #224, with the departure of Officer Vera Bennett who had been with the series from episode one. Previously semi-regular Officer Colleen Powell skilfully and seamlessly slipped into the tough screw role. Colleen soon became a nasty, strict and frighteningly ambitious officer. She would have done almost anything to get the coveted job of Deputy Governor, often battling with Meg Jackson. Finally she did get this job and calmed down a bit though these events give a taste of some storylines that would later be explored further in regards to Departmental politics. Two new, inexperienced Officers, handsome young male Officer Steve Fawkner, and Janet Conway joined Wentworth. Steve lasted several months and his main problem was his bending the rules for the women too often. Janet Conway 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 prisoner at Wentworth, and had known Bea Smith from those days. With these changes the general format of the series was beginning to shift. There was always a couple of short-term guest prisoner characters floating around at any time, however it was still always the Bea, Judy, Lizzie, Doreen show. One break from the usual formula came at the end of 1981 around episodes #235 to #274. In very quick succession Doreen and Judy were transferred to Barnhurst, Lizzie was transferred to another block in Wentworth and Bea was sent off to hospital with a kidney ailment. Two strong new prisoner characters Sandy Edwards and Dr Kate Peterson entered Wentworth, and previous guest trouble-maker Marie Winter was transferred back in from Barnhurst. 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 to grab a bigger bit of the pie, as usually they didn't get much of a chance. Another semi-regular character, Margo Gaffney, who hadn't been seen for awhile made a brief return appearance as well. Shortly after her reappearance, Marie started a huge riot at Wentworth, another in a long line of major catastrophes to befall the prison. The new Officers Steve Fawkner and Janet Conway were held hostage during this riot. In a familiar storyline seen throughout the series, two dominant prisoners, in this instance Marie and Sandy, wanted to take over as Top Dog. This storyline featured an interesting twist in the dynamics between Sandy, Marie and Kate, with all sorts of scheming, plotting, threats and finally a murder occurring. Judy and Lizzie came back midway through all this but for awhile they took a back seat, script-wise. Finally Bea and