Prisoner Cell Block H - Volume 38

EPISODE 625

Joan has accepted a bribe to keep Julie in prison. And Steve's mother is determined to stop the wedding.

First broadcast ... 1986 (Melbourne)

Broadcast on Channel 5 Saturday 24 June 2000 04:45

DVD release: volume 38 disc 1 (AUS)

Duration: 0:46:23



Joan ~ Maggie Kirkpatrick

Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne

Ann ~ Gerda Nicolson

Joyce ~ Joy Westmore

Nancy ~ Julia Blake

Rita ~ Glenda Linscott

Julie ~ Jackie Woodburne

Lexie ~ Pepe Trevor

Alice ~ Lois Collinder

Kath ~ Kate Hood

Lorelei Wilkinson ~ Paula Duncan

Janet ~ Christine Earle

Amy Ryan ~ Penny Ramsay

Roach Waters ~ Linda Hartley

Ida Brown ~ Paddy Burnet

Mervin ~ Ernie Bourne

Steve Ryan ~ Peter Hayes

Marty ~ Michael Winchester

Vicki ~ Rebecca Dines

Merle ~ Rosanne Hull-Brown

Debbie ~ Ellie Nielsen

Sister Hall ~ Gael Andrews

Dave Wilson ~ Peter Hardy

Fight Arranger ~ Glen Ruehland

Truck Driver ~ David Brown

•Written by Ian Coughlan

•Directed by Kendal Flanagan



Throughout Julie's LSD trip, we hear a vague (synthesised) approximation of Indian classical music. This Beatles/hippie association deeply offended Ravi Shankar at least, and is about 15 years out of date even by the time this episode was recorded.



If, as Alice says of Kath's conspirators, "Tina saw them in the gym", then Tina is some sort of double agent - or she has a body double, for she can be seen herself in the gym on both sides of Alice's speech, gingerly fingering an outsize carving knife .

Meg goes out to the gate to meet Marty: he tells her he's left the Navy. Julie comes round but the LSD has taken effect: the Pears soap poster with the frilly little girl and the dog looks even more kitschy than usual. Lorelei defends Joan against the other women and courts Rita's disapproval for doing so. Under the influence of LSD, it seems to Julie as though Auntie Ida has put on a mask only slightly more frightening even than her own face and Alice's muscle man poster lokks starngely familiar . Joan is surprisingly pleasant to Lorelei when she catches her out of her rostered area, but nevertheless asks her to keep quiet about "the business in Brisbane". Meg takes Marty to the staff room to catch up on his news. Julie wanders into Lorelei's cell: Lorelei realises what is wrong with her and makes her sit down while she goes for help, but Julie wanders off again. Nancy is sent to find Julie before Joan catches her. Kath hands the drugs over to Janet and asks her to pass on to their potential supporters that they will be handing out free cocaine at the lunch break. When Marty returns to the car waiting outside Wentworth and talks to his friend Dave, it becomes obvious that he is keeping something secret from Meg. Julie hallucinates Steve and his mother (both haloed in purple ) criticising her dress and cancelling the wedding as she is far too common. Nancy catches up with Julie when she bursts into the kitchen looking for Steve, but Julie grabs a knife and Nancy is hurt trying to take it from her. Julie runs outside and hides in a garbage container . Meg and Joyce look for Julie as the garbage van arrives and starts to load up, but Meg hears Julie's screams and stops the truck. Joan tells Kath her muscle will be arriving later the same day, and warns her of an impending cell search. Rita clams Lexie down and stops her from going off to bash Kath immediately by pointing out it would be better to leave it until after the cell search when Kath would have been deprived of the cache of weapons she is hiding. Kath tells Janet to collect all the drugs and weapons and to bring them to her cell: Joan searches Kath's cell and passes it as clean. Steve comes to visit Julie and he and Ann agree that she would not have taken LSD willingly. Rita is disappointed when Ann announces that nothing was found in the cell search. Rita decides she will beat Kath until she hands the drugs and weapons over. Kath rallies her supporters in the gym. Ann appeals to Joan not to press for Julie to be reported, but the furthest she will go is to promise to ask her informant. Rita and Alice go to the gym to confront Kath, but Kath lets them know she has a knife, and all her supporters flourish their own weapons (Lorna has a particularly vicious looking champagne flute...). Rita agrees to a fight between a selected person from each side. Joan phones Mrs Ryan to tell her Julie is fixed: Mrs Ryan promises to deposit the money in her account. Joan brings Kath her new cellmate, Merle Jones, and obligingly backs down when Kath stands up to her over whether Merle can pin her comics to the notice board . Lexie reports Merle's transfer to Kath's cell to all the women in the laundry - among the various reactions to the news, Alice alone is supportive and says Merle is OK if you don't get her too excited. Mrs Ryan is on her way to the bank, but changes her mind when Steve tells her that the marriage will go ahead in Wentworth as soon as possible. When Kath expresses surprise at Merle being supplied as backup for her, saying she seems no more than "a big dumb kid", Joan tells her that Merle hospitalised someone for tearing one of her comics, and rips one herself , suggesting to Kath that she blame Rita for it.