[Favourite
Characters ]
[
Memorable Prisoner Moments ]
["On
the Inside" ]
I have a soft
spot for Australian TV shows after being well and truly hooked on The Flying
Doctors, and Prisoner is my number two favourite. There are almost
700 episodes (692 to be exact) and it's amazing to see the show run for such a
long time!
As a huge The Flying Doctors fan, I think it's great to see actors from that show appear in Prisoner. Terry Gill is an actor who appears quite a lot in both shows (The Flying Doctors' Jack Carruthers and Prisoner's Detective Inspector Grace), and other Flying Doctors-actors you can see in Prisoner are for instance Peter O'Brien and Beverly Dunn. Also, of course, regular Prisoner actosr have made guest appearances on The Flying Doctors, such as Colette Mann (Doreen Anderson/Burns) and Elspeth Ballantyne (Meg Jackson/Morris).
A bit strange perhaps, but I started watching Prisoner very late, the first episode I ever saw was episode 610 or 611. I immediately fell for the show, and lucky for me, Swedish television decided to send all the episodes again! Now I have practically seen all of the 692 episodes - I have nearly all of them on tape!!
Some of my
FAVOURITE CHARACTERS! [SPOILER ALERT for those of you who have not yet seen all the episodes!!]
Rita
Connors
The first top dog I saw, and my favourite! She is a cool gilr,
and it's easy to get to know her, but she is still very firm in her believes and
totally loyal to her bike club, The Conquerors. I also admire her a lot for
being the one to finally set up Joan 'The Freak' Ferguson!! The ending of the
entire show is very important to Rita's character, and I must say, it is
probably the best ending I've ever seen - both the ending of the show and the
end for the character!
Bea Smith
Of course! The first Wentworth top dog! She was a gutsy lady with a strong sense
of what was right and wrong behind the bars! After her daughter died from a drug
overdose, she became totally against any drugs, and made sure Wentworth didn't
have any problems in that department! Bea had run-ins with a lot of screws and
even more fellow prisoners, but it was finally Joan Ferguson - 'The Freak' - who
managed to get rid of Bea by transferring her to Barnhurst. There she became
Queen Bea as well, but tragically died when trying to stop a riot.
Lizzie
Birdsworth
Old Lizzie is a "Prisoner-classic", she's such a fun
character to watch!! Always looking for a good time - or a good drink!! There is
another side to her as well, which is lovely to see. Lizzie is almost like a
mother to Doreen when they are both on the outside, and she cares deeply for
both Doreen and Kevin. Lizzie really wants to have her own family, and one day a
woman appears at Wentworth, claiming to be Lizzie's daughter, Marcia. Lizzie is
overjoyed of course, but her friends find out Marcia is not Lizzie's daughter,
and they try to scare her off, thinking she only wants Lizzie's money. When
Lizzie finds out, she's devastated. Of course, she knew all along it wasn't her
real family, but she wanted one so much! Lizzie was in the show for a very long
time, and it was wonderful to see everything work out for her in the end!
Joan 'The
Freak' Ferguson
Antoher "Prisoner-classic"!! Ferguson is really awful,
but that's the charm of her charater. It is interesting to see what motives
drives her into doing the things she does. She does have occasional flashes of
humanity, even though they don't occur very often. I love the ending for this
character, it is so right and gives a great conclusion - both for the
character and the entire show!
Meg
Jackson/Morris
A very nice character, nicknamed "Saint Meg" by the
prisoners, who has gone through a great deal over the years, but always managed
to bounce back - she lost her first husband in a riot, her son ran out on her,
as did her second husband, she has been raped and beaten up, and she even ended
up inside Wentworth once, on a charge of "Contempt of Court". She is an
extremely strong character, which is something I admire a lot!
Lexie
Patterson
A nice kid grows up so much during her time on the
show! When she first arrived at Wentworth, she did some less pleasant things;
she was pretty horrible to Julie, she stole money from Joyce Barry and she
black-mailed Mervin Pringle! Still, when she became a true 'Wentworth Warrior',
she started to improve her manners and grew a lot as a person! Seing her with
her son, Julian Larry, was absolutely fantastic!!
Merle
Jones
A wonderful character, played excellentely by talented actress
Rosanne Hull-Brown! Merle isn't exactly bright, but she has the kindest heart!
Unfortunately, she is being exploited by both Kath Maxwell and The Freak (and
other prisoners as well!) and is eventually sent to Ingleside, the psychiatric
hospital, where she's kept heavily sedated all the time! Things change though,
and luckily, Merle has a "happy ending" on the show!
MEMORABLE
PRISONER MOMENTS!
Here I will try to write a little about some
memorable events from Prisoner. There has been quite a few of them of
course, and I will try to update this section when I get the time. If you miss
anything in particular here, please post a message to me in my Forum - or send
me an email - and I'll see what I can do! Thanks!!
[EVEN MORE SPOILER
WARNINGS!!]
The
Franky Doyle Riot (episode 3)
Franky wanted to take over as top dog
when Bea briefly left Wentworth - something Bea didn't approve of when she
returned. Franky managed to take Meg Jackson hostage, making Meg's husband Bill
(who worked as a social worker at the prison) very upset. The riot came to a
tragic and dramatic end, when Bill Jackson was stabbed to death! It was later
discovered Chrissie Lathan was responsible!
Jim
Fletcher's Tragedy (episode 109)
Jim Fletcher's old army friend,
Geoff Butler, was actually trying to kill Jim by sending him a home-made bomb in
a package. Tragically, the bomb killed Jim's wife Leila and his two sons,
Nicholas and Matthew, but left Jim unharmed.
Sharon
Gilmour's Murder (episode 116)
The disgusting officer Jock Stewart
was preassuring Doreen, Sharon overheard him and tried to blackmail him. So
Stewart pushed Sharon down the stairs and she broke her neck. The murder had an
impact on the show for quite some time. Shortly after the murder, when it had
been concluded it was an 'accidental death', the women started a riot, demanding
Stewart be charged with the murder. The riot ended when Leanne Burke fell down
the prison roof and died. Judy Bryant tried for a very long time to get revenge
on Jock Stewart and it took a lot of effort and a lot of pain, but she finally
got back at him - well and truly!
The Sandy
Edwards Riot (episodes 246-249)
With Bea in hospital, Judy and Doreen
in Barnhurst, Lizzie in D Block and a lot of harder security restrictions
inforced by the Department, it's up to Sandy Edwards and Marie Winter to let the
authorities know how they feel! During the riot, Officers Fawkner and Conway
were taken hostage. The riot was resolved when police stormed the prison with
teargas.
Sandy
Edwards' Murder (episode 264)
A very "mysterious" murder indeed,
since it was never proven that Sandy actually died!! Kate Peterson managed to
kill Sandy and dump her body in the garbage bin, just minutes before the garbage
truck arrived ... and nobody ever saw Sandy again!!
The
Wentworth Fire (episodes 326-327)
Bea was out to get 'The Freak', and
wanted a diversion in the form of a small fire. Things got out of control and a
good part of Wentworth was destroyed. Two prisoners died in the fire - Heather
Trapp (Mouse) and Barbara Fields - and the others were temporarily transfered to
Barnhurst. After the fire we got to see a new reception area, a new governor's
office and a new staffroom at Wentworth.
Bea Smith
Leaving Wentworth (episode400)
'The Freak' finally got
her own back at Bea, when she managed to get Bea transferred to Barnhurst. To
stop Bea from getting revenge, Ferguson threatened to make Lizzie's life a
living Hell!
Lizzie
Birdsworth Leaving Wentworth (episode 416)
After getting in touch
with her son and his family, Lizzie - once again - applied for parole. She got
it, and as it were, she finally managed to stay out of Wentworth for good!!
Colleen
Powell's Tragedy (episode 435)
Colleen Powell's entire family - her
husband, Patrick, and two children, Jennifer and Robert - were killed in a
horrible car explosion. The explosion was originally meant for Colleen's fellow
officer, Rick Manning.
The
Terrorist Seige (episodes 550-552)
One of the biggest men in criminal
circles, Arnie Ballinger, tries to free his wife from Wentworth. Things get out
of control, and the whole rescue operation ends up being a long seige with the
prisoners held hostage under terrible conditions. The seige also brought on the
tragic death of top dog Myra Desmond!
The
Blackmoor Riot (episodes )
When Rita Connors was transferred to
Blackmoor, she found her brother Bongo there, completely hooked on drugs.
Rita was very upset and when she realised Governor Craven actually sanctioned
the drugs being supplied to the prisoners, she started a riot! Craven actually
ordered one of his officers to shoot Bongo in the back, to get Rita to surrender,
but instead she set fire to the entire prison. She and some of the other
Blackmoor prisoners were transferred to Wentworth.
"The End"
(episodes 691-692)
Personally, I think this is the best ending of any
long-running TV show I have ever seen, and I will not write much about it, even
though I have spoilers elsewhere, I do not want to spoil to much
of this for those of you who haven't seen it yet!
Top dog Rita Connors is
having a really tough time, and seems to be turning to 'The Freak' instead of
her friends! Has she lost her mind completely, or does she have a hidden purpose?
He used to give me roses,
On the inside, the sun still shines, Last night I dreamed we were together,
On the inside, the roses grow.
I wish he could again.
But that was on the outside,
And things were different then.
And the rain fall down.
But the sun and rain
are prisoners to,
When morning comes around.
Sharing all the love we known.
'Till I had to face the nightmare,
Of waking up alone.
They don't mind the stony ground.
But the roses here are
prisoner too,
When morning comes around.
This page is part of a frameset!
If you can't see it, click here
to go to the main page!
Email:
jessiezorro@hotmail.com
©
Copyright 2006