EPISODES 1 - 4 (1979)
Paroled murderer Bea Smith shoots her ex-husband in cold blood and returns to Wentworth. She re-establishes herself as Top Dog after a violent showdown with arch-enemy Frankie Doyle. This leads to the death of the prison Social Worker Bill Jackson, Meg's husband. The killer of Bill is later discovered as Chrissie Latham who suffers her own punishment from the women, in the style of a very closely cut hair-do.
EPISODE 20
Frankie is shot dead by the police after going on the run with Doreen Anderson, who returns to Wentworth immediately to continue where Frankie left off. It doesn't last for long and Doreen goes back to her old ways.
EPISODES 81 - 83 (1979/80)
Young inmate Ros Coulson helps a gun-toting group infiltrate the prison and free a high-profile prisoner. Governor Erica Davidson is wounded
EPISODES 117 - 121
Corrupt male officer Jock Stewart evades justice for murdering one of the prisoners - Judy Bryant's girlfriend, Sharon. The women decide to take to the prison rooftop in protest. However it ends in tragedy when inmate Leanne Bourke falls from the roof to her death. Defeated again, the women end up back where they started from.
EPISODES 165 - 167 (1980/81)
A crazy mass escape is planned under cover of a show for local children. However, the escape tunnel running below the prison collapses, trapping Bea, Lizzie Birdsworth, Doreen and Judy as well as killing another of the escapees.
EPISODES 195 - 200
Bea is transferred to Barnhurst prison, but there makes an enemy of the women with her stance on drugs. She loses her memory and escapes when the van bringing her back to Wentworth crashes. She returns to Wentworth eventually however it takes a while before her memory comes back - but she manages to play on this for a short time.
EPISODE 224
Officer Vera Bennett (Vinegar Tits) is promoted to governor of Barnhurst and leaves Wentworth for good.
EPISODES 246 - 249 (1981/82)
Bea is in hospital undergoing surgery, so sly Marie Winter takes advantage of her absence to orchestrate a riot, holding new officers Steve Faulkner and Janet Conway hostage. The riot ends successfully with Officer Fletcher taking control - the prison is hurled with tear-gas in an attempt to stop the women.
EPISODE 287
Twisted Joan Ferguson - 'The Freak' - arrives and soon earns the suspicion of the other officers when she bashes one inmate, Chrissie Latham, senseless and scares the others witless with her countless 'body searches' and bending of the rulebook.
EPISODES 325 - 327 (1982/82)
Wentworth goes up in flames as part of a miscalculated attempt by Bea to get rid of Joan for good. The prison is badly damaged in the fire and the women have to stay in the mens prison until it has been rebuilt. When the women return to Wentworth, they also have to put up with Joan - who indeed was still alive (as well as Bea) and looking for revenge.
EPISODES 360 - 365
When Erica Davidson is sacked, officers Meg Morris and Colleen Powell vie with Joan Ferguson for promotion. A new face, Ann Reynolds is appointed instead and although takes a while to settle in begins to change the prison for the better.
EPISODE 400
Bea is permanently transferred when finally goaded into attacking the Freak. It's the end of an era for Wentworth and the women are faced with deciding on a new top dog and fighting Joan on their own.
EPISODES 416 - 426 (1983/84)
Having survived a lynching by the prisoners, Joan finally gets her chance as governor while Ann is in hospital. Lizzie has a heart attack when she discovers that the new officer Mr Bridges has been murdering the prisoners instead of helping them to escape.
EPISODES 466 - 467
Marie Winter returns in time to start another riot.
EPISODES 497 - 501 (1984/85)
Meg Morris and Ann Reynolds are kidnapped by a deranged relative of an ex-inmate and left to die in a booby-trapped building. They manage to escape un-injured but very shaken.
EPISODES 549 - 552
A terrorist group is holed up in Wentworth while attempting to free a drug baron's wife - Ruth Ballinger. Several women are brutally shot dead, including Top Dog Myra Desmond, in one of Wentworth's most alarming storylines. Ballinger is caught at the airport by Joan and a mob of police who almost shoot her dead.
EPISODE 590 (1986)
Future Top Dog Rita Connors arrives with a bang and makes an instant enemy of the Freak.
EPISODES 665 - 678
Joan succeeds in getting Rita sent to the hellish Blackmoor prison, but Rita burns it to the ground in a riot. The hideously corrupt Governor Craven is assigned to Wentworth, where he continues his vendetta against Rita and frames Ann Reynolds. Joan makes Governor when Craven is killed, but it all comes tumbling down when Meg and the other officers expose the situation on a current affairs programme on TV.
EPISODE 692 (the last in the series)
Rita has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and conspires with a disillusioned Joan to rob a building society. They succeed, but Rita has ensured that the Freak gets her final comeuppance...
Source: TVZone magazine
