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Introduction
A young woman is confidently walking through a busy street in Melbourne, Australia - smiling as she walks. The picture freezes and a prison gate slams over the image. We see two mugshots of the character.
A pretty blonde girl steps off a bus looking excited about something. She pauses on the bottom step, looks around and the picture freezes as before with the prison gate slamming shut over the screen...
A middle-aged housewife is outside hanging up her washing. Again, the picture freezes and the gate slams shut...
Episode Details
Prisoner begins with a chase through the corridors. Two officers are running after another inmate who then runs into another prisoner (Franky Doyle) and the first line is spoken "She bumped into me".
The scene cuts to the two young women from the opening shots. The blonde girl (Lynn Warner) and young woman (Karen Travers) are in the back of a security van being transported to prison. Lynn is crying and tries to explain to Karen that she's innocent.
Back in the prison, officers Meg Jackson and Vera Bennett have managed to catch their running inmate and lock her in her cell.
Lynn and Karen soon arrive at Wentworth Detention Centre and are greeted by officer Jackson. Reluctant to go inside, Karen is invited into the prison by Meg: "Young woman, are we to have the pleasure of your company or not?"
The two new inmates are inducted and ordered to strip and shower. Karen at first refuses to strip but is quickly persuaded by officer Vera Bennett who takes over from Meg.
Meanwhile, we are introduced to the prison doctor who is testing inmate Marilyn Mason's eye-sight. Marilyn has only came to see the doctor so she can get "stronger pills". Meg and Dr Greg Miller enjoy some light-hearted banter about Meg's sleepless night at home. Greg asks is Karen Travers has arrived and tells Meg that he's been following her case.
Karen is being examined by the nurse and is found to have cigarette burns on her back. She is taken to the showers by Vera but experiences a flashback of the crime she committed which made her end up in Wentworth.
Karen is led to the doctor's office to have the burns looked at. She passes inmates Doreen Anderson and Lizzie Birdsworth who are squabbling in the corridor about nail polish. Karen is surprised when she sees doctor Greg and it becomes apparent that they know eachother quite well. She tells Greg that she killed her husband.
Lynn is introduced to all of the other women in the prison Laundry room. Meg asks Bea Smith to show Lynn around. Bea suddenly remembers what Lynn is inside for - she kidnapped a child and buried them alive. Lynn tries to explain that she is innocent but Bea isn't convinced.
Karen is shown to her cell by Vera and is introduced to her cell mate Franky Doyle. Franky tells Karen that she's beautiful and makes a pass at her but Karen runs off. She catches up with Meg and tells her that Franky is an animal and she wants to move cells.
Meg takes Karen to the Governor's office. Governor Erica Davidson agrees to swap the cells around on this occasion. She tells Meg to move Doreen out of Franky's cell and move Karen to a single cell.
Lynne has her prison mugshots and fingerprints taken at reception, where she bursts into tears again.
Doreen goes to Sally's cell where Vera and Meg locked her into after she was running around the prison. Sally asks Doreen to get Vera.
Lizzie and Franky are playing cards in the Recreation room but it doesn't last for long. Doreen is told by Vera that she's moving to another cell. Franky isn't impressed with this and goes wild in the Rec Room, destroying everything in sight!
Karen collects her things ready for her cell shuffle. She's led to her new cell, Sally's old one. However, Sally has hanged herself inside the cell. Karen screams with shock. Sally's body is taken away. Dr Millar checks that Karen is okay, but she breaks down and they hug. Meg notices this and Greg tells her to keep it to herself.
Lynn is now outside talking to old time inmate 'Mum'. She helps her spray the insects from the plants growing in the prison garden. Doreen runs out and tells Mum what has happened with Franky and Sally.
An electrician arrives at the prison.
Franky is in Solitary and is visited by Vera. Franky tells Vera that Bea has a new nickname for her: "Vinegar Tits".
Bea, Doreen and the other women are cleaning up the mess Franky has left in the Rec Room. Vera comes in and tells her that she isn't happy about the new nickname that Bea has supposedly given her. It doesn't take long for Bea to guess that Franky has given her the name. The electrician, Eddy Cook, comes to the Recroom to fix a switch.
Lynn comes back to the Laundry. Bea shows her how the hot iron steam press works but traps Lynn's hand on purpose inside the machine and burns it.
Karen is sleeping in her cell and dreaming about when she killed her husband. She stabbed him to death in the shower after she caught him sleeping with another woman in a scene not dissimilar to "Psycho". She is woken up by Lynn who has a severely burnt hand.
Eddie is now in the ceiling of the Rec Room. He tells Vera that the whole place needs re-wiring but he has really been up to no good with inmate Marilyn.
Lynn tells Mrs Davidson that Bea Smith burnt her hand in the steam press. She is moved from the Laundry for her own safety. She again pleads her innocence but Erica doesn't believe her. Lynn asks to make a phone-call.
Meanwhile Meg questions Bea about the 'accident' Lynn had in the laundry but nobody lets on that Bea had anything to do with it. Bea is told that her parole, tomorrow, is now in jeopardy.
Lynn's hand is bandaged up by the doctor. Mum comes in with the doctor's cup of tea and tells Lynn that it's sometimes best to ignore accidents.
Karen is brought again to her new cell, less the dead body.
Lynn is taken to the Governor's office again for her phone call. She phones the gardener at the household where she was charged for kidnapping the baby she was looking after. The woman, Mrs Bentley, answers and tells Mrs Davidson that the gardener no longer works there - even though we see him outside. The call ends and Mrs Bentley's baby starts to cry. She tells him to stop otherwise she'll put him "back in that big hole". Lynn is taken back to her cell.
The women are now all locked in ready for bed time. Franky is by herself in the solitary cell and starts shouting of Doreen. Doreen isn't interested.
Everyone is now asleep apart from Bea. Her cell door is opened by an officer we've not yet seen. Bea quietly sneaks out and runs along the corridor to Lynn's cell. Bea grabs Lynn and puts her hand over her mouth. She tells Lynn to shut up...
Credits
Cast
Lynn - KERRY ARMSTRONG
Meg - ELSPETH BALLANTYNE
Franky - CAROL BURNS
Lizzie - SHEILA FLORANCE
Erica - PATSY KING
Marilyn - MARGARET LAURENCE
Bea - VAL LEHMAN
Doreen - COLETTE MANN
Eddie - RICHARD MOIR
Greg - BARRY QUIN
Vera - FIONA SPENCE
Karen - PEITA TOPPANO
Mum - MARY WARD
Sally Lee - LISA ALDENHOVEN
Sister - BELINDA DAVEY
Doctor - WILL DEUMER
Mrs Bentley - ARIANTHE GALANI
Cheryl - TRACEY KELLY
Policewoman - MARCIA MACARTHUR
Gloria - KATIE MORGAN
Wayne - ROD MULLINAR
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Crew
Music composed by ALLAN CASWELL
Music conducted by WILLIAM MOTZING
Music supervision AUSTRALIAN SCREEN MUSIC
Production Manager VALERIE UNWIN
Casting KERRY SPENCE
Design MAL NICHOLS / IAN COSTELLO
Floor Managers RAY LINDSAY / BOB GILLOW
Technical Director HOWARD SIMMONS
Audio GREG GURNEY
Lighting LES SWIFT
Videotape Editor DAVID JAEGER
Director's Assistant PAM INGLIS
Studio Cameramen KEN MULHOLLAND
SIMON HELLINGS / NOEL PENN
Location Cameramen STEVE MANN / JOE BATTAGLIA
Props DAVID SMITH
Wardrobe JENNY CARMEN
Make-up VIVIENNE RUSHBROOK
Production Assistance PAM PEARCE
Executive Producer REG WATSON
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Trivia
The receptionist in this episode, although un-credited, was played by Reylene Pearce. She later starred as Phyllis Hunt in the series.
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