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Recorded over ten years ago by ITV's Central region, this rare interview with Val Lehman, Patsy King and Glenda Linscott is now available courtesy of OTI for your reading (and listening!) pleasure! Here are some of the best bits featured plus some screen shots and sound clips (RealAudio).
Val Lehman (Bea Smith)
 The character you played in Prisoner Cell Block H was not the most gentle lady in the prison was she? Were there any drawbacks to playing such a strong character either professionally or personally?
Well only professionally on one occasion when I was making a telephone call in a very large inter-state train station in Melbourne. There were a group of about 5 youths aged between 18 and 20, and it was late on Saturday afternoon and they were coming home from the football - and they were drunk.
They tried to pick a fight with me and said things like "you're really tough on television, let's see how tough you really are" and so on. I ignored them and went to make my telephone call, and there was an answer service on - isn't there always? So I was very brief, and by the time I had finished they had managed to get into the phone boxes either side of me and were banging on the glass.
They were getting rougher and rougher, and it was frightening momentarily but I soon got over that and got angry. So I threw the door open of my telephone booth and walked up to the lad who was being the most vocal and said "Honey I can be a whole lot tougher!". They just melted and I kept on walking!
So that particular incident, the persona of the character I played worked for me because they were not quite sure just what I was capable of!
Do you think there's an aspect of the persona which makes people side with the criminals?
I think what it is, is that most people would like to punch authority in the nose and that's exactly what my character does all of the time. Everyone would like to do that, they'd all like to punch the taxation department on the nose... wouldn't we all! So because Bea does that, people relate with it and it's a great part of the attraction of the show.
 Listen to Val talking about her ideal acting role
Patsy King (Erica Davidson)
 Did you ever have any damn good laughs during the series?
When Vera and Erica were having arguments, we would crack up!
There was a time when Erica was shot, and it was the end of year cliffhanger. You know, what was going to happen next?
I had to stay where I had fallen because we were filming next year's episodes. The 'blood' they made was raspberry sauce and chocolate mixture which looked very realistic!
I was lying there for about half an hour or so, and they'd put a cushion under my head but all of the ants in the district had found out that there was this wonderful sweet sauce there and they were trickling along and attacked my arm!
Listen to Patsy talk about her storylines in Wentworth
Glenda Linscott (Rita Connors)
 Glenda, you played a prisoner called Rita in the last years of Cell Block H
That's right. I was in the cast which were told that the show was going to be finished, and I was extremely lucky to be playing the character of the Top Dog at that time. So they organised the end of the series to be centered around the conflict between my character and The Freak. So I had some fabulous scenes to play at the end!
It sounds like it was very therapeutic for you to be in as well?
It was everything for me. I was stretched to my absolute limits but I had the most wonderful character, the most fabulous cast ever. And I'm not joking, I made some life-long friends in that show.
It was something about the pressure of having to get your absolute best out, given what you had on the floor with those people, and your commitment to everyone who was involved in the show. From the floor sweeper to the director, everyone had to pull together to make this thing happen.
And you won an award for your portrayal?
I did yes! I didn't feel that question coming! In 1986 I won the Penguin Award for Best Actress, which is an award offered by the industry. This really meant a lot to be because it meant that my peers were saying "Well done, good on you Glenda. That was good work." so that meant a lot.
Would Glenda go back to Prisoner if it was remade? Listen to this clip!
© Central Televsion
Thanks to Barry for supplying this rare interview
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