Episode
Prisoner: Episode 193
Overview
Bea and the others are keen to know how Doreen's day out went. She tells them Peter wasn't what she expected, and that Erica had taken away her phone privileges, but not the rest of it. Judy suggests Doreen carries on writing to Peter, just as a friend. Meg's boss Mr Muirhead asks for a report for Child Welfare on Chrissie and Mick as parents, and she says she can give them a positive recommendation. Vera sets to with a will censoring the mail and finds a "pornographic" magazine addressed to Angie Dobbs . She hands over the letters to the women with a thumbnail sketch of the contents of each one. When they protest and ask why the mail has been censored, she suggests they ask Doreen. Doreen has to explain the bit she left out before. Erica explains to David the reason for her apparently harsh decision to make an example of Doreen.
Details
- Series
- Prisoner
- Season
- Season 3
- Episode
- Episode 28
- Air date
- 1981-05-12
- Runtime
- 47 min
Episode context
Episode 193 is Episode 28 in Season 3 of Prisoner. It aired on 1981-05-12. The runtime is 47 min.
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Episode 27: Episode 192
Chrissie lays into Mick as soon as she's through the front door of the new flat , accusing him of only being nice to her as a way of getting her to have sex with him. She changes her tune immediately she hears that he's arranged a visit to Elizabeth. Vera finds herself outnumbered in a discussion of how to handle Bea after her break-up with Ken - oddly she seems to be the only one to favour sending Bea to solitary. Chrissie tells Mick she doesn't want anything from him. Doreen tells Judy she's done something stupid: not only has she got herself a pen friend through a lonely hearts' club but she's painted a very flattering picture of herself and can't work out how to satisfy her pen friend's request for her photo without revealing the truth. Judy asks Meg for help and she agrees to bring in a Polaroid camera from home. Mick and Chrissie visit the children's home: the wire fence around it appals Chrissie and she says it looks just like a prison.
Episode 29: Episode 194
Judy urges the women to stick together and support the strike: only Doreen mutters grumpily that she can't why they should put themselves out when it seems to be largely for one person's benefit. Jim finds out about the strike when he finds the laundry at a standstill and the women refuse to obey his direct order to return to work. Chrissie starts packing and tells Mick not to answer the phone when it rings. But he does and it's Meg, who tells him there's only an hour to go before the police are called in. The women amuse themselves by chucking wet sheets around in the laundry. Meg calls round at the flat and manages to persuade Chrissie to take Elizabeth back. Erica refuses to give in to the strikers and tells Jim to have the women locked in their cells. The police are already waiting when Meg, Chrissie and Mick arrive outside the home, but the matron decides not to take the matter any further. However, one of the detectives thinks he's seen Mick somewhere before.
More episodes from this season
Episode 26: Episode 191
Bea refuses to talk to Ken on try to persuade him to give up his work for the PRG, but Debbie says she won't allow Bea to stand in the way of her parents getting back together. Lizzie interrupts Bea in the middle of an extended flashback to her scene in the storeroom cupboard with Ken: Bea is obviously still in her daydream when she asks Lizzie if Ken would ever say something he didn't mean. Lizzie agrees that he wouldn't which confirms Bea in her opinion that she ought to try to fight for whatever relationship she can have with Ken. Vera tries to bring Bea down to earth by telling her that she's been talking to Debbie, and that she vowed never to let Ken see Bea ever again: Meg overhears and tells Vera she should know better than to bait a prisoner. Debbie gets Ken to agree to have her mother come to stay - ostensibly to help her shop for the wedding. Bea gets Erica to agree to an unsupervised visit by pretending that she only wants to do what Debbie asked.
Episode 30: Episode 195
Chrissie phones Meg at work to tell her about Mick's arrest and that she is in danger herself of being charged with harbouring a fugitive. Colleen tells the women that none of the officers are opposed to projects for the women in principle - only if they are going to cause more work. Erica accuses Vera of hypocrisy for spouting the Union line, but has it thrown back at her when she isn't willing to promote Colleen on the grounds that she isn't ready for the responsibility: Vera accuses her of really being worried by Colleen's Union position. Phyllis brings some dirty washing from the workshop, and is sent off to get some tools for Bea, who reckons the best way to undermine the officers is to create a lot more unnecessary work for them. Meg manages to convince the detective that Chrissie didn't know Mick was an escapee, so she is allowed to go without being charged.
Episode 25: Episode 190
No-one will talk to Bea in the rec room, though Hazel and Chrissie pointedly talk about her as if she wasn't there, provoking Bea to speak up in her own defence, but this only leads to a shouting match. When Vera breaks it up, Chrissie demands to see the Governor immediately to ask for another unsupervised visit from Mick to make up for the one she lost. Erica refuses and points out she is being very short-sighted to create so much trouble with her parole coming up. After a promise of a visit the following week if she is still inside, Chrissie calms down, but while Vera is showing her back to her cell, she manages to turn her against Bea again by pointing out that Chrissie is very unlikely to get her parole, so why should she worry about jeopardising it? The argument between Chrissie and Bea duly resumes, this time developing into a real fight: Vera takes Chrissie off to solitary gloating that now she will certainly lose her parole.
Episode 31: Episode 196
The corridors are silent when Jim and Colleen check up later, though the din resumes after their dialogue. The women are taken for their showers a few at a time next morning and are then locked back in their cells. Chrissie tells Meg that the only way she can get Elizabeth back now is to earn a little money on her own account: she goes for a job in a restaurant, but the owner sees through her claim to have references from New Zealand. Lizzie tells Bea she's too old to get involved in any protests. Meanwhile, Doreen is trying to calm down Judy by telling her that Bea has everything under control. After seeing an article in the paper, Chrissie's brother Derek calls on Meg to ask if he can help Chrissie, as he feels he let her down when they were kids: he offers to have Chrissie and Elizabeth live with him and his wife. Erica proposes to the officers that a round table discussion with the inmates might help, but Colleen demands that the officers are armed.
Episode 24: Episode 189
Chrissie returns to the laundry sobbing and Bea makes veiled remarks to Vera to indicate that she holds her responsible. Doreen predicts Meg will be back soon as an officer, just like the last time she resigned. Meg finds Chrissie in her cell in tears, but can't do anything more for her than promise to speak to Erica about arranging another visit from Mick. Bea writes a letter to Ken to tell him he can visit again and seals it with sealing wax. Erica hopes the issue of the paternity of Chrissie's child won't be brought up again as she's due for parole in a few weeks. Meg convinces Erica that supervised visits from Mick can't do any harm. A reporter arrives to interview Erica about the visiting scheme: her optimistic description is heard over the reality - Vera inspecting a child's rag doll to check it for contraband. Ted Douglas phones Meg to make an appointment to discuss her application.
Episode 32: Episode 197
Chrissie tries to convince Meg that the half-naked man fleeing her flat is an old friend, but Meg suspects she is back on the game and threatens to report it if Chrissie doesn't agree to visit Derek . Vera thinks the barricaded women should be forcibly removed, but Jim thinks they should just be allowed to get hungry enough to come out in their own time. He also suggests that Lizzie is left to wander around the building, as he hopes she will convince some of the women to change their minds. Sure enough, she goes to talk to Doreen and Lizzie and tells them about the Pentridge guards who have been brought in. Bea wakes up at Barnhurst and is greeted by Officer Roberts , who gives Bea a match for her cigarette by throwing across the cell and when Bea picks it up she sees that it's already been lit. Chrissie goes to visit Derek to find he is at the hospital: his wife receives a call from Derek to sya that their father has died.
Episode 23: Episode 188
Bob tries to apologise to Meg, but he still wants her to change her job. Lizzie is interviewed by the police about her escape and is warned she may face some serious charges. Meg tells Erica she wants to look for another job, but one where her existing qualifications will be sufficient. Erica agrees to make enquiries for her. Vera and Jim oppose the conjugal visits scheme, so Meg is given the job of organising the women to get the garden tool shed screened off and cleaned up for use as a visiting suite. Jim tells Vera it's pointless objecting to the scheme, and they can just rely on the women to ruin it without any help from them. Bea won't let anyone help clean out the shed, even though Hazel and Chrissie are keen. Chrissie's accuses Bea of being selfish and blocking the scheme just because she can't see Ken. David reports back to Erica and recommends that the visiting ban on Ken should be lifted.
Episode 33: Episode 198
At breakfast Judy, Hazel and Phyllis all "vie" for top dog, but it is only a ploy to make the staff feel that there will be too much unrest if Bea is not returned. Margo, who is going in for sentencing that day, doesn't want to be a part of it. She expects to get 4 to 5 years. Another "brawl" is staged in the laundry. Colleen reports it to Erica, but Erica merely says that fighting for Bea's place is to be expected. Margo gets 10 years and tells Judy she'll take part in anything. Jim broods to Meg about how badly he was treated as acting Governor. Meg tells him to do something about it. At a staff meeting, Erica says she wishes to form a Prisoner's Needs Committee. Vera, Jim, and Colleen exchange irritated glances. Back in the laundry the women continue to call each other fat and stupid until Margo snaps and genuinely bashes Judy. Judy is blamed and sent to solitary. Jim tells Vera he is looking for another job. Vera is delighted and wishes him luck.
Episode 22: Episode 187
Vera thinks that Lizzie hasn't escaped at all and that the women are hiding her to play a joke on the officers. Jim says the same thing to Erica, and Erica throws a fit of pique and has the women confined to their cells until Lizzie turns up - or the women admit what they are doing. Lizzie selects some clothes and a hat from a charity shop then pretends to have left her bag on the bus: the woman running the shop not only says she can take the clothes and pay for them later, but also give Lizzie two dollars from her own purse. Lizzie makes the money go further by buying something in a chemist's and conning the assistant into giving her change from ten dollars instead of the two she really gives him. Doreen predicts Lizzie will be back by the next day at the latest. David goes to Bea's cell to find out what's going on, as he suspects it's another trick to have his classes cancelled. Vera finds him and tells him off for straying outside his allotted area.
Episode 34: Episode 199
The driver of the police van is dead and the officer unconscious. A very disoriented Bea stumbles out of the van and walks away. Lizzie brings Judy breakfast in solitary and tells her Margo has taken over. A friendly driver discovers Bea by the side of the road. Bea can't remember where she is or how she got there but she must get home to her daughter, Debbie. The lady gives her a lift. Erica releases Judy from solitary and asks her to head the Prisoner's Needs Committee. When Judy learns that Bea is coming back she agrees to help all she can. Bev and Lil tear up Doreen's cell. Doreen agrees to give Margo her buy-up and place bets with her. Bea arrives at her house but finds it occupied by strangers. Judy comes into the rec room and announces Bea's imminent return. Margo tells everyone not to get too happy - the Big Red's not back on top yet. While wandering about the streets, Bea remembers an apartment number - #5.