Series / Prisoner: Cell Block H

Sharon: Have I missed anything?

Tracey: Only the bleached blonde one accusing the ugly spotty one of being butch.

— Birds of a Feather, "Cheers"

An Australian soap opera set in Wentworth Detention Centre, a women's prison. It was loosely based on the UK TV Series Within These Walls. Despite original being written as a 16 episode miniseries, it ran for 692 episodes from 1979 to 1986.

The show's success in the UK spawned two successful stage spin-offs and helped pave the way for other Australian Soap Operas like Neighbours and Home and Away.

A Darker and Edgier and supposedly more serious Continuity Reboot (officially not a Remake), called Wentworth in Australia and Wentworth Prison in other markets, began airing in 2013.

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On the inside, the tropers grow...

• Alpha Bitch: Or, in Prisoner parlance, Top Dog. The Top Dog is the boss of the prisoners - controlling things as she sees fit. The position of Top Dog was usually the preserve of the smartest and toughest, and much sought-after. 'Good' Top Dogs usually serve as a kind of protector of the prisoners. 'Bad' Top Dogs might be in league with corrupt 'screws', or simply run rackets to line their own pockets.
• Ambiguous Criminal History: Doreen Anderson's criminal history is briefly suggested to indicate that she was in and out since she was younger but the full list is never given. Then there's Barbie Cox, a Dumb Blonde that has about three lines; even The Freak is lost for words when she reads the charges it has been suggested the writers didn't know why she was in jail.
• Antagonistic Offspring:
  • Pat O'Connell was in for aiding her husband and oldest son David's escape. She tries to go straight but her son escapes and she helps him again. However, he ends up shooting Karen Travers when he was aiming for Dr Millar who he blamed for alerting the cops and after his hearing goes bad he kills himself. Pat gets a happy ending; she appeals her first conviction, gets a divorce and is out on parole with her younger children returned to her.
  • Noeline Burke's whole family are thieves. Like she says to her daughter: they don't take charity, they just take.
  • Bobbie Mitchell is from a bad family and it explains her behaviour.
  • Reb Kean is very harsh to her rich parents, explaining that parental neglect caused her behaviour.
  • Nancy McCormack took the blame for the murder of her abusive husband by her son Peter. She finds the prison difficult, but in the end becomes a mother figure to the inmates. However after realising that her son has been abusing his new wife, she makes him confess and she is freed.
• Artistic License – Geography: Wentworth Detention Centre is basically like a reverse TARDIS.
• Artistic License – Law: Nola McKenzie is looking at Death Row back in Western Australia due to her crimes (see Driven to Villain) however, Executions were non existent the last being in 1967 and the last person on Death Row in 1984 was given life.
• Battle Cry: Rita Conners does this when she enters the jail.
• Being Evil Sucks: Joan Ferguson acknowledges this about herself and she hates the person she is.
• Being Good Sucks: Anita Selby, a nun, witnessed the other women framing Joan for attacking Lou Joan was suffering from blackouts due to a blood Clot on her brain. She tells the girls she has to lag on them. Myra (Top Dog) warns her of the consequences of Joan returning. It doesn't matter; she still confesses and asks the women to try and forgive her but they can't.
• Berserk Button: Doing time for dealing drugs? Better not let Bea Smith find out. Any kind of cruelty towards children is pretty much a shared berserk button for the prisoners.
  • If you are speaking to Ferguson don't insult her lesbianism or her father (after his death). Otherwise she will make your life a living hell until she can destroy you.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing:
  • One of the individuals mentioned is Helen Masters, a businesswoman in the make-up industry who has been accused of committing a hit-and-run. She displays arrogance towards other women and tends to voice complaints frequently. However, towards the end, she pledges to assist the prisoners. Despite being found innocent, she is actually guilty. Her assistant, who lied under oath, was fired as a result. He is now threatening to expose the truth. She admits that she cannot be retried and acknowledges that he would instead be sent to jail. Subsequently, she betrays the inmates on television.
  • There is Angel Adam. She is presented as a picture of innocence but in fact, she is a monster. Her grandmother suspects her of having murdered her own parents. Anger later arranges Meg Morris to be raped but the other prisoners cause her to expose her crimes, sending her to a mental hospital.
  • Then there is Eve Wilder, who is in for shooting her lover. She claims it was accidental when she shot him because he was leaving her. She manipulates her lawyer to hide evidence. She later beats Joyce into a coma for overhearing her admit the truth. Later, she tries to get the lawyer to murder Joyce. Instead, he writes a confession of Eve's crime before shooting himself. Later on, Eve turns out to be The Phantom Lagger which costs her her life.
• Breaking Out the Boss: Ruth Ballinger's husband, a crime lord, gets a group of terrorists to cause a siege killing a few prisoners and get her out. However Joan and police fool the group and Ruth is sent to Blackmoor.
• Breakout Villain: Arguably, Joan 'The Freak' Ferguson. Introduced in episode 287, she is probably one of the show's most recognisable faces.
• Broken Bird: A common trope for many of the prisoners and the officers.
  • Vera Bennett is a good example of this among the officers. Seemingly cynical and severe, Vera's problems all stemmed from her horrible mother's bullying.
  • The Freak might be a monster but she has spent her life trying to impress her father. Also she had a prisoner girlfriend who was murdered, leading to her stony behaviour.
• Butch Lesbian: Franky Doyle was the first. Joan Ferguson is another example.
• Cat Fight: The show was filled with them.
• Can't Hold His Liquor: Joyce Pingle got drunk very easily. She ends her husband's birthday party trying to answer her phone with her shoes.
• Chippendales Dancers: Twice: one comes for Bea Smith's birthday and the second dances on a van hired by Jessie Windom after her release.
• Code of Honour: No lagging!
• Cool Old Lady: Lizzie Birdsworth. She is a a mother figure for some of the women in the prison.
• Cordon Bleugh Chef: Mrs. O'Reagan was the cook for the early years. There were regular jokes about her terrible food and she blamed the inmates working with her. She finally left after being scalded by hot fat.
• Cross-Cast Role: Chrissie Latham's daughter Elizabeth is played by a baby boy. Lorelei Wilkinson's daughter Zoe was played by young twin boys, one of which refused to let the producers put him in a dress or make him carry a girl's doll.
• Cardboard Prison: Barnhurst is such a low-security prison that it doesn't even have a fence. It's deemed unnecessary as it's 10 miles from the nearest town, meaning the guards would pick up the prisoners.
• Contrasting Replacement Character: Throughout the series, there have been examples of this:
  • First off Vera Bennett and Joan Ferguson are meant to be the tough screws. Both like to rub their power in the inmate's faces but Vera only tortures them with words and rarely does anything risky, meanwhile, Joan isn't afraid to be physical and does dirty tricks for her own desire for power. Also, both characters have problems with their parents and are unlucky in their attempts to build relationships.
  • Well next up there is Bea Smith and Myra Desmond, both lived for their families, and both murdered their husbands due to both men's lack of respect for their families. Both also hate drugs and have relationships on the inside. However, while Smith uses physical action to control the women, Myra uses it as a last resort and tries to establish a democratic prison system.
• Crowd Chant: In the final episode the girls chant Ferguson revealing to her and the whole of Wentworth that they know she's there, possibly ending Rodney Adams' career at the same time.
• Dad the Veteran: Major Ferguson is a veteran of World War II.
• Dark and Troubled Past: A frequent explanation for how the women ended up in prison.
  • Paddy Lawson's mother was a cruel disciplinarian and locked her in a cupboard, which led to her claustrophobia and violent outbursts.
  • Chrissie Latham's father sexually abused her.
  • Bea Smith's daughter died of a drug overdose after her neglectful father kicked her out of the house.
  • Joan Ferguson's corrupt ways and hatred of prisoners stemmed from the murder of her inmate girlfriend.
• Deal with the Devil: Joan does this with Ernest Craven after he offers to remove Ann Reynolds and make Joan Governor. However she didn't realise this would mean the mental health of her old friend Lorelei Wilkinson who is in jail raped and falsely accuses Ann of making her say it. Thankfully it goes very wrong: Ernest pays with his life and Joan escapes firing and will remain a officer.
• Depraved Homosexual: It's highly suggested of Joan Ferguson, with her gloves.
• Dirty Cop: Jock Stewart and Joan Ferguson are the most notable examples.
  • Rodney Adams tried to be, but it was clear that the prisoners had control over him.
  • Also Ernest Craven is this at Blackmoor, then at Wentworth. Thankfully he gets his comeuppance when he is murdered by Lorelei after he threatens her again and she exposes his corrupt behaviour.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Vera's usual response to any overtures of sympathy or friendship.
• Driven to Suicide: We see this in the very first episode.
• Driven to Villainy: Again, a frequent backstory for the women.
  • One notable example is Nola McKenzie, who married young to escape her alcoholic, deadbeat family, only to find herself married to an alcoholic deadbeat who cheated on her and knocked her about. Couple that with a stultifying existence in the sticks, and you have a recipe for disaster.
  Nola: Have you ever lived on the Nulabol? There's nothing out there except lousy scrub and the trains going past. I used to stand on the veranda trying to keep the dust out of my eyes, watching the Indian Pacific go past. All those people going somewhere. And me, stuck in the middle of nowhere
  Chrissie: So why didn't you hop on a train and clear off?
  Nola: What with? He kept me broke. He blew every cent we had on booze
  Bea: And so you blasted him?
  Nola: Yeah. He was sittin' on the verandah crackin' tins by the dozen. It was stinkin' hot. He told me I stank. He laughed and called me a filthy slag. So I got his rifle, and I just kept firing\\.
  • We are meant to feel sorry for Nola also killing her husband's friend, a police officer, and due to being in Western Australia she was looking at death row. Then she escaped and committed armed robbery, framing Hazel for the crime. However Paddy found out and lagged on Nola, revealing the truth of who she was ^note  she'd used the false name Jean beforehand and she now faced deportation and her possible end. However she remains in Wentworth by drowning Paddy, making the sympathy disappear.
  • Another example (if brief) is Sarah West, the only Aboriginal prisoner. She grew up with racial abuse despite having a loving foster family. She is in there for arson and assaulting a cop. Once inside, she is abused by two prisoners who paint her white, so she poisoned the air conditioning. Rita Conners helps her understand that some of the inmates could have died. Sarah is counselled by Conners to stop being angry at the world and her foster parents reveal they found her real father^note  it turns out her maternal grandmother was looking after her, while her White father and Aboriginal mother worked. Someone alerted the authorities and despite her parents attempts to find her they never could. After Rita returns from Blackmoor, Sarah says goodbye and promises to be good and also visit her father.
• Drill Sergeant Nasty: Officer Fletcher might have had the military background, and initially seemed strict - but let's not pretend - this role belongs to Joan Ferguson.
• The Ditz: Doreen Burns could pass for this; Joyce Pringle can be sometimes and of course the perfect example, Pixie.
• Drugs Are Bad: Several characters die and Top Dogs and dealers end up badly:
  • Bea Smith lost Debbie to an overdose and would stop at nothing to keep them out of Wentworth. During her first time at Barnhurst, Top Dog Marie Winter has Bea's food doped with hallucinogenic mushrooms. Bea finds the trip terrible and finds the staff willing to turn a blind eye as it stops the inmates misbehaving. She bashes Marie.
  • After Lionel Fellows' gang gives Joan LSD, she has a nightmare of a trip, with her on trial with Meg Morris as judge, the jury being the inmates she harmed. It ends with Joan stabbing her beloved dog to death.
  • Reb Kean was dealing what she was told was cocaine. It was really PCP and after being given a overdose she smashes up her cell. The only good thing was it scared Bobbie off drugs.
  • Julie Egbert also had a bad trip, it was arranged by Joan to stop her wedding to Steve Ryan, she wanders around and nearly ending in her death in a Garage Truck.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: In the early episodes Lizzie was more Franky's friend and disliked Bea, also in the 16 first episodes Doreen was more of a background character but once the show was extended she was fleshed out.
  • Also Barnhurst was described as a medium security in early episode but by the time of the final series it's a low security, mixed prison farm that allows couples to be closer.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Well sometimes the hardest characters had a limit to their nastiness:
  • Joan Ferguson might be terrible, but she hated racism and slapped Rodney Adams when she found out he insulted Sarah West and her social worker. Also she hated Child Abuse; she found out about Ruth Ballinger's crimes she confronts her with stream coming out of her ears.
• Et Tu, Brute?: Regularly did they betray each other for their own profit.
• Evil Gloating: Joan, frequently.
• The Faceless: In Blackmoor, Joan Ferguson knows a contact called Cynthia Leach who helps Joan punish the transfers from Wentworth. However we never see her face when she appears and her voice is the only noticeable feature. This was because her actress had played a very iconic character in her previous appearance.
• Fake a Fight: Sometimes the women would pretend to fight in order for someone else to escape the guard's watch.
• Faking Amnesia: Lizzie tries this on the officers in an early episode; fortunately, Vera and Meg see right through Lizzie's attempt (and Meg even chuckles).
• Get into Jail Free: Judy Bryant does this in order to keep her relationship going with Sharon Gilmour.
  • Also could be Lizzie and Mum's first returns to Wentworth.
• Girls Behind Bars: Probably the best-known example, excluding Orange Is the New Black
• Great Escape: One of the great plots had the women digging a tunnel to escape Wentworth.
• Guile Hero: In the final few episodes Rita Conners has cancer and has Joan to escort her for treatment, while chatting she reveals that she planned to rob a Finance Company with the idea that she will fool the cops by pretending to throw the money to someone, but instead hide it in the toilets for someone to get later. The offer of $250,000 tempts Joan and they commit it. However Joan is arrested with the money and it's revealed that Rita double-crossed her and thus ends Joan's time in Wentworth.
• Hanging Judge: Mum Brookes was sentenced to 3 years for shoplifting, which seemed unusually harsh. However, there must have been a retrial, as she was released after a few weeks. This was one of several errors in the series.
  • In her appeal, Pat O'Connell argues that the negative publicity impacted the Judge's decision, resulting in an unfair sentence. As a result, her sentence was changed to run concurrently, and she was released within a few days.
  • Lizzie was wrongly convicted of the manslaughter of Kay White and was given a harsh sentence of 5 years. However, many people felt that the punishment was too severe. Lizzie appealed to the Judge, who showed understanding and reduced her sentence to 18 months.
  • Kath Maxwell was sentenced to life for her daughter's death but her situation was not helped by being taunted in court, lacking a character witness, and dealing with a biased judge who was dealing with a terminally ill wife.
• Hellhole Prison: While Wentworth was a harsh place, compared to Blackmoor, it was a palace.
• He's Back!: Well three in the series did characters return with memory loss and they might get a early release but in Wentworth it doesn't go smooth.
• Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Lots of these among the women. Two examples are: Chrissie Latham (if we overlook that one murder) and Marilyn Mason.
  • Also Jessie Windom and Mabel Morgan who clearly dote on Lexie Patterson, with Mabel caring for Lexie's dog while she's inside and Jessie going into to jail to protect her, the reason being that she is Lexie's biological mother.
• Hollywood Heart Attack: Lizzie does have a heart problem and has suffered a few heart attacks but also uses it to cover up prison dealings.
• Hollywood Psych: Laura Gardiner has Dissociative identity disorder (formerly known as multiple personality disorder). Her other identity is Brandy, a foul mouthed prostitute. Upon realising it Dr. Weissman cures her with hypnosis in a short time, which is impossible.
• Humiliation Conga: Joan goes through this everytime she becomes Govenor every time she hardly gets a chance to do anything when something happens that gets her ousted from the seat, however the last time it happens after Ernest Craven is criminal behaviour is exposed and Ann is cleared, she is returned to an officer and when she uses her biggest support Minster James Dwyer to curry favour with Ann for a further promotion Ann shuts him down warning him that Joan is guilty of much more and if he wants fewer scandals Joan remains an officer for the rest of her time there. Joan tries to find work outside of the Prison she discovers that Willie Beachman has blackballed her out of work, Joan tries to get help from Dwyer again but he realises that Ann was right so he forces Joan back to Wentworth and cuts ties with her.
• Improvised Weapon: Regularly, the women used their jug kettles as such. There was also the stream press to punish people. Also there's Bea's zip gun.
• Institutional Apparel: Wentworth inmates wear checked shirts and denim outfits.
  • Barnhurst inmates wear Green Jumpers.
• Karma Houdini: Where to start:
  • First there's Toni [McNally] who killed her husband's Lover, she causes a little bit of trouble for the status quo because she is part of Wentworth's underworld she can pull a few stings, at her trial she is acquitted due to her friends help dealing with the sole witness, however her luck runs out when Ros Coulson her victim's daughter shoots her.
  • Then we have Edna Pearson who is in for attempted murder she pleads that she's innocent and everyone including her husband believes her, however she is guilty and when she lets slip to Marlene Warren of her husband's foolishness she starts attempting to poison, she gets an appeal and is released during a BBQ when Marlene suffers from her poisoning. However after this everyone realises that she is guilty but is unable to prove it.
  • The longest example of this in the series is The Freak herself, each attempt the inmates or even the staff try to get her fired it fails either because what little evidence is destroyed or she gets ahead of them it thankfully starts to end in the last season.
• Luxury Prison Suite: The women fake this to try and convince the other officers that Ferguson is plying Hannah Simpson with luxuries in exchange for sexual favours.
  • Also Ruth had a nice cell.
  • But also there was the Reward Cell, part of Ann Reynolds' reform plan to encourage good behaviour.
• Mama Bear: Several of the older inmates become like mothers to the younger ones:
  • Lizzie Birdsworth takes the blame for the manslaughter of Kay White in place of Linda Jones whose parole was soon and so she could be free and be with her son.
  • Myra Desmond who was the second good top dog. She died during the Ruth Ballinger siege when she was given the choice of who died next and chose herself.
• Mark of Shame: Carried out by two Top Dogs. Bea brands 'K' for killer on Nola's breast with a soldering iron as revenge for Paddy's murder. Myra brands an 'R' for rapist on Frank's forehead as revenge for Pixie's rape.
  • Also after Lexie Patterson insults Joan Ferguson's recently dead father, Joan cuts her hair in anger leaving her with a boyish bob.
• Market-Based Title: The original Australian title was simply Prisoner, but in other markets the title was expanded to avoid confusion with The Prisoner.
• Mugshot Montage: Played out in the intro.
• My God, What Have I Done?: After the missing Anne Yates is found dead in a tumble dryer, Vera Bennett realised she closed the door when she ran past it and suffocated Yates but goes with the agreement that it was a accident.
  • Reb Kean after realising she has given Phyllis brain damage.
  • Lou Kelly's face after she hits Nora Flynn in the stomach, causing her a miscarriage.
• Never Going Back to Prison: Several of the inmates vow never to return, after they are released:
  • After Marilyn is back in due to returning to prostitution, Bea convinces Monica to give Marilyn and her boyfriend Eddie her Milk Bar to keep her straight which, from all suggestions, she did.
  • Pat O'Connell, manages to go straight once her original case is overthrown, and she is rewarded with her two younger children.
  • Monica Ferguson, realises in her second stint that her gambling husband will never change and so she reveals to Meg that she is going to Queensland away from him.
  • Sheila Brady is released and becomes a pop star but she considers Judy Bryant deserving of the royalties since Judy wrote the song for Pixie. Once Judy is released Shelia picks her up and they start a song writing career.
  • Lexie Patterson also leaves never to return partly because of The Freak's words reminding her that she needs to be a responsible Mother for the sake of her son also because of Jessie.
  • Bobbie Mitchell, a thief with anger issues due to a poor family life, stopped being so angry, makes friends with the officers and inmates, learnt a skill and fell in love while working on day release. She is paroled to a kind old retired officer and returns for a wedding showing off her old friends her engagement ring.
• Never My Fault: Ros Coulson, believes she shouldn't be in jail, but she still murdered Toni McNally for murdering her mother. She tries to escape but in the end accepts it and focuses on her studies.
  • Kay White refused to accept blame, she was a secretary at a factory where the women were working as a scheme and she was a gambler with the factory's funds, she ends up inside and some of the women want her to pay up, she ends up gambling bets she can't afford and is willing to blame anyone other than herself for it.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Bea Smith's end in Wentworth falls into this, she was never going to be released after killing Nola but it was a little idea from Sonia Stevens that sealed her fate Sonia convinces Joan that she frames Bea for the booze which Joan does then frames her for a fight sending Bea to the Pound while there she gloats Bea into attacking her which she adds more to make it worst and Bea is set to Barnhurst.
  • When Sister Anita Selby lags on the others for framing Joan it's clear no one will forgive her knowing that they will face not only Joan when she returns but will be seen as deceptive to Reno. To really add salt to the wound they take her accepting bail from the Church as her real reason for lagging.
  • Then Joan tries to be the hero for a change, when she sees the Terrorists trying to free Ruth Ballinger she ends up alerting the prisoners and the outside only for a Siege to start which kills several prisoners and afterwards Joan being targeted by Ballinger's gang.
• No Theme Tune: The show always opens with a brief recap, and then mugshots of a couple of the prisoners, with only the sound of a camera clicking. The theme tune used at the end, 'On the Inside', got to number 3 in the UK charts in 1989.
• Not Used to Freedom: Lizzie Birdsworth was in jail for 20 years, however she was freed after the real murderer confesses on their deathbed, however she is unable to live a normal life and ends up back in again several times she ends up released into her family after the parole agrees.
  • Also there was poor Mum who was released and clearly didn't want to leave. She is greeted by her daughter, who promises to give her a home just not with her, it turns out she told everybody including Mum's grandchildren that she was dead. Mum ends up back in Wentworth after deliberately shoplifting, but she finds a ally in her granddaughter and stays out again.
  • Then we have Ettie Parslow who spent 45 years behind bars without even a trial, she ends up freed with a decent compensation but she still thinks the world is the same beforehand, struggling to deal with the new world much like Lizzie and so she starts committing crimes to end up back. However once again she manages to adjust and plans to help others with her money.
• Oh, Crap!: There's been a many times this has happened:
  • During the first riot when everyone realises Bill Jackson (Meg's husband has been stabbed) look at their faces even Vera is scared of the outcome from this.
  • One example is when Margo Gaffney when she realises she has accidentally given Bea Smith her memory back and now has to deal with her afterwards.
• The Old Convict: Lizzie Birdsworth and Ettie Parslow.
• Out-of-Character Alert: When Vera is held at gunpoint in her home, she is made to call Terry her fiance, she remarks she feels ill maybe what her Mother had, Terry knowing full well that Vera's Mother is dead and gets Jim Fletcher to help remove the thug.
• Prison Riot: Almost too many to mention. The most notable takes place in an early episode, when Bea and Franky's rivalry reaches boiling point.
• Put on a Bus: Many times characters would either be transferred to either Barnhust (or any of the other prisons) or they are released, with their bus being them leaving through the main entrance. Sometimes they would reappear or were spoken about but most disappear from the series.
  • The best examples include Bea Smith who left for Barnhust twice, Chrisse Latham and Joan Ferguson (in the last episode).
    • However The Bus Came Back for favourites like Margo Graffney, Reb Kean and Doreen Burns.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Doreen confronts Vera in her own home, Doreen was working in a hospital and after Vera went with Chrissie to see Elizabeth Vera had remarked about Doreen's term in prison, resulting in Doreen being moved to another ward, Doreen upset dresses down Vera that if she died tomorrow nobody would mourn, when Doreen leaves Vera is really hurt by her words.^note  It doesn't helped that Erica upon finding out has warned, in fact promises Vera that if Doreen loses her job, Vera would be reported and if she displays similar behaviour again she would be fired.
  • Shelia gives Lexie one after she refuses to be a runner.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Meg Jackson/Morris, without a doubt. Even her anger towards the women after her husband's murder only lasted a couple of episodes. During a 72 hour stint as an inmate for contempt of court, Meg is immediately taken in by Bea and her gang, with Lizzie even claiming that Meg has always been on their side. Also Joyce Barry, despite her clumsy behaviour. Governor Erica Davidson certainly qualifies as well, always doing her best to treat the inmates fairly. She even helps with a scheme to attempt to get Joan Ferguson fired, knowing she's a corrupt officer.
• Reunion Revenge: When Joan Ferguson briefly left Wentworth and tried to get a job in security the boss seems to want to employ her for a speical job. The job has Joan forced to type on an broken typewriter and made to do the tea round. She confronts the boss it's Willie Beecham a ex-inmate who has gone straight, using her imprisonment to promote the business, she is now very powerful, she promises Joan that her friends will make sure she'll never get a job anywhere other than the prison and there's nothing Joan can do or say.
• Rough Overalls: A notable uniform for the prisoners is a pair of nylon overalls
• Serial Killer: Bev 'The Butcher' Baker.
  • Also Officer David Bridges.
• Shout-Out: The series was based on Within These Walls, a UK Prison Drama and several references are possible to see:
  • Within These Walls focused more on the prison staff and their private lives with only a few of the prisoners as focus.
  • The Liberal Governor in both shows clashes with the Hard Nosed Senior Officers about Prison reform.
  • Within's governor is a early Erica Davidson, in fact the actress Googie Withers was offered the part but turned it down.
  • Also Within These Walls had lesbian characters.
• Sympathetic Murderer: Karen Travers, who killed her adulterous husband in a sort of fugue-like state. Hard to feel very sorry for Bea Smith's husband, too. There's also 'Mum', who helped her terminally ill husband commit suicide.
• Situational Sexuality: Franky Doyle introduces herself to Karen Travers by telling her that she [Karen] will learn to enjoy prison.
• Slow-Motion Fall: Nola after she is killed by Bea with her zip gun.
• Tomboyness Upgrade: Bea Smith went through one near the end of her time at Wentworth.
• The Vietnam Vet: Reb Keane's friend Gary served in The Vietnam War. He doesn't take kindly to being lectured by Major Ferguson (a WWII veteran).
• Wardens Are Evil: Mostly averted with Wentworth, both Erica and Ann are firm but fair, however Joan was clearly planning to be this and Ernest Craven was this in Blackmoor.
• Whatever Happened to the Mouse?: Regularly characters were written into the show only to disappear, however there is a solution to them but these are the ones that don't:
  • One example where we really don't know is Sandy Edwards, she drove to be Top Dog causing a riot, then plays with Kate Peterson's madness and was going to finish her off behind the bins but she disappears. The character's disappearance was due to the actress being pregnant, however it's up in the air if she was murdered by Peterson or she escaped in the truck ^note  her actress revealed on the Talking Prisoner Podcast that she believes that Kate did escape and is still alive .
  • Sonia Stevens, was a policeman's wife who controlled the hookers, she replaces Bea Smith as Top Dog after she left for good, she began playing the prisoners and The Freak, she ends up being kidnapped by a gangster to get her husband out of hiding he faked his death and is nearly killed afterwards by the gangster, she escapes and is on the run when the police catch up with her... and the storyline ends there, fans still question what happened to Stevens.
  • The final episode ends with the fates of several character still unknown like Kath Maxwell or Rodney Adams it has been noticed that they are missing in the final scene.

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