Trivia / Prisoner: Cell Block H

• Ascended Extra: Quite literally in more than one case.
  • Martha Eaves has no lines at all in her first few appearances, before being escalated to a background "heavy". She then suddenly takes pivotal roles in two major storylines in quick succession.
  • Actress Jentah Sobott appears as a non-speaking extra in several episodes before finally being credited as Mouse (the character's full name being Heather Trapp) in episode 106. Usually seen as a background or secondary character when more established characters are unavailable, she eventually begins to feature in some of the show's biggest storylines.
  • Having been a background/secondary character for most of the show's run, Phyllis Hunt is suddenly elevated to centre stage from around episode 390.
  • Prison officers Joyce Barry and Colleen Powell, while both getting lines from their first appearances, are not given names until several episodes in. Both eventually become long-term regular characters.
• Acting for Two: In a way Pepe Trevor plays the younger version of Jessie Windom in a photograph.
• Banned Episode: The character Edna Pearson was edited out of the show. Her storyline was she was in for attempted murder of her second husband, she seems like a harmless old woman however she accidentally says something to Marlene and attempts to poison her, however it turns out Marlene wasn't listening and the attempts only make her ill. She was freed after a appeal and afterwards the others realise the truth.
  • The character was removed from the story because of a legal threat from Emily Perry, who claimed that the plot was too similar to her own. her own case. Although the character was removed from the show, the uncut storyline was screened internationally, and a special DVD of the story was released in the UK.
  • Also Episode 326-327 was banned in Prisons after a real prison copied the fire exactly as in the episode.
  • Unsurprisingly Salt Lake City banned the whole series.
• Breakaway Pop Hit: The song "On The Inside" sung by Lynne Hamilton was a big hit and made it to the Top 10 charts.
• Butt-Monkey: A few, but most extremely, Doreen Anderson/Burns, who, within barely six months, is reunited with her long-lost mother, only for her to die of cancer days later; loses both her job and parole due to the drunken antics of her best friend Lizzie; gets married, only to be raped during a work release programme and get pregnant by her rapist (she loses the baby and is told she is unlikely to conceive again); and loses her husband when she reveals she also consensually slept with her rapist to win him a work contract (she fails).
• Cast the Runner-Up: During the audition process, Maggie Kirkpatrick and Val Lehman both tried out for the role of Vera Bennett. However, the casting decision ultimately resulted in Maggie being cast as Joan Ferguson, and Val being cast as Bea Smith.
  • Colette Mann was also a candidate for the roles of Lynn or Marilyn.
  • Janet Andrewartha originally auditioned for Bobbie Mitchell.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome:
  • Welfare officer Jean Vernon is last seen in episode 56, having supposedly temporarily moved out of Meg Jackson's flat to housesit for a friend. Although she is referred to by several characters in subsequent episodes - usually those on or awaiting parole - when social worker Paul Reid arrives in episode 85, Mrs Davidson instructs that he be shown to "Miss Vernon's old room", with no explanation of where Jean has gone, or any further mention.
  • Not a strict example, in that her departure is (very briefly) explained, but Catherine Roberts is a major focus of episodes 18 - 24, before disappearing with no resolution to her storyline. A couple of episodes later, Erica Davidson refers to "transferring Catherine Roberts upstairs" in a reshuffle of the cells.
• Creator Killer: It has been suggested that a "Prisoner" Curse exists, as many of the show's cast struggled to secure roles after their time on the show ended. Some actors, such as Philip Hyde who portrayed Rodney, took on one final role before retiring, while others like Wayne Jarratt and Taya Straton passed away at a young age. It is important to note that many of the actors came from a theatre background, which may explain their limited opportunities in the television industry.
• Dawson Casting: It's interesting to note that some of the actors portraying characters in the show were actually older than the characters themselves. For instance, Janet Andrewartha played the role of the teenage Reb Kean, despite being 32 years old.
• Dead Artists Are Better: When prisoner-turned-painter Kerry Vincent is found after an overdose by her agent, David Austin, he not only leaves her to die, but steals the remaining paintings from her flat. He then tries to buy one Kerry gave to Doreen Burns as a wedding present before the news of Kerry’s death breaks. Social worker Paul Reid realises what’s going on and helps Doreen get four times the original asking price from Austin - before casually revealing that he also found Kerry and that she’s alive.
• DVD Commentary: The release of the series on DVD has several commentaries for certain episodes. A great recommendation is the one done for the final episode with Glenda Linscott who played Rita Conners and Lois Collinder who played Lurch.
• Dyeing for Your Art: Janet Andrewartha's hair came down to her waist but she cut it for Reb Kean's James Dean look.
• Fake Nationality: Australian actors played several foreign characters. For example, Arna Johansen.
• Hostility on the Set: According to reports, Val Lehman and Elspeth Ballantyne did not get along. It was said that Val was given travel expenses because she lived 20 miles away from the studio, which was a benefit given to all the cast members. However, Val moved closer to the studio without notifying them, and Elspeth reported her actions, ultimately damaging their relationship.
• Insane Troll Logic: When Lizzie Birdsworth complains to a Visiting Justice about the screws killing her pet cockroach, Clarry, lamenting that “I trained him to whistle and everything”, the VJ asks the governor whether Lizzie is “entirely sane”. Lizzie cuts in with “Of course I’m sane! You don’t think a nong [Australian slang for idiot] could train a cockroach how to whistle, do yer?”
• Keep Circulating the Tapes: Although the show has been released on DVD, some episodes have undergone minor edits due to timing issues or tape damage. As a result, fans have shared videos on YouTube that feature the missing scenes.
• Killed by Request: Carol Burns played the character of Frankie for the duration of the original miniseries. However, when she learned that the show was going to be extended, she requested to have her character killed off to ensure that she would not have to return.
  • Anne Phelan asked for this after they refused her request for more money (since Betty Bobbitt left the show Anne felt she deserved a raise for taking over the character's responsibilities). Instead they created the Ruth Ballinger sleigh where Myra Desmond dies protecting her friends. Phelan was entertained in the fact that the siege was the most expensive to shoot.
• No Budget: The show was done cheaply and it shows:
  • Wentworth Prison resembled the Grundy Studios, complete with bars on the false windows. Interestingly, during a rooftop scene, all the satellites were visible.
  • The sets were sometimes wobbly and the cast were really doing their own stunts unless it was really dangerous.
  • Most of the cast had to do their own hair and rarely did they wear makeup unless it was in the script or the character was ill.
  • Most of the dining room scenes were shot together but this regularly ended up with stale food.
  • With Marie Winter's escape by helicopter, it's clear that a dummy has been used.
  • It is not uncommon for characters to appear and disappear in a show due to salary disputes with actors. Sometimes a character may be written out, only to return once the financial issues have been resolved.
• Only So Many Canadian Actors: Famously many of the cast would later appear in other Aussie Soaps like Neighbours and Home and Away; in fact some of the longest or iconic running characters in those soaps came from PCBH.
  • However when it came to casting Wentworth the creators made the choice not to cast big names like Val Lehman or Amanda Muggleton into the show; instead they cast Anne Charleston who had appeared in minor parts. Since then 13 actors from PCBH have played in Wentworth.
• The Other Darrin: Characters were regularly replaced throughout the series, sometimes due to illness.
• Real-Life Relative: Bea Smith's daughter Debbie is played by Val Lehman's real-life daughter Cassandra.
  • Also Val's younger daughter Joanne played the schoolgirl Yvonne.
  • Also the dog that Vera Bennett briefly looked after was Fiona Spence's real pet dog.
• Recycled Script: Several examples, riots and fires were copied, Bea branding Nola was repeated later on by Myra to Frank Burke.
• Referenced by...:
  • On Fast Forward they sketch with Wentworth Prison now privatised to become a Jenny Craig Weight Loss Prison, with Jane Turner ^note who had played Belinda Johns in Prisoner as Lizzie Birdsworth and the cast speaking off set with posh accents.
    • Jane would reprise Lizzie in their Lux Soap commercial series.
  • The Paul Hogan Show had Paul Hogan playing Frankly Doyle.
  • On ''Let the Blood Run Free'’ Nurse Pam Sandwich and Matron Dorothy Conniving-Bitch are sent to Wentworth Prison. Eagle-eyed fans of Prisoner Cell Block H will notice the original costumes and possibly some of the original set were used as well as the Driscoll House.
• Rerun: There have been several reruns:
  • In Britain Channel 5 began screening the whole in 1997 despite the fact ITV was still broadcasting in some places, the Five rerun is famous for it's witty quips during the credits and the sponsorship by Pot Noodle with sketches of collapsing sets and misbehaving props.
  • The show has been re-aired in Sweden with fans requesting it.
  • After several short lived attempts before, Australia finally reran the show on Channel 111 in 2010 promoting it with a campaign which included a Cast Reunion and a new version of "On the Inside" by Ella Hooper.
• Romance on the Set: Peta Toppano and Barry Quin played love interest onscreen and were married for 10 years.
  • Fiona Spence met writer Denise Morgan on the set and they were together until Morgan's death in 2011.
• Screwed by the Network: When the series was first shown on ITV depending on which part of the country you lived PCBH was shown differently, some regions showed the whole series but others wouldn't start at the beginning and others ended with episodes to spare.
• Shown Their Work: The original miniseries had consultants and the cast visited Pentridge, however after the series was extended, the consultants left meaning any mistakes is due to lack of information.
  • Myra Desmond's actress Anne Phelan made sure that whenever Myra was hurt, she walked like she was injured throughout the episodes until she would have recovered.
• Spin-Off: There has been a few spin offs:
  • First off there was a short-lived male version^note read: Spear Counterpart called Punishment, which starred Mel Gibson.
  • During the early run, a special called Prisoner in Concert was made in 1981; it starred Betty Bobbitt, Jane Clifton, Sheila Florance, Val Lehman, Colette Mann, Gerard Maguire and Patsy King reprising their characters for the prisoners of Pentridge Prison, singing songs and doing sketches. It was terrible in the League of The Star Wars Holiday Special and unsurprisingly only incomplete copies can be found online.
  • There is Wentworth which is a re-imagining.
    • There is also a Dutch remake of Wentworth called Celblok H.
  • There was two US translations there was Willow B: Women in Prison, which wasn't picked up and Dangerous Women which was written by Prisoner's writer Reg Watson but only lasted a series.
  • In 1997 Hinter Gittern – Der Frauenknast was produced in Germany and was very successful lasting 10 Years.
    • There was also a Turkish Remake of Hinter Gittern called Parmaklıklar Ardında (Behind Bars).
  • Also there was two stage productions in Britain:
    • The first was a Play based on the original TV scripts it starred Elspeth Ballantyne and Patsy King reprising their roles with Glenda Linscott (Rita Connors in the original now as new character Angela Mason), an second tour starred Fiona Spence and Jane Clifton and Jacqui Gordon (Susie Driscoll now playing new character Kath Evans).
    • There is also a Musical of it with Maggie Kirkpatrick reprising Joan (the Freak) Ferguson and starring Lily Savage (Paul O'Grady), this retelling was based on the camp aspects but was a big hit.
• What Could Have Been: Googie Withers who played the Governor in Within These Walls was offered Ericia Davidson.
  • The character of Monica Ferguson played by Lesley Sharp was to return and it was discovered that she was related to The Freak, however knowing that the character had no reason to return they wrote Joan’s niece to appear briefly and Lesley played Belle Peters
  • Val Lehman, upon learning about Bea's creation of the Zip Gun, expressed her concerns to the director about the potential dangers of portraying it on screen. She made it clear that she would not be involved in its depiction, as it could inspire children to replicate the weapon. As a result, the scene was ultimately removed from the production.
  • When Joan and Sonia Stevens made plans to remove Bea from Wentworth, Joan hinted that Barnhurst might not keep her. This implied that Bea could possibly return to Wentworth, which was something that Bea had mentioned in her letter to Lizzie. However, Val Lenham was hesitant to allow Bea's return unless she could get rid of the Freak, which was an impossible task for the writers. So, Bea passed away instead.
  • Bev Baker's actress Maggie Dence said that her contract was originally planned for 3 months and she was going to creep The Freak out but due the darkness of the story, The Beast was cut short.
  • Joan Ferguson befriended a man called Andrew Hinton, they start to become close but in the end he is killed due to Ferguson's work with a crime lord. The director didn't realize Joan's sexuality until Kirkpatrick told him.
  • When Joan left Wentworth only for her to find former inmate Willie Beecham is her boss, originally it was meant to be Chrissie Latham but Amanda Muggleton was unable to reprise but the lines were only slightly changed.
    • It makes sense that Chrissie would say "It's been a long time Freak" especially since Willie had only been out for a year.
  • It's clear that the final episodes were not going to be the last as there was new characters added to the series and the writers revealed that Joan's arrest was always going to be the season 8 finale but an 9th season was planned with Joan being murdered.
  • Pamela Rabe revealed in a interview that she was given a offer to appear in Prisoner but she was unable at the time.
  • Also there was two failed Spin-Offs planned:
    • First off there was to be a series for the character of Pixie Mason.
    • Near the end of PCBH, there was talk of a spin-off set in Barnhurst, attempts were made for the show to have Prisoner characters and it wouldn't have started where PCBH left off.
• You Look Familiar: Regularly the same actors would reappear as different characters. Key examples include:
  • Kirsty Child, who played corrupt officer Ann Yates and later prisoner Willie Beecham. As Yates was later jailed, Child has the distinction of having played an officer, a prisoner and an officer who BECAME a prisoner.
  • Margot Knight played prisoner Sharon Gilmour and officer Terri Knight.
  • Maria Mercedes played two different inmates - Irene Zervos and Yemil Bakarta.
  • Lesley Baker played Monica Ferguson, and later Belle "Tinker" Peters; notable as Baker had turned down a return to the role of Monica only a few months previously.

---