Prisoner (TV series)

Prisoner
Created by	Reg Watson
Starring	Val Lehman Colette Mann Sheila Florance Amanda Muggleton Betty Bobbitt Patsy King Elspeth Ballantyne Fiona Spence Maggie Kirkpatrick Judith McGrath Anne Phelan Gerda Nicolson Janet Andrewartha Louise Siversen Glenda Linscott Lois Collinder
Country of origin	Australia
No. of episodes	692
Production
Running time	50 minutes
Original release
Network	Ten Network
Release	1979 – 1986

Prisoner is an Australian television soap opera which was set in Wentworth Detention Centre, a fictional women's prison. Because of its success in the United Kingdom, the series has become one of the most enduring in Australian television history. The series was produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation and ran on Network Ten for 692 episodes from 1979 to 1986. It was seen as an alternative to the British television drama Within These Walls which had achieved moderate success in Australia. Because of an injunction brought by UK based ATV who considered the title too similar to their own series The Prisoner, it was originally not possible for buyers to screen the show under the name Prisoner. Overseas broadcasters were able to retitle the show accordingly. It was broadcast under the title Prisoner: Cell Block H in the UK and the United States, and as Caged Women in Canada.

Background

Prisoner was created by Reg Watson, who had previously produced the British soap opera Crossroads from 1964 to 1976, and would go on to create such popular Australian dramas as The Young Doctors, Sons and Daughters and Neighbours. Initially conceived as a sixteen episode stand-alone series, the storylines primarily concentrated on the lives of the prisoners and, to a lesser extent, the officers and other prison staff.

The themes of the show were often radical, including feminism, homosexuality and social reform. When the series launched in 1979, the press advertising used the line "if you think prison is hell for a man, imagine what it's like for a woman".

The series had an extraordinary humanity, examining in detail the way in which women dealt with incarceration, and separation from their families. Within the walls of the prison, the major themes of the series were the interpersonal relationships between the prisoners, the power struggles, friendships and rivalries. To a certain extent, the mis-fits who found themselves within the walls of the Wentworth Detention Centre became each other's family, with Bea Smith (see below) as a mother figure.

Several lesbian characters were featured throughout the show's run, notably prisoners Franky Doyle, Judy Bryant along with prison officer Joan Ferguson.

Plot overview

Beginnings

The viewers’ introduction to the world of Wentworth Detention Centre involved the arrival of two new prisoners, Karen Travers (Peta Toppano) and Lynn Warner (Kerry Armstrong). Travers had been charged for the murder of her husband, while Warner protested her innocence after being convicted of the abduction and attempted murder of a child. Both women are sent to the prison’s maximum security wing (H Block) where they are horrified by their new surroundings. Karen finds herself face to face with a former lover, prison doctor Greg Miller (Barry Quin), and is sexually harassed by her violent, bullying lesbian cellmate Franky Doyle (Carol Burns). Lynn finds herself ostracised by the other prisoners because of her crime (prison populations are known for their intolerance torwards criminals who commit offences against children) and is terrorised by the prison’s “top dog”, the self-styled “Queen” Bea Smith (Val Lehman), who “accidentally” burns her hand in the laundry steam press in one of the series’ most iconic scenes.

The other prisoners are rather less volatile, including the elderly, garden-loving “Mum” Brooks (Mary Ward), a bickering comic relief double act with teddy-clutching misfit Doreen Anderson (Colette Mann) and old lag Lizzie Birdsworth (Sheila Florance), and seductive prostitute Marilyn Mason (Margaret Laurence), who entices electrician Eddie Cook (Richard Moir) into amorous encounters around the prison. The prison officers, or “screws” as they are called by the women, comprised the stern Governor Erica Davidson (Patsy King), flanked by the diametrically opposed sadistic Deputy Governor Vera Bennett (Fiona Spence), dubbed “Vinegar Tits” by the inmates, and compassionate senior officer Meg Jackson (Elspeth Ballantyne).

The early episodes are a potent cocktail of violence and mayhem - involving Lynn Warner’s punishment burning, another prisoner hanging herself in her cell, unrequited Sapphic passion, a fatal stabbing and a Psycho-inspired flashback sequence in which Karen Travers stabs her abusive husband to death in the shower. The first major story arc-defining event in the series is the turf war for top dog status between Bea Smith and Franky Doyle, culminating in a prison riot in which Meg Jackson is held hostage, and her husband, prison psychiatrist Bill Jackson (Don Barker), is stabbed to death by inmate Chrissie Latham (Amanda Muggleton).

Increase in production

Prisoner premiered in Australia on 27 February 1979 and instantly struck a chord with the audience, prompting the producers to extend the series from a sixteen-part serial to an ongoing concern. This decision immediately impacted on format and characterisation, and a number of changes were made to the series.

Most significantly, the series’ production schedule increased from making one-hour long episode per week to two episodes per week. This led to the departure of the show’s first breakout popular character, Franky Doyle, when actress Carol Burns chose to leave the series, feeling that she could not continue her portrayal with the increased production rate. Introduced as a borderline psychotic given to bouts of furniture-throwing violent rage, Franky’s character was explored through her unrequited love for fellow inmate Karen Travers, who warmed to her and tried to teach her to read, finally emerging as an unloved, illiterate, deeply frustrated social misfit and a tragic anti-heroine. Franky’s exit saw her escaping from Wentworth accompanied by Doreen Anderson, and shot dead by a policeman after being on the run for several weeks.

As the series began to gather momentum, new story arcs were introduced. Karen Travers decided to appeal against her sentence and was eventually released from prison, resuming her romantic relationship with Dr. Greg Miller and becoming involved in prison reform. As original characters began to leave the series (Mum Brooks, Lynn Warner, Karen and Greg all appeared beyond the initial sixteen episodes but had made their exits by the end of the 1979 season), new characters arrived: hulking husband basher Monica Ferguson (Lesley Baker), sneering career criminal Noeline Burke (Jude Kuring), idealistic murderess Roslyn Coulson (Sigrid Thornton) and imprisoned mother Pat O’Connell (Monica Maughan). Chrissie Latham, a minor character seen briefly in the early episodes, returned in a more central antagonistic role, and a new male Deputy Governor, Jim Fletcher (Gerard Maguire), added a touch of testosterone to a female-dominated series.

Bea, Lizzie and Doreen

As Prisoner entered into production for a second year in 1980, the long-term format and structure to the series established the previous year was perfected. The characters were made up of a recognisable set of archetypes. The prison population comprised a core group of sympathetic prisoners – a top dog, an elderly inmate, a wayward youngster – and other characters such as an antagonist who threatens the top dog’s control, a middle-class prisoner out of her depth in the prison, remand prisoners waiting for their trial and hired heavies used for “muscle” .

After the departures of early leads such as Franky Doyle, Karen Travers and Lynn Warner, the trio of Bea Smith, Doreen Burns (nee Anderson) and Lizzie Birdsworth emerged as the front-line prisoners. Bea was the tough, ambivalent yet maternal leader, softened after being a mostly unsympathetic character in the 1979 episodes. The death of Bea’s teenage daughter Debbie (Cassandra Lehman) from a heroin overdose not only explained her motivation for killing her husband on her release early in the series, but also explained Bea’s uncompromising hatred of drug offenders and clouded judgement whenever children were involved. Doreen was a well-meaning but inept tragi-comic figure and Lizzie was a mischievous elderly rascal with a dicky ticker and unquenchable taste for alcohol that saw her employed in comedy storylines, whilst also maintaining a more serious dimension, sometimes contemplating dying in prison. The Bea-Lizzie-Doreen dynamic was joined early in the 1980 run by Judy Bryant (Betty Bobbitt), an American ex-pat lesbian who deliberately gets herself imprisoned to be with her girlfriend, scheming drug dealer Sharon Gilmour (Margot Knight), who became a long-term central character and part of the core group of prisoners.

The mix of officers also established a template of character types. The progressive Governor Erica Davidson, whose approach to the job was to the right of warm-hearted warder Meg Jackson but to the left of the acidic Vera Bennett, with firm but fair Deputy Governor Jim Fletcher often switching sides between Vera and Meg. Erica herself would face an uphill struggle with untenable directives from her superiors at the Department of Corrective Services, represented by bigwig Ted Douglas (Ian Smith). As such, the storylines dealing with the prisoners’ everyday lives were somewhat cyclical – depicting harsh treatment leading to organised prisoner resistance remedied by concessions and greater freedom which the women would take advantage of, thus requiring a tightening of the prison regime.

As well as capitalising on the obvious voyeuristic appeal of showcasing life in prison, the storylines which drove the series used familiar elements — smuggling, personality clashes between the prisoners, staff politics between the officers, organised prisoner resistance such as strikes and riots, a range of issue-based storylines, court cases and police investigations and escape plots. The series also made good use of cliffhangers, often involving dramatic escapes, crimes, and catastrophes befalling the prison and its inhabitants. The stories also ventured outside Wentworth with episodes featuring the private lives of the officers and the struggles of newly released prisoners to adjust to life on the outside, including the forces that unfortunately led to recidivism. Bea Smith is released during the opening episodes, and with nothing and no-one on the outside since the drug-related death of her daughter Debbie, shoots her estranged husband dead to get revenge, thus ensuring her imprisonment for life. Elderly Lizzie Birdsworth is released when new evidence in her case reveals that she is in fact innocent of the poisoning charge she’d already served twenty years for. However, realising that there is no place for her on the outside, the institutionalised Lizzie deliberately commits a petty offence in order to return to Wentworth which, as with many long-serving inmates for whom the prison environment and rules turns into a way of life, had become home. Whilst the series did offer upbeat storylines where some characters, such as Karen Travers during the 1979 run, made it, it also made clear that for some, like Bea and Lizzie, prison life was the only option.

Unlike many other contemporary soap operas (Dallas, Dynasty, etc.), the characters and settings in Prisoner were predominantly working-class. The storylines humanised convicted criminals by showing that many of the inmates are inside for petty offences such as soliciting and theft and even those who are imprisoned for violent crime are largely depicted as victims of the system, of social inequalities and misfortune, people who never really much of a chance in life. Additionally, a majority of the characters were female, over-40 and — because of the show's setting — were not played by typically glamorous TV actors. The series was praised many times for the opportunity it gave actresses who, under more conventional TV circumstances, may not have been cast in leading roles.

The prison setting also blurred the conventional dramatic definitions of “goodies” and “baddies”. Whilst characters such as the principled, compassionate Karen Travers, the dignified “Mum” Brooks and the motherly lesbian Judy Bryant were all nominally more sympathetic than old lags Lizzie and Bea, Prisoner had no true heroines in the accepted sense and even the “villains” – bullies and stirrers like Franky Doyle, Noeline Burke, Monica Ferguson, Chrissie Latham, Sharon Gilmour and thuggish prison bookie Margo Gaffney (Jane Clifton) - were all shown to possess some redeeming characteristics.

Memorable storylines during the “Bea, Lizzie and Doreen” era of the show (late 1979-late 1981) included the 1979 cliffhanger involving a terrorist raid on the prison in which Governor Erica Davidson, an increasingly campy character somewhat resembling a St. Trinians headmistress, was shot and wounded. A long-running story arc involved Judy Bryant's vendetta against corrupt male warder Jock Stewart (Tommy Dysart) after he had murdered her lover Sharon Gilmour by pushing her down a prison staircase. Angry at the way the incident had been covered up by the authorities (a verdict of accidental death was recorded and Jock was sacked), the women rioted and held a rooftop protest in which Leanne Burke (Tracey-Jo Riley), the daughter of Noeline Burke, fell to her death from the roof. The subsequent efforts of Judy to avenge Sharon’s death and exact vengeance against Jock involved her escaping and working as a prostitute to track down Jock and kill him, and a final confrontation when Judy was out on parole that ended with the poetic justice of Jock falling down the stairs and being left permanently paralysed. The 1980 cliffhanger saw Bea, Lizzie and Doreen trapped in an underground tunnel after a mass escape plan staged during a performance of the pantomime Cinderella went somewhat awry. As Prisoner reached its 200th episode, Bea Smith suffered amnesia, with no memory of ever having been imprisoned, after an enforced transfer to country prison Barnhurst.

End of an era

After a lengthy break over the festive period Prisoner was then moved to an earlier slot in the Melbourne area of 7.30pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. With a recap of the events of 1980 on Tuesday 3 February 1981, the series resumed with episode 166 in it's new slot the following evening. From episode 205 onwards, the series continued in it's original 8.30pm slot. During the latter half of the 1981 season, Prisoner seemed to be moving into its next phase. Central to this shift was the exit of original character Vera “Vinegar Tits” Bennett, the unpleasant warder whom viewers loved to hate, in the most high profile cast departure since the death of Franky Doyle. Vera resigned from Wentworth, having won the job of Governor of Barnhurst.

It is at this point in the show that the steady stream of supporting characters, written into the series to complement the leading ensemble, gained in importance. The officers’ ranks were augmented by the sarcastic, militant union representative Colleen Powell (Judith McGrath), and the bespectacled and somewhat ineffectual Joyce Barry (Joy Westmore). The character of Colleen was poised to gain from the departure of Vera and then of Jim Fletcher a few months later, eventually taking over as Deputy Governor. Amongst the prisoners, Chrissie Latham and Margo Gaffney, often written as antagonists of Bea Smith, had emerged as strong central recurring characters, as had prostitute Helen Smart (Caroline Gillmer).

Towards the end of the 1981 run, the old gang of Bea, Lizzie, Doreen and Judy took a back seat to the proceedings. Bea was hospitalised for a kidney transplant operation, Lizzie was briefly paroled and Doreen and Judy were temporarily transferred to Barnhurst. The main narrative focus of the late 1981 storylines was on three new characters introduced as major players: cocky gangster’s moll Sandy Edwards (Louise Le Nay) and the highly intelligent and enigmatic Dr. Kate Peterson (Olivia Hamnett) were both convicted of murder while the cunning, villainous long-term criminal Marie Winter (Maggie Millar) was transferred from Barnhurst. The cliffhanger to the 1981 run involved the newly arrived Marie manipulating Sandy into starting an explosive prison riot to protest about the increasingly oppressive prison conditions following new directives from the Department. With a copy of the prison keys and improvised weapons, Sandy leads the marauding women through the prison, and in the subsequent siege situation, new rookie officers Janet Conway (Kate Sheil) and Steve Faulkner (Wayne Jarratt) are taken hostage.

The first few months of the 1982 run concentrated on the power struggles, scheming and double crossing between the characters of Sandy, Marie and Kate, whch involved a number of murder attempts. As Sandy and Marie clashed for the top dog position, Kate plotted to secure her release from Wentworth, revealing her true manipulative colours and playing different sides against each other for her own advantage. When all three were written out of the series once their projected storylines had run their course, the focus returned once more to Bea and co. However, by this point after so many dramatic events in the prison and the Bea-Lizzie-Doreen-Judy quartet still cosily ensconced as the leading characters, the series had started to show its age. In many subtle, not immediately apparent ways, it was the end of an era and it was clear that a radical shake-up was needed to give the series a new lease of life.

Introduction of the Freak

That new lease of life was provided by the arrival of a formidable new officer – Joan “The Freak” Ferguson (Maggie Kirkpatrick). Enforcing her will through her black leather-gloved fists, molesting prisoners during unofficial “body searches” and taking her cut on all the prison rackets, Ferguson was just as corrupt, calculating and sadistic as some of the worst prisoners, but was on the other side of the bars and therefore untouchable. Bea Smith was soon awake to Joan’s villainy, and the two became deadly enemies. Joan schemed to beat Bea, while Bea plotted to oust Joan, thus beginning a new standard story arc for the series – in which the women of Wentworth try to “get rid of the Freak”. But Ferguson wasn’t going anywhere, having swiftly become an integral presence in the show, and increasingly its most iconic character, much like J.R. Ewing in Dallas or Alexis Colby in Dynasty.

Other developments during this period were the return of Chrissie Latham and Margo Gaffney to the show to bolster the ranks of the now somewhat empty-looking cellblock as Doreen and Judy were released from Wentworth. Doreen left the series, while Judy took charge of a new halfway house for ex-prisoners, named Driscoll House, after its first resident, young Susie Driscoll (Jacqui Gordon). The action was then split between the prison and the halfway house, which allowed the series to explore more issue-based storylines through the Driscoll House residents. Doomed heroin addict Donna Mason (Arkie Whiteley) featured prominently both as a remand prisoner and as a resident of Driscoll House, while another halfway house guest, young biker Maxine Daniels (Lisa Crittenden), also ended up at Wentworth and joined the regular cast.

The main driver of this period however remained the ongoing animosity between Bea Smith and Joan Ferguson. Their conflict peaked in time for the 1982 season cliffhanger, in a showdown which brought the prison, literally, to the ground. Smith decided to finish Ferguson once and for all, so she lured The Freak into a trap by falsely claiming that Ferguson's inciminating secret diaries had been hidden in isolation by another prisoner, white-collar thief Barbara Fields (Susan Guerin) (in reality Fields had hidden them in the Governor's office). As a decoy Chrissie Latham was to light a small fire in the prison library. A recalcitrant Margo Gaffney had angrily criticised the decoy fire idea as weak and predictable, claiming that for anyone to be fooled it had better be a pretty big fire. She refused to co-operate further with the scheme but as the plan got underway Margo secretly went and set a much larger fire in a storeroom. Unfortunately a large stock of mineral turpentine was being temporarily stored there.

The fire spread out of control while Bea Smith and Joan Ferguson battled it out in the isolation wing. In the confusion of the prison evacuation, Barbara Fields made her way to the Governor's office to retrieve the diaries. The fire overloaded the prison's security system which engaged the riot alarm which caused all the prison gates to automatically slam shut and lock, leaving prisoners and staff trapped in the burning prison. Fields was overcome by smoke and collapsed in the Governor's office as the flames surrounded her (and the diaries) while two other inmates “Mouse” Trapp (Jentah Sobott) and Paddy Lawson (Anna Hruby) found themselves trapped in the laundry. Paddy attempted to escape through the air ducts while a panicking Mouse ran through the corridor trying each door in turn. Meanwhile, Governor Erica Davidson valiantly ran back inside the prison to try to unlock the security gates.

Ferguson had beaten Smith to an unconscious state but when the gates slammed shut she was trapped in the cell block, with Smith - along with Ferguson's dropped keys - lying just out of reach on the other side of the locked gate. In the final scene of the episode a vengeful Smith regained consciousness, and, realising that having beaten Ferguson she would now be ineligible for parole, vowed she would not pass the key to Ferguson and that the two would die right there in the fire. The opening episode of the 1983 season concluded the story, with the rescue services at work but with two corpses brought out of the prison on stretchers. The “Great Fire of Wentworth” story arc now ranks amongst the most popular with Prisoner fans.

1983

The 1983 season was mainly characterised by a high turnover of short-term characters and storylines but continued the rivalry between Bea and the Freak. As more core cast departures took place as Chrissie Latham, Margo Gaffney and Erica Davidson all left the series, a major new player, the callous, menacing and brutal double murderess Nola McKenzie (Carole Skinner), entered the fray as a new adversary for Bea and a partner in crime for Joan, becoming the first prisoner to actively collude with the Freak, running contraband rackets and plotting to seize power from the “good” top dog.

The Bea-Joan-Nola conflict reaches its height in a memorably bizarre storyline in which Joan and Nola attempt to drive Bea either insane or to suicide through the memory of her dead daughter Debbie, coercing Tarot reading medium and remand prisoner Zara Moonbeam (Ilona Rodgers) to assist them. But the plan backfires – and it is Nola, not Bea, whose corpse is taken away from Wentworth. A few months later however, Joan finally triumphs over Bea after a major confrontation in which the sadistic screw succeeds in having her old enemy transferred to Barnhurst. Having played Bea Smith for 400 episodes, actress Val Lehman had tired of the role and resigned from the series. Shortly afterwards, the series had another major loss when actress Sheila Florance also decided to leave, leading to the departure of Lizzie Birdsworth. This now left actress Elspeth Ballantyne, alias officer Meg Morris (nee Jackson), as the only original cast member still in the series.

1984

With Prisoner heading towards the 1984 season and the recent high profile cast departures, the series was retooled once again. New characters had been introduced during Bea Smith’s final few months on the show, and they now enjoyed prominent roles in the series. Ann Reynolds (Gerda Nicolson) replaced Erica Davidson as a spirited, no-nonsense new Governor and amongst the prisoners, previous background bit player Phyllis Hunt (Reylene Pearce) was given a more expanded role amidst new arrivals such as dreamy romantic and serial bigamist Sandra “Pixie” Mason (Judy McBurney) and cool, villainous vice queen Sonia Stevens (Tina Bursill). Judy Bryant was brought back into Wentworth as a “stopgap” top dog – the Driscoll House plotline being phased out of the series after Judy had committed euthanasia on terminally ill former inmate Hazel Kent (Belinda Davey).

Other new additions to the cast included Cass Parker (Babs McMillan), whose slow wit and gentle nature was offset by her immense physical strength and murderous bad temper, middle-aged con artist Minnie Donovan (Wendy Playfair) and volatile but vulnerable street kid Bobbie Mitchell (Maxine Klibingaitis). The major players of the 1984 run however were antagonistic Reb Kean (Janet Andrewartha), a dynamic but troubled young woman who had been the brains behind an armed robbery, having turned to crime after rebelling against her wealthy family and the series’ new central top dog – Myra Desmond (Anne Phelan), a thoughtful but tough ex-prisoner of Wentworth who had previously made sporadic appearances in the show as a representative of the Prison Reform Group, now back inside for a long stretch after killing her husband. Both Reb and Myra made enemies of the Freak – and of each other – and the series continued. During the first half of 1984, this period of transition and the storyline developments with the new cast were complemented by return appearances from departed characters such as Wally Wallace (Alan Hopgood), Helen Smart, Erica Davidson, Doreen Burns, Margo Gaffney and Marie Winter (though this also marked the final appearance of all these characters).

The 1984 and 1985 seasons are characterised by a number of jarring cast reshuffles, preventing the series from re-establishing the continuity and focus it had enjoyed in earlier years. Mid-1984 saw the exits of recently introduced characters such as Minnie Donovan, Sonia Stevens and Cass Parker as well as the departure of long-time Deputy Governor Colleen Powell. In their place came juvenile prankster Marlene Warren (Genevieve Lemon) and elderly inmate Dot Farrar (Alethea McGrath), who was in turn replaced by another old dear, Ettie Parslow (Lois Ramsay). More enduring inmates introduced during this period were sneering troublemaker Lou Kelly (Louise Siversen), who developed from a bit player to becoming a sociopathic wannabe top dog and the series' main villain, dopey offsider Alice “Lurch” Jenkins (Lois Collinder) and streetwise card sharp Lexie Patterson (Pepe Trevor). The series also introduced a trio of male inmates – Geoff Macrae (Leslie Dayman), Matt Delaney (Peter Bensley) and Frank Burke (Trevor Kent) – transferred to Wentworth for their own safety after preventing a riot at their men’s prison. After a few months, the male prisoners were also gone, together with Marlene Warren and long-serving character Judy Bryant.

The series became more and more violent as it went on, perhaps stretching credulity as it did so. The 1983 cliffhanger had involved the mass murder of inmates by psychotic warder David Bridges (David Waters). Twisted psychologist Jonathan Edmonds (Bryan Marshall) arrived at Wentworth to conduct research, brainwashing Cass Parker into trying to kill her best friend Bobbie Mitchell. During her final stint in 1984, the villainous Marie Winter colluded with the Freak and organised another major riot, in which the cellblock was again set on fire, before being involved in a spectacular set piece escape by hanging from the landing gear of a low-flying helicopter.

Serial murderess Bev “The Beast” Baker (Maggie Dence) terrorised both staff and inmates with her thrill-seeking antics, which included almost throttling Marlene Warren, cutting open Bobbie Mitchell’s hands with a razor blade, stabbing a visiting social worker in the heart with a knitting needle and finally committing suicide by injecting herself with an empty hypodermic syringe to induce a coronary. Officer Meg Morris was brutally raped in her own home by a masked intruder on the orders of psychopathic inmate Angel Adams (Kylie Foster). Joan “The Freak” Ferguson faced off against her murderous male counterpart Len Murphy (Maurie Fields) in a “bad” screw’s turf war. Towards the end of the 1984 run, as Myra Desmond and Reb Kean had a final confrontation over the top dog position, Governor Ann Reynolds received poison-pen letters and death threats. This eventually led to both her and Meg Morris being kidnapped and left gagged and bound in a crumbling warehouse laden with bombs and lethal trip-wire booby-traps.

1985

The 1985 run was no less action-packed. “Pixie” Mason was raped by male inmate Frank Burke and went into a coma from the shock. Lou Kelly tried to kill Myra Desmond on several occasions in her bid to become top dog, and even made an attempt on Joan Ferguson's life armed with a home-made gun. The Freak was hospitalised for emergency brain surgery after having a prison library bookcase dropped on her head. Prior to her operation, Joan had been suffering from blackouts, which Myra Desmond used in an unsuccessful scheme to get rid of her, bashing Lou Kelly and framing Joan for the assault.

To fill the now empty cells, a mass transfer from Barnhurst after a riot there had burnt out a cellblock (and had apparently ended in the offscreen death of Bea Smith) introduced five new inmates to the series – Nora Flynn (Sonja Tallis), a reformed murderess, ageing cat burglar May Collins (Billie Hammerberg) and her partner in crime, former fence Willie Beecham (Kirsty Child), garden-loving misfit Daphne Graham (Debra Lawrance) and shy but highly intelligent thief Julie Egbert (Jackie Woodburne).

Other characters introduced during the 1985 season were Ann Reynolds' daughter Pippa (Christine Harris) and her former schoolmate Jenny Hartley (Jenny Lovell), who ended up in H Block on remand after being accused of murdering her grandmother. The physical threat of the character of Joan Ferguson was also toned down, and she was utilised in storylines that explored her more vulnerable flipside, such as her doomed relationship with fellow officer Terri Malone (Margot Knight). However, after yet another cast clear-out six months later, the “Barnhurst Five” was down to one, with only Julie Egbert remaining in the series. At around the same time Terri Malone, Pippa Reynolds and Jenny Hartley also departed in quick succession.

Perhaps the most striking story arc of this period is the infamous “Ballinger siege”. The storyline occurred a few weeks after the introduction of the Barnhurst Five and saw both staff and inmates held hostage by armed mercenaries who had broken into the prison to spring high profile remand prisoner Ruth Ballinger (Lindy Davies) on the orders of her drug baron husband. Holed up inside Wentworth by the police, the terrorists take the women and officers Joan Ferguson and Joyce Barry captive, threatening to shoot one hostage every hour until they are given safe passage out of the country while outside the police and Governor Ann Reynolds argue over sending in the local SWAT unit. The siege climaxes in an airfield shoot-out with Joan as a hostage, but not before the shocking murder of top dog Myra Desmond, who selflessly sacrifices herself to save the other women.

The subsequent post-siege storylines were rather more low-key with Nora Flynn's run as a pacifist top dog following Myra's death. By the end of the 1985 episodes storylines began to become more lively. This included the return to Wentworth of former hard case Reb Kean, now a timid and meek figure having gone through 27 rounds of ECT. Meanwhile officer Joyce Barry was beaten half to death by malevolent remand inmate Eve Wilder (Lynda Stoner) who then pinned the blame on the erratic and forgetful Reb. When Nora herself tired of the top dog power struggles in the prison and escaped, she was tracked down and murdered by a criminal-hating psychotic. Her corpse was subsequently dumped outside the prison gates.

Final season

The final year of Prisoner is mostly based around the conflict between the Freak and a new challenger, brash biker Rita “The Beater” Connors (Glenda Linscott) who takes over as the series’ new top dog, when previous incumbent, the vicious Lou Kelly, clashed with tough temporary Governor Bob Moran (Peter Adams) and overreached herself by igniting a bloodthirsty riot that threatened the lives of both staff and inmates. After the riot (which marked the series' 600th episode), Lou’s former stooge, Alice Jenkins, switches sides and becomes friends with Rita, who forms a new prison gang – the “Wentworth Warriors” - including Lexie Patterson, Julie Egbert, demure housewife Nancy McCormack (Julia Blake), on remand for killing her husband but actually covering up for her son, biker chick "Roach" Waters (Linda Hartley) and vivacious con-woman Lorelei Wilkinson (Paula Duncan).

As well as the Freak, Rita’s chief adversary is Kath Maxwell (Kate Hood), a middle-class woman who retaliates against Rita for her brutal initiation into prison life because of her crime – the mercy killing of her terminally ill daughter - and toughens up, becoming a serious rival for the top dog role with her new hard attitude and monopoly on contraband rackets in the prison. Kath is backed up by her retarded, comic-loving cellmate Merle Jones (Rosanne Hull-Brown). Other new inmates to arrive in 1986 include sneering racketeer “Spider” Simpson (Taya Straton) and blackmailing prostitute Lisa Mullins (Nicki Paull/Terrie Waddell). The officers’ ranks are bolstered by the arrival of new trainees, including Meg Morris’ son Marty Jackson (Michael Winchester) and the mean Rodney Adams (Philip Hyde).

File:PCBHJoan.jpg

Episode 692: Is this the end of the road at last for Joan Ferguson?

Despite these new developments and storylines including a work release project on a boat out at sea and a stay at the high security prison Blackmoor for Rita, the programme's viewing figures were falling. Ratings had been in decline for some time, falling to even lower levels during 1986, resulting in Network Ten deciding in July 1986 to not renew the series for another year. Production on the series finished on 5 September 1986 and the final episode aired, in Melbourne, on 16 December 1986.

The show's producers had several weeks notice the series was ending, allowing them to craft suitable storylines leading to a strong conclusion, one which involved the final defeat of the villainous Joan “The Freak” Ferguson. The final episodes of Prisoner deal with the redemption of the misunderstood Kath Maxwell as well as concluding the ongoing dynamic between Rita Connors and Joan Ferguson. Shockingly diagnosed with terminal cancer, Rita conspires with a jaded Joan, totally disillusioned by the prison service, to rob a building society. But all is not what it seems….

Deceased cast members

Actor
Christine Calcutt	19??
Aileen Britton	1986
Wayne Jarratt	1988
Sheila Florance	1991
Gerda Nicolson	1992
Maurie Fields	1995
Taya Straton	1996
Colleen Clifford	1996
Billie Hammerberg	199?
Peter Adams	1999
John Lee (actor)	2000
Olivia Hamnett	2001
Arkie Whitely	2001
Judith McLorinan	2002
Davina Whitehouse	2002
Hazel Henley	2003
Margo McLennan	2004
George Mallaby	2004
Justine Saunders	2007

List of top dogs

The struggle for the position of "top dog" (unofficial leader) amongst the women was always a key storyline in the series. The incumbent top dog would normally operate the large steam press in the laundry. The following characters were top dogs at one stage or another in the series' run:

• Bea Smith (Val Lehman)
• Franky Doyle (Carol Burns)
• Monica Ferguson (Lesley Baker)
• Clara Goddard (Betty Lucas)
• Antonia McNally (Pat Bishop)
• Sharon Gilmour (Margot Knight)
• Margo Gaffney (Jane Clifton)
• Sandy Edwards (Louise Le Nay)
• Marie Winter (Maggie Millar)
• Nola McKenzie (Carole Skinner)
• Sonia Stevens (Tina Bursill)
• Minnie Donovan/with Cass Parker (Wendy Playfair/Babs McMillan)
• Judy Bryant (Betty Bobbitt)
• Myra Desmond (Anne Phelan)
• Reb Kean (Janet Andrewartha)
• Nora Flynn (Sonja Tallis)
• Lou Kelly (Louise Siversen)
• Rita Connors (Glenda Linscott)
• Alice Jenkins (Lois Collinder)
• Kath Maxwell (Kate Hood)

Spin-offs and remakes

• In 1979, a telemovie titled The Franky Doyle Story was produced. It was made using material edited from the first two dozen episodes of the series, with emphasis on the character of Franky Doyle (Carol Burns). It was the first of an intended series of telemovies. The plan was shelved when the cast took the matter to the industrial commission, who ruled that they were not being fairly compensated for what amounted to a "second use" of their work.

• After the Prisoner cliffhanger of 1981, a further TV special was screened: Prisoner In Concert. Cast members Val Lehman (Bea), Sheila Florance (Lizzie), Colette Mann (Doreen), Betty Bobbitt (Judy), Jane Clifton (Margo Gaffney), Patsy King (Erica Davidson) and Gerard Maguire (Jim Fletcher) appeared in a live stage revue at Pentridge men’s prison in Melbourne, performing various songs and sketches. Something of a curiosity piece, it has never been repeated since its original transmission.

• In 1981, Ten launched Punishment, a drama set in the fictional Longridge prison, a men's prison. The new show had a similar structure and range of characters as Prisoner. The series, which was produced by Bruce Best and Alan Coleman, was a ratings and critical failure. Only 26 episodes were produced. It is noteworthy for the presence of a young Mel Gibson as inmate Rick Monroe in the first episode.

• As Prisoner finished production in 1986, Grundy’s began circulating plans for a spin-off revolving around Wentworth’s sister prison Barnhurst but Channel Ten did not entertain the idea. A further idea, Inside Out, set in an open prison and featuring certain Prisoner characters a decade or so on, also came to nothing.

• Anne Phelan (Myra Desmond) co-ordinated a cast reunion event in 2000, which saw the largest gathering of ex-Prisoner cast members ever at the Forum Theatre in Melbourne, in order to raise money for AIDS charities.

• At one stage the producers considered a comedy spin-off featuring Pixie Mason, but again, this idea came to nothing.

• In 1991, the series was re-versioned for the American market as Dangerous Women. The US version borrowed heavily from the Australian original for characters, but not storylines. In Dangerous Women the emphasis was shifted outside the prison, and focused on the prisoner relationships at a half-way house. It is remembered now mainly for the early appearance of actor Casper Van Dien in the role of Brad Morris.

• In 1997, the series was re-versioned for the second time, this time for the German TV market. The German language version of Prisoner was titled Hinter Gittern - Der Frauenknast (Behind Bars) from 1997 to 2007 and has ran for 16 series and 403 episodes, Also in 1999 ITV unveiled a British equivalent of Prisoner entitled Bad Girls, which has since garnered a considerable following on its own merits. It ran for 8 series and 107 episodes from 1999 to 2006.

• This is not really a spin off but was a special for the show and in 1997, Five shown a special edition of 100% (game show) during a special Prisoner Night which featured five back-to-back episodes and this special quiz show featured three contestants who battled for the top prize and all 100 questions were about the Australian prison drama.

• A stage musical version with songs by Peter Pinne and Don Battye was produced in 1995, and this played in the London West End and toured provincial theatres. Maggie Kirkpatrick played Joan "The Freak" Ferguson, Lily Savage played the inmate, and Linda Nolan played the Governor (and sang "I'm in the mood for Dancing" during the show). Val Lehman was critical of the show, particularly the casting of a drag queen, sending the show up.

• Episode 693 was a fan-made new episode of the series which was exhibited at a 1995 "Prisoner Cell Block H" convention in Durham in the UK. The convention was organised by the editors of "The Block", the now defunct unnofficial fanzine, which ran from 1993-1998. Episode 693 featured Joan Ferguson, Dennis Cruikshank, Erica Davison, Lizzie Birdsworth, Myra Desmond, Bobbie Mitchell, Reb Kean, Frank Burke, Barbara Fields, Vera Bennett and Joyce Barry. The storylines centred around Vera Bennett's incarceration inside Wentworth after being convicted of fraud at Barnhurst, and her attempts to escape in a hot air balloon with the help of Barbara Fields. The Freak uses Reb to sell acid pills to the women disguised as smarties and Top Dog Myra ends up being chucked into the washing machine by Reb and Frank. Bobbie and Lizzie's booze-making hi-jinks come to a sticky end for Barbara when the whole lot explodes in a fire bomb, just as Vera is making her escape!

Merchandise

File:Pcbhbook.jpg

Prisoner: Cell Block H - Behind The Scenes was published in 1990.

There have been several tie-in books, and video and DVD releases. The show's theme song, "On The Inside", sung by Lynne Hamilton, was released in the UK as a single on May 6, 1989, and peaked at number three in the pop charts. The song was later featured as a B-side on punkabilly group The Living End's breakthrough EP Second Solution/Prisoner of Society which earned some radio play on alternative radio stations, in particular Triple J.

Books

In 1980, the Prisoner cast, led by Equity representative Val Lehman (Bea Smith), went on strike due to the publication of a number of tie-in paperback novels in the United States. The cast's objection was to the books was the inclusion of exploitative soft-core pornographic content incongruent with the actual series. Six books were published in total, entitled "Prisoner: Cell Block H", "The Franky Doyle Story", "The Karen Travers Story", "The Frustrations of Vera", "The Trials of Erica" and "The Reign of Queen Bea".

Two 'behind the scenes' books were published in the UK in the early 1990s. Prisoner: Cell Block H - Behind The Scenes was written by Terry Bourke and published by Angus & Robertson Publishers, who also released similar books about Neighbours and Home & Away. Bourke documents the show's genesis and development, and is decorated with many stills and 'character profiles'. Prisoner Cell Block H - The Inside Story, wrtitten by Hilary Kingsley, puts more emphasis upon the plot and characters. However, both books contain many factual errors.

Cultural impact

The show continues to have a massive world wide audience following. After years of campaigning, led in no small part by Val Lehman who played top dog Bea Smith; fans of the show were rewarded with the news that the whole series of Prisoner (Cell Block H), all 692 episodes would be released on DVD, uncut* and digitally restored over 174 DVD's and 40 volumes.

An official online Prisoner fan club website 'On the Inside' was established in 2005 with the blessing and support from the series makers, FreemantleMedia. The website houses a huge Prisoner Forum and Chat Room, and sells official Prisoner merchandise. The website plans for the future include, a Prisoner magazine and an official online membership. The website itself gets about 80,000 hits a week. http://www.prisoner-cellblockh.co.uk

The show has a cult following in Sweden, where it has been shown on TV4 for many years under the title Kvinnofängelset (The Women's Prison). An unofficial fan club organises an annual get-together, and also gathered several thousand signatures (including that of actress Elspeth Ballantyne) to convince TV4 to continue airing the show in 2000. After this second run of the show ended, work began to persuade TV4 to air the show a third time with start in 2005. The attempts were futile and the show has since not been aired in Swedish television. TV4 originally screened the series in a late night 1am slot three times a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. During the repeat run, the show was accommodated in a slightly later slot around 2.15am four times a week on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. All episodes were repeated at the weekend - Friday night had the Monday and Tuesday episodes and Saturday night had the other two.

A stage version of Prisoner was produced in 1989, based on the original scripts, and enjoyed a highly successful tour in the United Kingdom. Original actors Elspeth Ballantyne (Meg Morris) and Patsy King (Erica Davidson) reprised their original characters, while Glenda Linscott (Rita Connors) played a new character, Angela Mason. A second tour followed in 1990 starring Fiona Spence (Vera Bennett) and Jane Clifton (Margo Gaffney). Jacqui Gordon (Susie Driscoll) also appeared, as new character Kath Evans.

A musical version followed starring Maggie Kirkpatrick reprising her role of Joan "The Freak" Ferguson and Lily Savage as an inmate. The new musical was essentially a send-up of the purported kitsch aspects of the original show, and again was successful during both a tour and a West End run in 1995 and 1997.

Due to the huge popularity of the show when shown in the UK in the late 1980s, the British Prisoner fan club organised successful personal appearance tours for several actresses, including Val Lehman (Bea Smith), Carol Burns (Franky Doyle), Betty Bobbitt (Judy Bryant), Sheila Florance (Lizzie Birdsworth), Amanda Muggleton (Chrissie Latham) and Judy McBurney (Pixie Mason). A one-off programme, "The Great Escape", was produced in 1990. The programme featured Val Lehman, Sheila Florance, Amanda Muggleton and Carol Burns on their visit to the UK in 1990 and includes extensive footage of their on-stage interview with TV presenter Anna Soubry in which the cast members talk about their time 'inside'. It was recorded at the Derby Assembly Rooms, Derby, UK and was made available in the UK on VHS video for a short time but has since been deleted.

Several Prisoner actors have also trod British stages appearing in pantomime, such as Val Lehman, Fiona Spence, Maggie Dence (Bev Baker), Debra Lawrance (Daphne Graham), Linda Hartley (Roach Waters), Ian Smith (Ted Douglas) and Maggie Millar (Marie Winter).

ITV Regional Scheduling

Prisoner was the first Australian soap opera screened late night in the UK. As in the US, it was billed in the UK as Prisoner: Cell Block H to avoid confusion with the well-known British series, The Prisoner, although it always remained as simply Prisoner on-screen. It screened on ITV from the mid/late 1980s until the mid/late 1990s, depending on the region. A great many sources incorrectly state that the series did not begin being run in the UK until 1987, but in fact the Yorkshire region had been showing it since 1984. However, most other regions didn't start to broadcast it until 1987 at the earliest, with it not starting in the Ulster region until late 1989. By June 1985, the series was "going like a rocket" in Yorkshire.

It achieved enduring success in the UK despite much negative criticism from reviewers, and the fact that the series never received a network screening on ITV. Some ITV companies such as Yorkshire Television showed the series once a week whilst others such as Central and Granada Television stripped the series across three nights. Most ITV contractors though screened it twice a week in as had been the pattern in Australia.

Because the series was shown on all ITV companies late at night (just before closedown at first, then as the first programme of night-time programming with the advent of 24-hour broadcasting in the late 1980s), it became a favourite of the local continuity announcers. The announcers would often joke about characters and plots before and after the programme and during the end titles.

On Central, Mike Prince was fond of satirical announcements linking the previous promotion to the Prisoner episode following, leading to announcements like "But Ayer's Rock pales into insignificance compared to the might of Joan Ferguson next tonight on Central in Prisoner: Cell Block H." Over the credits of an episode where Vera discovers Pat O'Connell communicating with her son a Granada announcer came to the conclusion that "Australia IS a VERY strange place." UTV announcer Julian Simmons, well known for his Coronation Street introductions, commonly referred to the "lusty big wee-men of Cell Block H" when introducing the series. Many other continuity announcers on the then-regional ITV stations made similar announcements before and after the programme, helping to boost its cult status.

This style of announcement was later borrowed by the UK's fifth channel to accompany episodes of Sunset Beach, with a similar effect. Channel 5 also repeated Prisoner in a late night slot from 1997 to 2001, granting the series its first ever networked screening on British TV. These broadcasts featured the same kind of jokey comments and reading of viewer's comments over the closing credits, usually from senior announcer Bill Buckley, whose camp delivery, but with an obvious fondness for the series, somehow suited the show perfectly.

Yorkshire Television was the pioneering ITV company to transmit the series in the UK at 23:00 on Monday 8th October 1984 in a weekly slot until episode 39 in October 1985. The series resumed in January 1986 in the same slot taking a summer break in May 1987. Just before Yorkshire halted, Central Television had started screening the show three times a week in a similar Saturday, Sunday and Monday late slot from April 1987. Central completed the series in December 1991, a span of just over 4.5 years. At the same time in December 1991, Yorkshire were still screening it weekly on Mondays and other regions had overtaken them. Yorkshire's first ever week with two episodes happened in January 1993 when a Thursday episode was added to appease viewers in the Tyne Tees region. Yorkshire and Tyne Tees reached the final episode in April 1997 some 12.5 years after Yorkshire's start. Other areas, such as Ulster, London region Carlton (formerly Thames), and southern region Meridian (formerly TVS) never reached the end of their respective runs of the programme - after much darting around the late night schedules, they eventually disappeared in the late 1990s (In the case of Carlton, the continuity announcer announced that the series would return after a break, but this turned out to be the last time it was shown). Meridian was the last region to show the series, they stopped in July 1999 at episode 586, 13.75 years after predecessor TVS started showing the series.

Although they can both claim to have screened the series until the final episode, both Border Television and Tyne Tees Television had to skip a number of episodes. In December 1992 Tyne Tees had to miss episodes 293 and 294 as Tyne Tees and Yorkshire arranged to screen ALL programmes simultaneously from 1 January 1993. Yorkshire had reached the Tyne Tees two at the end of 1992. From November 1993 Border Television brokered a similar arrangement with Granada and Border viewers had to miss episodes 477-547.

Yorkshire Television were very strict with cutting scenes involving hanging. Notably the attempt to hang Sandy Edwards and the successful Eve Wilder hanging were cut. This was mainly due to a local prison HMP Leeds in the Yorkshire region having an extremely high number of hangings in preceding years. Yorkshire also heavily edited the fight scene with Joan and Bea in episode 326.

When Granada TV screened the final episode in the UK, continuity announcer John McKenzie conducted an on-air interview via telephone with Maggie Kirkpatrick who played The Freak.

The ITV regions inserted two commercial breaks into each episode enabling three parts per show. The breaks were usually inserted at the point of the second and fourth break as would have been seen in Australia. At the end of the show the cliffhanger would lead straight into the end credits, unlike in Australia where a sixth break was inserted.

Central repeated the first 90 episodes from February 1993 to January 1995 at the rate of one episode a week late on Sunday evenings immediately after network programming had finished.

ITV Region	Programme Schedule Pattern
	Start Date	Days Screened	End Date	Episodes not screened
Yorkshire Television (YTV) slowest to complete	Monday 8 October 1984 23:00 (see below)	Mondays with a Thursday episode added from January 1993. Yorkshire took a short break from the series after screening episode 39 in October 1985. The series resumed in January 1986 with many interruptions during the year including World Cup football from Mexico, snooker and Bank Holiday material. Only 32 episodes managed to air during 1986 in the Monday slot as the other 20 Mondays were filled with Network scheduling. It remained on air until the end of April 1987 (episode 85). The series returned in September 1987 and filled it's regular Monday 23:05 slot. From 1988 the series moved to 23:05 and was often replaced with snooker and football. Episode 97 scheduled for airing on Monday 25 January 1988 was replaced only hours before with highlights of a replayed regional football match Everton vs Sheffield Wednesday. During the Gulf War the series was not as heavily affected as in most other regions. Episodes were simply moved to earlier and later start times. Episode 295 onwards with Tyne Tees from January 1993. Thursday episode added from 07/01/93. The World Cup filled two Prisoner slots on 20 and 23 June in 1994 meaning no episodes were screened in that week. The programme did not suffer as it had done on Yorkshire in 1986 when the World Cup was last played in the Americas. Mondays only from 8 January - 15 February 1996 and again from 6 January - 13 February 1997 as the Thursday slot was used for ITV networked films during these periods. Thursdays only between 26 September and 21 October 1996, as the Monday slot was used for ITV networked films during this period as well. Yorkshire never screened the show before 22.55 in it's entirety or after 00.25 allowing the show a more regular timeslot than all other regions, particularly Central. US crime series Hunter replaced the series Thursday evening slot. Had Yorkshire not joined with Tyne Tees in 1993, there would have been two possible outcomes for the remainder of the series. 1) Yorkshire were extremely cash-strapped from January 1993 with high licence fees to pay to the government so may have had to increase their output to two episodes a week anyway as Prisoner was a fairly inexpensive acquisition. Therefore they would have finished in April 1997 as they in fact actually did. Or 2) Yorkshire would have remained in a weekly Monday slot probably increasing from their previous average of 40 a year to 45 a year as there was less snooker coverage from 1993. In this case they may have had to pull the series off air around episode 564 in December 1998 as Yorkshire's late night programmes were as the Granada schedule from this period onwards, after Granada had taken over Yorkshire.	Monday 7 April 1997 23:10	None
Television South (TVS) (up to episode 292) & Meridian Broadcasting (from episode 293) slowest overall	Friday 11 October 1985 22:30	Fridays episodes 1 - 9 Oct - Dec 1985, then Thursdays from January 1986. Reverts to Fridays from April 1986 (ep 20 Friday 4 April), Then back to Thursdays from September 1986 after the last Friday episode on 29 August. The series takes a summer break after the 5 May 1988 screening of episode 91. This suggests that like TSW, TVS bought the show in batches of 13. Then Tuesdays and Thursdays from September 1988, Thursdays only from January 1989. Final episode to be screened by TVS was episode 292 on Thursday 17 December 1992 23:10 Series remained on Thursdays under Meridian's control then moved to Tuesdays from 4 January 1994. During 1994 and 1995 until autumn Tuesdays at 23.40 were used. After playing episode ??? on Tuesday 03/10/95 series is taken off air until 23/10/95. Then ??, Tuesdays from 1996 until 15 December 1998 (episode 563). Series re-started on Mondays from 25 January 1999 at episode 564.	Monday 12 July 1999 23:50 (episode 586)	587-692
Channel Television (CTV)	As TVS from Thursday 16 January 1986 22:30 starting from episode 10 (TVS had screened 1 - 9 themselves in late 1985)	As TVS & Meridian. Channel had a direct link with TSW for all regional shows until end of 1985, before switching to TVS in January 1986 because it was felt that TSW's scheduling was peculiar. Therefore Channel missed the first 9 episodes screened by TVS. Had Channel not switched from TSW to TVS in 1986, they would have shown the complete series without missing any episodes.	As Meridian	1-9 and 587-692
Television South West (TSW) (up to episode 239) & Westcountry Television (from episode 240)	Thursday 15 January 1987 23:05	Thursdays with 13 episodes shown until April 1987, then a break until autumn 1987 when Thursdays resume with 13 more episodes until Thursday 10 December.. Show then restarts with episode 27 on Mondays from 12 September 1988, then stops at episode 52 (17/04/89) showing that TSW must buy in blocks of 13. Series goes back to weekly Thursdays with ep 53 from 20 July 1989, then switches to Fridays from 20 April 1990 then Sundays and Mondays from 1 September 1991. In January 1992 the series returns to weekly Thursdays, then Sundays and Thursdays until episode 239 (TSW's last episode) on Sunday 20th December 1992. Having no desire to make too many programmes themselves during their last months on air TSW viewers saw an increase in output of all imported regional Australian soaps to fill the hours. TSW's successor Westcountry Television commenced from episode 240 and screened the series initially on Tuesdays 23:40 and Thursdays 23:10. During late 1994 Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays were used unless network programmes filled the 23:10 / 23:40 slot. Sundays were axed from the start of 1995. After 25 May 1995 episode, Thursday episode moves to Wednesdays starting on 7 June. From September series switches to Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Tuesdays only during January 1996 until Thursday episode returns on 15 February. Mondays resumed in 1997 with a Thursday episode added in August 1997.	Thursday 30 October 1997 23:45	None
Central Television fastest to complete	Saturday 25 April 1987 22:45 and Monday 8 February 1993 (Sunday night) 00:20 for repeat run	Initially Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays at extremely varying timeslots. Then Saturday episode dropped temporarily in 1988. One episode was not shown on a Sunday and was postponed to the following night due to an essential replacement programme (Exact date not yet confirmed but was same as Granada). Central's listings eventually were corrected as both Monday 11/04/88 and Sat 16/04/88 both inform Judy and Lizzie plan to destroy Kay's bookmaking activities for good - episode 145 which was screened on 16/04/88). The Saturday episode later changed to Friday. Final Saturday episode 14 April 1990, first Friday episode 20 April 1990. Latest Saturday episode started at 02:45, earliest 22:15. Mon-Fri ep's shown the first week of January 1989/90/91 to make up for loss of episodes the proceeding Xmas periods. Central's nightly Prisoner airings in January 1991 were interrupted in the middle of the 23:55 Wednesday 16 January episode 561 for news of the Gulf War. Five other slots were reused for Gulf War programming. Various Fridays dropped in 1991 for snooker highlights Rugby World Cup highlights, although on some occasions, where scheduling permitted, Central screened the Friday episode on Saturday.	Monday 16 December 1991 22:40. Repeated first 95 episodes on Sunday nights from February 1993 until Sunday 1 January 1995.	None
Thames Television (up to episode 357) & Carlton Television (from episode 358)	Friday 19 June 1987 00:30 (Thursday night)	Thursdays, then Tuesdays and Thursdays from 24 July 1990 (Tuesday episode temporarily removed during February and March 1991). Tuesdays and Thursdays fitted into the same slots that Anglia and HTV were using to enable the three to be ready at the right time for Thames' night-time service. A Thursday episode in spring 1992 was suddenly replaced with a London regional electional debate programme. Final Thames episode 23:15 Thursday 17 December 1992 episode 357 When Carlton replaced Thames they screened it on Tuesdays only from 5 January 1993 usually at 23:40 or in the first available slot after network programming. After playing episode 492 on Tuesday 26 September 1995 series is taken off air until it's return on 7 November, Final Tuesday episode on 19 December. Series then restarts on Thursdays from 15 February 1996. Then Mondays only from 2 September 1996 for only four episodes. Then ????. Then Thursdays only again. Had Thames retained it's franchise in 1993, they would have been likely to end the series in full around September 1996 assuming they had continued at the fair pace of two a week (around 90 episodes a year).	Episode 598 on Thursday 20 August 1998 23:40	599-692
Scottish Television (STV)	Monday 19 October 1987 23:30	Mondays, Then Sundays and Mondays, Then Mondays and Fridays. Then Mondays, then Mondays and Fridays during 1988. During September and October Mondays only until 31st October 1988. A one off Thursday episode on 13th October 1988 too. After October 1988 the series resumes on 28 November. Then Monday and Friday again until 1993??. Slot on 21 January 1991 cleared for regional sport and Gulf War programming. Frustrated complaints from viewers to the STV scheduler from summer 1994 can be seen on Youtube. Was screening Mondays and Thursdays during 1995. Thursday episode moves to Tuesdays from 2 January 1996. (Dropped for several months in mid/late 1995???, Then Tuesdays and Thursdays.)	Tuesday 19 November 1996 Time ?????	None
Anglia Television	Wednesday 6 January 1988 00:30 (Tuesday night)	Initially Tuesdays (Wednesdays 00:30) and Thursdays 23:35, then changed to Sundays and Mondays from September 1988. At the start of 1989 to make up for the loss of the show while Network programmes were shown over Xmas the show was screened daily Monday to Friday for the first week of January. The Monday episode was switched to Tuesday from September 1990 after the screeneing of episode 259 on Sunday 2 September. Then the Sunday episode switched to Thursday from January 1991 to fit into the same slots that HTV and Thames were using to enable the three to be ready at the right time for Thames' night-time service. The first two Thursday slots in 1991 along with Tuesday 22 January had replacemnet programming for the Gulf War. Continues at 23:40 on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the new ITV franchise era from January 1993. Then odd episode screened on Monday in November 1993 when network programming filled the Tuesday and Thursday slots. Then weekly most available Tuesdays around 23:40 from 4 January 1994 until July 1995 when Thursday episode reinstated from 6 July. Thursday episode then axed after episode 668 on 16 November and series plays out on Tuesdays only until the end in 1996. US series Wiseguy replaced the programme.	Tuesday 21 May 1996 23:40	None
Granada Television	Sunday 14 February 1988 23:30	Sundays and Mondays. In March 1988, a Sunday episode was postponed to the following night due to an essential replacement programme (as Central). Then Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays from July 1988. Series took a week's break in September for snooker coverage. Then Sundays and Mondays from January 1989, then Thursday episodes return from May 1992. From January 1993 the series is moved to weekly Tuesdays 23.40 and then moves to Thursdays 23.35 from March 1993. Later in spring 1993 both nights are used. Then Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from March 1994 though Sunday episode dropped by January 1995. US series Crime Story replaced the programme.	Thursday 9 February 1995 23:10	None
Tyne Tees Television	Thursday 7 April 1988 22:35	Thursdays usually at 23:05. A Sunday episode was added starting 13 January 1991 (on Episode 117) usually at 00:05 (Monday mornings). Soon after this Gulf War programming meant a temporary loss of the Sunday slot from 20 January and the Thursday slot had earlier and later start times. From 12 October 1992 another episode was suddenly added on Mondays in an unsuccessful attempt to catch up to their newly merged business with neighbouring Yorkshire. Sunday episode was dropped after 1 November 1992, to follow Yorkshire's Sunday schedule, reducing to two episodes a week. During December 1992, Tyne Tees took the unusual step of opting out of live networked snooker coverage to squeeze in an extra episode in it's effort to catch up to Yorkshire. From January 1993 exactly as Yorkshire, episodes 293 and 294 unscreened to catch up to Yorkshire. Had Tyne Tees not merged with Yorkshire in 1993, they would have been likely to end the series in November or December 1996 as they would have been most likely to use the same slots as Westcountry used, which was as many as three a week at various points and did not use Mondays which were prone to unavailable slots due to Bank Holidays. As Tyne Tees had previously been supplied with night-time programmes from Granada until late 1992, they would have used the same slots that all the other Granada night-time regions used (Tuesdays and Thursdays, with Sundays used for various periods too). Tyne Tees would have also screened episodes 293 and 294 and not needed to squeeze so many episodes on air as they had done in 1992.	As Yorkshire	293 and 294
Border Television	Friday 10 June 1988 23:35	Initially Fridays 23:35. Series then takes a break at the end of August for snooker and returns in early September in new slots Sundays 23:30 and Thursdays 22:35. Sundays and Mondays from January 1989, then back to Sundays and Thursdays from April 1989, Thursday episode temporarily dropped at the end of October 1989 to allow Falcon Crest to complete before Christmas. During 1990 the show was often screened at 23:35 on both nights. During mid 1992 the Sunday episode briefly switched to Monday leaving a return to Sundays and Thursdays as the nights used at the end of 1992. From 5 January 1993 Tuesdays 23:40 and Thursdays 23:10 were used. Episode 476 screened on Thursday 28 October 1993 was followed by Episode 548 on Tuesday 2 November 1993, then as Granada from this point onwards until the end. 71 episodes missed to catch up to Granada. Daytime Australian soaps experienced a similar "Granada jump" at the end of December 1993. US series Crime Story replaced the programme. Had Border not joined with Granada in 1993, they would have been likely to end the series in November or December 1995 as they would have been most likely to use the same slots as Westcountry used with the odd slot used for Granada Soccer Night instead.	As Granada	477-547
HTV West & Wales	Monday 22 August 1988 23:40	Initially Mondays and Tuesdays. Later Sundays and Mondays from January 1989. Then Sundays and Tuesdays from October 1990. After 7 April 1991 Sunday episode moves to Thursday starting from 11 April. (Then Monday episode switched to Thursday) to fit into the same slots that Anglia and Thames were using to enable the three franchises to be ready at the right time for Thames' night-time service. Then Tuesdays and Thursdays. Very occasionally HTV Wales airtimes were one hour behind HTV West to accommodate extra locally made programming for Wales as they were legally obliged to provide. From January 1993 a Wednesday episode was introduced and lasted until March 1993. Several Wednesdays were unavailable for the show as boxing and football needed to be screened instead. By March Wednesdays had reverted to slots used for non-continuous series. Series then increased to three a week using Sundays from March 1994. Sunday episode discontinued at the end of 1994. Thursday episode then axed during 1995. Series then increased to two a week with the return of the Sunday episode on 10/09/95. During September and October a Wednesday night is used when the Tuesday slot was unavailable. From 20 November HTV Wales shows the Tuesday episode on Monday nights due to Welsh rugby highlights being accommodated in the Tuesday slot. HTV West retains the series on Tuesdays. Then Thursday episode returns on 15/02/96. Some Tuesday slots filled with regional sport instead. Tuesday episode replaced with US series Max Monroe: Loose Cannon. Thursday episode replaced with US series Hunter	Thursday 25 April 1996 23.40	None
Grampian Television	Sunday 11 September 1988 23:30	Sundays and Mondays until early 1991 at the earliest. As slots on 20/01, 21/01 and 27/01 were lost to the Gulf War coverage Grampian created extra slots for the show in Wednesday 23/01 (23.00 episode 207) and Wednesday 30/01 (22.55 episode 209) These slots replaced intended networked films which were now too long for the vacant one hour slot between ITN News at Ten and Gulf War coverage from midnight. Episode 221 was screened on Tuesday 19 March due to STV providing Grampian with regional sport filling up Grampian's Monday 18 March schedule (STV simply played their episode late on Monday - Grampian could not do this as they followed Granada's schedule after around 00.30) Then Monday and Tuesday from approx mid 1991??? then Sunday episode added in 1994 but later returned to twice a week until mid 1990s. During January 1995 the series aired on Mondays and Thursdays. From 8 January 1996 (episode 684) the series was shown weekly on Mondays in the 23.40/23.35 slot immediately after Band of Gold repeats at 22.40.	Monday 11 March 1996 23:35	None
Ulster Television (UTV)	Sunday 22 October 1989 23:35	Sundays with many weeks' slot given to regional sport, then Fridays and Sundays from November 1990. Then Sundays only during summer 1991, Fridays return in September 1991 then changes to Fridays only from January 1992, Then Mondays. During early 1993 Mondays 23:10 and Friday nights 00:10 (Saturday mornings). During 1994 Fridays change to Sundays. In early 1995, Sundays revert to Fridays. In March Mondays change to Wednesdays. In May 1995 the series runs three nights a week at the following approximate times Sundays 23.45, Wednesdays 23.10 and Friday nights 00.10 (Saturday morning). By autumn 1995 the Wednesday episode is moved to Mondays. Then Mondays for the first two episodes of 1997 (65, 13 January) before switched to Fridays (temporarily) episode 516 onwards from 24 January. Tuesdays from ?? until 29 July 1997 (episode 542) then Mondays from 4 August 1997 (episode 543)	Monday 15 December 1997 23:40 (episode 562)	563-692

• Although the first episode aired in the UK on Monday 8 October 1984, the Yorkshire region's edition of TV Times dated July 21 to 27, 1984 shows that the programme was scheduled to debut at 23:30 on Friday 27 July 1984 on Yorkshire Television. The station had ended another Australian drama, ABC's mini series The Timeless Land, two weeks previously in the same slot. Most listings for 27 July were later changed and replaced with US series Hotel although The Times still assumed that Prisoner was to be screened. Looking at the following week, a Network programme is in the slot which suggests that maybe YTV thought that having a two week wait after episode 1 was not fair to the series. Eventually the series did debut in the Monday 23:00 slot which had previously been occupied until September by Hill Street Blues until Channel 4 obtained the rights from autumn 1984.

• In December 1994 Ulster Television agreed to a request by the show's number one local fan Mark Holmes, to screen episodes 326 and 327 back to back, the first time ever that a UK TV channel had screened two episodes back to back. (Belfast Telegraph Weekend Telegraph 3 December 1994).

• When the series commenced on Yorkshire, Network 10 in Melbourne had reached episode 494 of the programme. Episodes 493 and 494 were screened as a double episode on 10 at 20.30 (end time 22.20) on Thursday 4 October 1984.

• During the period that Central screened the series in full (April 1987 - December 1991), the pioneers Yorkshire only managed to screen 169 episodes (86 - 254), less than a quarter of the Central output.

• Only two regions were in the lead for the show. Yorkshire from October 1984 led the regions up until they had screened episode 94 on Monday 23 November 1987. Central screened episode 94 on Saturday 28 November 1987 with Central taking the lead the following night (Sunday 29 November) by screening episode 95 which was screened by Yorkshire on Monday 30 November 1987.

• Many regions screened a one off Prisoner special half hour programme in late 1989 called Prisoner - The Inside Story, presented by Paul Lavers. This was made by Anglia Television and is probably now archived with all other Anglia material at Yorkshire Television in Leeds. The main transmission of this programme was on Monday December 18 1989 at 00.05 (Sunday night) screened by Granada in the Granada, Border, Grampian, Tyne Tees and Ulster regions. With the exception of Tyne Tees who screened a different preceding programme, this was screened immediately after their regional Prisoner episode. HTV screened the programme an hour later at 01.05. TSW also screened the special, but on Thursday 14th December in place of their Prisoner episode at 22.35. Anglia screened it at 23.30 on Monday 30th October after their Prisoner episode. Thames screened it at 01.20 on Friday 15 December after their 00.30 Prisoner episode. It is extremely likely that Central screened the programme as the show was extremely well received in the Central region.

• Tyne Tees and Border showed an episode on a Wednesday night 23.10 8th April 1992 the eve of the General election. This was because from 22.00 on Thursday there were no regional slots available on the entire network until 15.20 on Friday afternoon after extensive election coverage had ended.

• From autumn 1988 when all ITV regions offered 24 hour programming, several regions (Border, Grampian, Tyne Tees, TSW, Ulster) obtained a feed from Granada for their night-time programming from around 00:30. If network programming had ended around 00:15, then the regional Prisoner episode would not be shown in these regions as it would have meant that each company had to spend an extra hour on air to screen their episode. This did not affect STV or Central who both screened their own night time programming. Similarly Thames was not affected until in 1990, Anglia and HTV joined the Thames night time service and from this point the series would not start too late in these regions as they were all taking a direct feed from Thames (LWT at weekends) from around 00:30. Yorkshire provided their own night time programming and even though they could have screened the show whenever network programming had ended, they never did. This was probably due to the fact that since it started on YTV they had always used a slot around 23:00 or 23:30 and that they wished to maintain a regular timeslot for the programme. YTV never used a slot later than 00:00 (as used on 28/29 August 1988) until the new franchise era from 1993. TVS and Channel had a similar attitude to Yorkshire before joining the Thames service and then Meridian joined Carlton for shared night time programming. Initially Carlton would only screen the programme at 23:40 on Tuesdays. If that slot was unavailable the show would not air in that week. Following viewer complaints, Carlton agreed to screen the programme every Tuesday as soon as network porgramming had finished, sometimes being 01:00 on Wednesday mornings. This meant that one night a week (Tuesdays) Meridian had to remain on air with their own material (often Magnum P.I. or Island Son) extremely late whilst Carlton were busy placating Londoners. When Thames went off air in 1992, Anglia and HTV switched to the Granada night service in preference to Carlton's from January 1993 and therefore used similar slots for the show to Granada. The three companies STV, Yorkshire (Tyne Tees) and Central covering four separate regions each controlled their own night time schedules from 1993 as they had done previously. Westcountry followed their predecessors TSW with night time programmes supplied by Granada.

• The only ITV company never to have screened the programme was London Weekend Television (LWT) who occupied the London franchise from Friday evenings until 06:00 on Mondays whilst Thames and then Carlton had the weekday franchise. This meant that the series could never be screened in London on Friday, Saturday or Sunday nights.

UK ITV End of Year Episode Numbers

ITV Region in start date order	End of Year Episode Numbers
	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992
Yorkshire Television (YTV)	10	39	71	95	134	176	214	254	294
Television South (TVS)	Not yet purchased	9	47	77	108	152	200	246	292
Channel Television (CTV)	CTV's supplier had not yet purchased	CTV's supplier had not yet purchased	47	77	108	152	200	246	292
Television South West	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	26	40	72	118	178	239
Central Television	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	108xxx	251	406	557	First to Complete	Completed
Thames Television	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	26	73	119	188	271	357
Scottish Television (STV)	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	5	63	148	229	???	???
Anglia Television	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	99	196	290	376	467
Granada Television	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	107	201	284	366	479
Tyne Tees Television	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	32	74	116	200	292
Border Television	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	40	123	208	301	394
HTV West & Wales	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	30	126	224	316	403
Grampian Television	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	28	121	204	???	372
Ulster Television (UTV)	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	9	54	114	1??

ITV Region in start date order	End of Year Episode Numbers
	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
Yorkshire Television (YTV)	393	490x	588	674	Joint 8th to Complete	Completed	Completed
Meridian Broadcasting formerly TVS	341	390	435	480	530	563	586
Channel Television	341	390	435	480	530	563	586
Westcountry Television formerly TSW	336	466x	559	642	10th and last to Complete	Completed	Completed
Central Television	4?r	94r	95r	Stopped rerun	Stopped rerun	Stopped rerun	Stopped rerun
Carlton Television formerly Thames	406	455/456 08/11/94 An illegal immigrant finds her way into Wentworth. What better deterrent? Is this ep 451?	499	53?	5??	598	Incomplete
Scottish Television (STV)	428	510x	6??	7th to Complete	Completed	Completed	Completed
Anglia Television	562	610	673	6th to Complete	Completed	Completed	Completed
Granada Television	561	680x	Joint 2nd to Complete	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed
Tyne Tees Television	393	490x	588	674	Joint 8th to Complete	Completed	Completed
Border Television	561	680x	Joint 2nd to Complete	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed
HTV West & Wales	500	608	668?	5th to Complete	Completed	Completed	Completed
Grampian Television	467	592	683	4th to Complete	4th to Complete	Completed	Completed
Ulster Television (UTV)	239	331	454	513	563	Incomplete	Incomplete

x = Signifies that the last ep of the year was screened in the week between Xmas and New Year which was very rare for the regions to do.

Figures in italics show which region was the furthest ahead, of the regions screening Prisoner, in that year.

UK ITV Episode Numbers at halfway point of year

ITV Region in start date order	Episode Numbers at Halfway point of year (June 30)
	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992
Yorkshire Television (YTV)	25	55	85	112	Approx 155	Approx 195	Approx 234	Approx 274
Television South (TVS)	Not yet purchased	30
Channel Television (CTV)	CTV's supplier had not yet purchased	30
Television South West	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	13	26
Central Television	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	30	Approx 180	Approx 335	Approx 480	Approx 540	First to Complete
Thames Television	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	2
Scottish Television (STV)	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased				???	???
Anglia Television	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	Approx 50	Approx 148
Granada Television	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	Approx 45
Tyne Tees Television	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	probably 12				Approx 245
Border Television	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	3
HTV West & Wales	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased
Grampian Television	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased			???
Ulster Television (UTV)	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased	Not yet purchased

ITV Region in start date order	Episode Numbers at Halfway point of year (June 30)
	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
Yorkshire Television (YTV)					Joint 8th to Complete	Completed	Completed
Meridian Broadcasting formerly TVS							584 (Stopped at 586)
Channel Television							584 (Stopped at 586)
Westcountry Television formerly TSW						10th and last to Complete	Completed
Central Television	r	r	r	Stopped rerun	Stopped rerun	Stopped rerun	Stopped rerun
Carlton Television formerly Thames						590	Incomplete
Scottish Television (STV)					7th to Complete	Completed	Completed
Anglia Television				6th to Complete	Completed	Completed	Completed
Granada Television			Joint 2nd to Complete	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed
Tyne Tees Television					Joint 8th to Complete	Completed	Completed
Border Television			Joint 2nd to Complete	Completed	Completed	Completed	Completed
HTV West & Wales				5th to Complete	Completed	Completed	Completed
Grampian Television				4th to Complete	Completed	Completed	Completed
Ulster Television (UTV)					5??	Incomplete	Incomplete

Original, UK, Sweden and UK repeat Air dates of significant episodes

ITV Region in start date order

Air dates of significant 1979 - 1982 Australian screened episodes

ep 3 riot

ep 7 Vera Bennett's mother's death

ep 16 Marilyn's departure

ep 20 Franky's departure

ep 40 Jim's arrival

ep 72 Vera's birthday

ep 79 final ep shown on ATV-0 in 1979

ep 82 Terrorist invasion

ep 100 milestone

ep 121 riot

ep 165 1980 cliffhanger

ep 200 milestone

ep 224 Vera's departure

ep 246 1981 cliffhanger

ep 287 Joan's arrival

ep 300 milestone

ep 326 1982 cliffhanger

ITV

Original ATV 10 airdate

Wed 28/02/79 20.30

Wed 14/03/79 20.30 ??

1979

1979

1979

Tue 06/11/79 20.30 (Melbourne Cup Day)

Wed 28/11/79 20.30

Tue 29/01/80 20.30

1980

Wed 11/06/80 20.30

Wed 12/11/80 20.30

1981

Wed 02/09/81 20.30 (intended night was Tue 01/09/81)

probably Wed 11/11/81 20.30

Tue June 1982

1982

Tue 09/11/82 20.30 (21.30 as screened as a double episode with 325)

Original ATV 10. airdate

Yorkshire Television (YTV)

Mon 22/10/84 23.00

Mon 19/11/84 23.15

Mon 18/02/85 23.00

Mon 22/04/85 23.00

Mon 13/01/86 23.00

Mon 12/01/87 23.20

Mon 09/03/87 23.00

Mon 06/04/87 23.10

Mon 22/02/88 23.05

Tue 30/08/88 00.00 (Bank Holiday Monday)

Mon 18/09/89 23.20

Mon ??/??/90 23.??

Mon 25/03/91 23.10

Mon 07/10/91 23.30

Mon 19/10/92 23.10 abruptly cut off final scene and all of credits due to YTV's late running

Thu 21/01/93 23.10

Thu 29/04/93 23.30 edited due to violence

Yorkshire Television (YTV).

Television South (TVS) & Meridian Broadcasting

Fri 25/10/85 22.30

Fri 22/11/85 22.30

Thu 06/03/86 22.30

Fri 04/04/86 22.30 ?? or 11/04/86

Thu 16/10/86 22.30

Thu 05/11/87 22.30

Thu 28/01/88 22.40

Thu 18/02/88 22.30/22.40

Thu 1988

Thu 27/04/89 23.05

Thu 12/04/90 23.15

Thu ??/12/90 23.??

Thu 04/07/91 23.25

Thu 19/12/91 23.10

Thu 05/11/92 23.10

Early 1993

Thu 02/09/93 23.20

Television South (TVS) & Meridian Broadcasting

Channel Television

Not screened

Not screened

As TVS

As TVS

As TVS

As TVS

As TVS

As TVS

As TVS

As TVS

As TVS

As TVS

As TVS

As TVS

As TVS

As Meridian

As Meridian

Channel Television

Television South West (TSW) and Westcountry Television

Thu 29/01/87 23.05

Thu 05/03/87 23.10

Thu 01/10/87 22.32

Thu 29/10/87 22.32

Mon 19/12/88 22.35

Thu 07/12/89 22.35

Thu 15/03/90 22.35

Thu 05/04/90 22.35

1990

Fri 25/01/91 Time unconfirmed due to Gulf War rescehduling, probably 23.00

Mon 21/10/91 23.35

1992

Sun 11/10/92 22.35

Tue 26/01/93 23.40 or Thu 28/01/93 23.10 currently unconfirmed which is correct

Tue 29/06/93 23.55

1993

Thu 11/11/93 23.10 or Tue 16/11/93 23.40 currently unconfirmed which is correct

Television South West (TSW) and Westcountry Television

Central Television

Tue 28/04/87 00.05 rpt Sun 21/02/93

Sun 10/05/87 00.25 rpt 1993

Sun 31/05/87 00.35 rpt 1993

Mon 08/06/87 01.10 rpt 1993

Sun 26/07/87 01.30 rpt 1993

Mon 05/10/87 23.05 rpt 1994

Sat 24/10/87 23.30 rpt 1994

Sat 31/10/87 22.35 rpt autumn 1994

Late 1987

Sun 07/02/88 01.10

Sat 04/06/88 23.05

1988

Mon 17/10/88 22.35

Sun 18/12/88 01.00

Sat 18/03/89 23.35

April 1989

Sat 17/06/89 23.15

Central Television

Thames Television & Carlton Television

Fri 03/07/87 00.00

Fri 07/08/87 00.00

Fri 09/10/87 00.00

Thu 05/11/87 23.30

Thu 14/04/88 23.35

Thu 15/12/88 23.35

Thu 23/02/89 23.35

Thu 30/03/89 23.35

1989

Fri 12/01/90 00.30

Thu 27/09/90 23.40

Early 1992

Thu 20/06/91 23.40

Thu 19/09/91 23.50

Thu 05/03/92 22.40

1992

Wed 26/08/92 00.30

Thames Television & Carlton Television

Scottish Television (STV)

Mon 09/11/87 23.30

Mon 01/02/88 23.05

Mon 04/04/88 23.40

Mon 18/04/88 23.05

Fri 22/07/88 22.35

Fri 17/02/89 23.05

Mon 20/03/89 23.35

Fri 07/04/89 23.10

Mid 1989

Mon 28/08/89 23.25

Fri 16/03/90 23.20

1990

Mon 19/11/90 23.40

1990/91

1991/92

1991/92

1992??

Scottish Television (STV)

Anglia Television

Wed 13/01/88 00.35

Wed 27/01/88 00.30

Thu 25/02/88 23.20

Thu 10/03/88 23.05

Thu 19/05/88 23.05

Sun 18/09/88 23.30

Mon 10/10/88 22.35

Sun 23/10/88 23.30

Early 1989

Mon 13/03/89 23.35

Sun 27/08/89 23.35

Early 1990

Sun 22/04/90 23.35

Tue 10/07/90 00.05

Mon 10/12/90 01.00

Early 1991

Tue 18/06/91 23.40

Anglia Television

Granada Television

Sun 21/02/88 23.30

Sun 06/03/88 23.30

Sun 10/04/88 23.45

Sun 24/04/88 23.30

Mon 04/07/88 23.15

Sun 25/09/88 23.45

Thu 13/10/88 22.35

Thu 20/10/88 22.35

Late 1988

Sun 05/03/89 23.30

Mon 14/08/89 22.35

Late 1989

Mon 02/04/90 23.05

mid 1990

Mon 21/01/91 23.00 (originally scheduled to air Sun 20/01/91 23.25)

1991

Mon 08/07/91 23.10

Granada Television

Tyne Tees Television

Thu 21/04/88 23.35

Thu 19/05/88 23.05

Thu 28/07/88 23.05

Thu 25/08/88 23.35

Thu 30/03/89 23.05

Thu 30/11/89 23.15

Thu 15/02/90

Thu 22/03/90 23.15

Thu ??/??/90

Sun 03/02/91 23.30

Sun 21/07/91 23.25

probably Thu 19/12/91 23.??

probably Sun 05/04/92 ??.?? or Wed 08/04/92 23.10

mid 1992

Nov 1992

As Yorkshire

As Yorkshire

Tyne Tees Television

Border Television

Fri 24/06/88 23.35

Fri 22/07/88 23.35

Thu 22/09/88 22.35

Sun 09/10/88 23.35

Thu 22/12/88 23.05

Sun 21/05/89 23.15

Mon 19/06/89 00.00

Thu 29/06/89 23.05

1989

Mon 11/12/89 00.30

Sun 01/07/90 23.55 or Thu 05/90 23.05

Late 1990

Mon 18/03/91 00.15

Mon 03/06/91 00.00

Sun 27/10/91? 23.10

Late 1991

Wed 08/04/92 23.10 moved to Wed due to General Election.

Border Television

HTV West & Wales

Tue 30/08/88 00.00 (Bank Holiday Monday)

Wed 14/09/88 00.05

Tue 25/10/88 23.35

Mon 14/11/88 23.35

Sun 12/02/89 23.45

Mon 12/06/89 00.10

Sun 09/07/89

Mon 17/07/89 00.30

1989

Mon 27/11/89 23.45

Mon 21/05/90 00.05

1990

Wed 19/12/90 00.30

1991

1991

Late 1991

Thu 13/02/92 23.40

HTV West & Wales

Grampian Television

Sun 18/09/88 23.30

Sun 02/10/88 23.30

Mon 31/10/88 23.05

Sun 20/11/88 23.30

Sun 26/02/89 23.30

Mon 03/07/89 00.30

Mon 24/07/89 23.05

Sun 06/08/89 23.35

1989

Mon 18/12/89 23.05

Mon 09/07/90 23.35

Late 1990

Sun 31/03/91 23.30

1991/92

1991/92

1991/92

1991/92

Grampian Television

Ulster Television (UTV)

Sun 05/11/89 23.20

Mon 04/12/89 00.10

probably Mon 26/02/90 00.30

probably Sun 08/04/90 23.35

1990

ep 64 03/03/91

1991

1991

1991

probably Sat 29/02/92?? 00.10

1992

1993

1993

Sat 29/01/94 00.10

Mon 11/07/94 22.40

1994

Sun 04/12/94 22.30 (see above)

Ulster Television (UTV)

TV4 Sweden

11/09/94

??

12/10/94

21/10/94

07/12/94

05/03/95

22/03/95

29/03/95

1995

28/06/95

08/10/95

Late 1995/Early 1996

28/02/96

19/04/96

11/09/96

1996

06/12/96

TV4 Sweden

Five

Thu 03/04/97 04.40

Mon 07/04/97 04.40

Wed 16/04/97 04.40

Sun 20/04/97 04.40

Tue 13/05/97 04.40

Thu 19/06/97 04.40

Fri 27/06/97 04.40

Sun 29/06/97 01.35

Fri 18/07/97 23.25

Mon 18/08/97 23.40

Tue 25/11/97 23.55

Tue 03/02/98 04.40

Sun 08/03/98 04.40

Fri 10/04/98 04.40

Sat 06/06/98 04.40

Wed 24/06/98 04.40

Fri 31/07/98 04.40

Five

ITV Region in start date order

Air dates of significant 1983 - 1986 Australian screened episodes

ep 327 Fire aftermath

ep 364 Ann's arrival

ep 400 Bea's departure

ep 416 1983 cliffhanger

ep 418 Lizzie's departure

ep 456 Colleen's departure

ep 466 Marie's riot

ep 500 milestone

ep 505 1984 cliffhanger

ep 534 Judy's Departure

ep 552 the end of Myra

ep 588 1985 cliffhanger

ep 600 riot

Original ATV 10 airdate

Tue 01/02/83 ??

1983

September 1983

1983

February 1984

1984

1984

Thu 25/10/84 20.30

Thu 08/11/84 20.30 (21.30 as screened as a double episode with 504)

May 1985

July 1985

November 1985

1986

Original ATV 10 airdate

Yorkshire Television (YTV)

Mon 03/05/93 23.??

Thu 16/09/93 ?? 23.??

Mon 31/01/94 23.10

Mon 28/03/94 23.10

Thu 07/04/94 23.25

Mon 29/08/94 23.25

Mon 03/10/94 23.35

Mon 06/02/95 23.55

Thu 23/02/95 23.30

Thu 15/06/95 23.25

Thu 17/08/95 23.10

Thu 21/12/95 23.20

Mon 04/03/96 23.10 edited due to violence

Yorkshire Television (YTV)

Television South (TVS) & Meridian Broadcasting

Thu 09/09/93 ??

1994

Tue 14/03/95 23.40

Tue 11/07/95 23.30

Tue 25/07/95 23.40

May/June 1996

Tue 20/08/96

1997

1997

Tue 17/02/98 23.40

Tue 04/08/98 23.45

Not screened

Not screened

Television South (TVS) & Meridian Broadcasting

Channel Television

As Meridian

As Meridian

As Meridian

As Meridian

As Meridian

As Meridian

As Meridian

As Meridian

As Meridian

As Meridian

As Meridian

Not screened

Not screened

Channel Television

Television South West (TSW) and Westcountry Television

Tue 16/11/93 23.40 or Thu 18/11/93 23.10

Tue 05/04/94 23.40

Thu 07/07/94 23.10

Tue 23/08/94 23.40

Sun 28/08/94 23.10

Sun 27/11/94 23.45

Thu 29/12/94 23.40

Thu 11/05/95 23.10

Tue 06/06/95 23.40

Thu 21/09/95 23.10

Sun 19/11/95 23.45

1996

1996

Television South West (TSW) and Westcountry Television

Central Television

Sun 18/06/89 ??

Mon 11/09/89 23.50

Mon 04/12/89 23.15

Sat 20/01/90 23.45

Mon 22/01/90 22.35

Sun 22/04/90 23.35

Sat 19/05/90 00.05

Tue 07/08/90 01.00

Mon 20/08/90 00.05

Sat 27/10/90 00.10

Sat 08/12/90 00.10

Tue 02/04/91 00.05

Tue 30/04/91 00.05

Central Television

Thames Television & Carlton Television

Thu 27/08/92 ??

Tue early 1993

Tue late 1993

Tue 08/03/94 23.40

Tue 22/03/94 23.40

Tue 20/12/94 23.40 or the first week of January 1995 (to be confirmed).

Tue 07/03/95 23.40

Thu 15/02/96 23.40

Thu 21/03/96 23.45

Nov 1996

1997

Thu 28/05/98 23.45

Not screened

Thames Television & Carlton Television

Scottish Television (STV)

1992 ??

372 Thu 01/07/93 23.10

Mon 04/10/93 23.10

Fri 12/11/93 23.40

Thu 18/11/93 23.10

Thu 17/11/94 23.15

Mon 05/12/94 23.45

Mon 27/03/95 23.40

1995/6

Scottish Television (STV)

Anglia Television

Thu 20/06/91 ??

Thu 31/10/91 23.15

Thu 02/04/92 23.45

Tue 26/05/92 23.40

Tue 02/06/92 23.40

Tue 27/10/92 23.40

Thu 03/12/92 23.50

Thu 06/05/93 23.40

Tue 25/05/93 23.40

Thu 02/09/93 23.40

Tue 16/11/93 23.40

Tue 19/07/94 23.40

Tue 11/10/94 23.40

Anglia Television

Granada Television

Sun 14/07/91 ??

Mon 02/12/91 22.40

1992

Thu 02/07/92 22.40

Thu 09/07/92 22.40

Mon 12/10/92 23.35

Thu 05/11/92 22.40

Thu 29/04/93 23.35

Tue/Thu ??/05/93 23.??

Thu 09/09/93 23.25

Thu 18/11/93 23.35

1994

1994

Granada Television

Tyne Tees Television

As Yorkshire

As Yorkshire

As Yorkshire

As Yorkshire

As Yorkshire

As Yorkshire

As Yorkshire

As Yorkshire

As Yorkshire

As Yorkshire

As Yorkshire

As Yorkshire

As Yorkshire

Tyne Tees Television

Border Television

Sun 12/04/92 ??

Thu 03/09/92 23.10

??/01/93 ??.??

Thu 12/08/93 23.10

Tue 21/09/93 23.40

Not screened

Not screened

Not screened

As Granada

As Granada

As Granada

Border Television

HTV West & Wales

Tue 18/02/92 ??

Thu 23/07/92 23.55

Tue 01/12/92 23.50

1993

1993

1993

Tue 17/08/93 23.30

Thu 23/12/93 23.40

Tue 18/01/94 23.40

??

Tue 27/09/94 23.40

ep 608 screened 20/12/94 23.40

HTV West & Wales

Grampian Television

1992 ??

late 1992

early 1993

??

Mon 08/11/93 23.35 Then no epiosde on the next night

Tue 14/12/93 23.35

ep 538 Mon 15/08/94 00.15

Sun 18/09/94 23.45

Dec 1994

Mon 30/01/95 23.35

Grampian Television

Ulster Television (UTV)

Sun 04/12/94 23.25 (see above)

Sat 29/04/95 00.10

Wed 16/08/95 23.40

Sun 24/09/95 23.45

Sat 30/09/95 00.10

Sat 13/01/96 00.10

1996

??

Mon 06/10/97 23.40

Not screened

Not screened

Ulster Television (UTV)

TV4 Sweden

09/12/96 ??

02/04/97

15/08/97

21/09/97

26/09/97

21/01/98

13/02/98

03/05/98

15/05/98

07/10/98

18/11/98

24/03/99

21/04/99

TV4 Sweden

Five

Sat 01/08/98 04.40

Tue 22/09/98 04.40

Wed 11/11/98 04.40

Fri 04/12/98 04.40

Sun 06/12/98 04.40

Fri 29/01/99 04.40

Fri 12/02/99 04.40

Sun 04/04/99 04.40

Sat 24/04/99 04.40

Sat 07/08/99 04.40

Sat 09/10/99 04.40

Sat 12/02/00 04.40

Sat 25/03/00 04.40

Five

• Where a programme is shown as starting in the 00:/01:/02: hours such as Tue 30/08/88 00.00, such episodes would have been listed in the previous day's TV schedule, Mon 29/08/88 being the case for the example shown.

• The longest amount of time that passed for an episode to be first shown and it's last showing was episode 586. It was first screened by Central in March 1991 and eventually aired on Meridian nearly eight and a half years later on Monday 12 July 1999 at 23.50.

Episode reached by the date of significant news events

ITV Region in start date order

Major events that hit the headlines 1984 - 2000

Brighton hotel bombing October 12 1984

Bradford City Fire May 11 1985

Royal Wedding July 23 1986

Black Monday October 19 1987

a 1988 event

Hillsborough disaster April 15 1989

Margaret Thatchers resignation November 22 1990

Announcement of 1991 ITV franchise auction results October 16 1991

a 1992 event

a 1993 event

a 1994 event

a 1995 event

a 1996 event

a 1997 event

a 1998 event

a 1999 event

a 2000 event

ITV

Original ATV 10 airdate

4??

5??

Ended

Original ATV 10. airdate

Yorkshire Television (YTV)

1

2?

5?

8?

Mon 13/01/86 23.00

Mon 12/01/87 23.20

Mon 09/03/87 23.00

Mon 06/04/87 23.10

Mon 22/02/88 23.05

Tue 30/08/88 00.00

Mon 18/09/89 23.20

Mon ??/??/90 ??.??

Mon 25/03/91 23.10

Mon 07/10/91 23.30

Mon 19/10/92 23.10 abruptly cut off final scene and all of credits due to YTV's late running

Thu 21/01/93 23.10

Thu 29/04/93 23.30 edited due to violence

Yorkshire Television (YTV).

Television South (TVS) & Meridian Broadcasting

Not yet purchased

Not yet purchased

1?/2?

Thu 28/01/88 22.40

Thu 18/02/88 22.30/22.40

Thu 1988

Thu 27/04/89 23.05

Thu 12/04/90 23.15

Thu ??/12/90 23.??

Thu 04/07/91 23.25

Thu 19/12/91 23.10

Thu 05/11/92 23.10

Early 1993

Thu 02/09/93 23.20

Television South (TVS) & Meridian Broadcasting

Channel Television

Not yet purchased

Not yet purchased

As TVS

As TVS

As TVS

As TVS

As TVS

As TVS

As TVS

As TVS

As TVS

As TVS

As TVS

As TVS

As TVS

As Meridian

As Meridian

Channel Television

Television South West (TSW) and Westcountry Television

Thu 29/01/87 23.05

Thu 05/03/87 23.10

Thu 01/10/87 22.32

Thu 29/10/87 22.32

Mon 19/12/88 22.35

Thu 07/12/89 22.35

Thu 15/03/90 22.35

Thu 05/04/90 22.35

1990

Fri 25/01/91 Time unconfirmed due to Gulf War rescehduling, probably 23.00

Mon 21/10/91 23.35

1992

Sun 11/10/92 22.35

Tue 26/01/93 23.40 or Thu 28/01/93 23.10 currently unconfirmed which is correct

Tue 29/06/93 23.55

1993

Thu 11/11/93 23.10 or Tue 16/11/93 23.40 currently unconfirmed which is correct

Television South West (TSW) and Westcountry Television

Central Television

Tue 28/04/87 00.05 rpt Sun 21/02/93

Sun 10/05/87 00.25 rpt 1993

Sun 31/05/87 00.35 rpt 1993

Mon 08/06/87 01.10 rpt 1993

Sun 26/07/87 01.30 rpt 1993

Mon 05/10/87 23.05 rpt 1994

Sat 24/10/87 23.30 rpt 1994

Sat 31/10/87 22.35 rpt autumn 1994

Late 1987

Sun 07/02/88 01.10

Sat 04/06/88 23.05

1988

Mon 17/10/88 22.35

Sun 18/12/88 01.00

Sat 18/03/89 23.35

April 1989

Sat 17/06/89 23.15

Central Television

Thames Television & Carlton Television

Fri 03/07/87 00.00

Fri 07/08/87 00.00

Fri 09/10/87 00.00

Thu 05/11/87 23.30

Thu 14/04/88 23.35

Thu 15/12/88 23.35

Thu 23/02/89 23.35

Thu 30/03/89 23.35

1989

Fri 12/01/90 00.30

Thu 27/09/90 23.40

Early 1992

Thu 20/06/91 23.40

Thu 19/09/91 23.50

Thu 05/03/92 22.40

1992

Wed 26/08/92 00.30

Thames Television & Carlton Television

Scottish Television (STV)

Mon 09/11/87 23.30

Mon 01/02/88 23.05

Mon 04/04/88 23.40

Mon 18/04/88 23.05

Fri 22/07/88 22.35

Fri 17/02/89 23.05

Mon 20/03/89 23.35

Fri 07/04/89 23.10

Mid 1989

Mon 28/08/89 23.25

Fri 16/03/90 23.20

1990

Mon 19/11/90 23.40

1990/91

1991/92

1991/92

1992??

Scottish Television (STV)

Anglia Television

Wed 13/01/88 00.35

Wed 27/01/88 00.30

Thu 25/02/88 23.20

Thu 10/03/88 23.05

Thu 19/05/88 23.05

Sun 18/09/88 23.30

Mon 10/10/88 22.35

Sun 23/10/88 23.30

Early 1989

Mon 13/03/89 23.35

Sun 27/08/89 23.35

Early 1990

Sun 22/04/90 23.35

Tue 10/07/90 00.05

Mon 10/12/90 01.00

Early 1991

Tue 18/06/91 23.40

Anglia Television

Granada Television

Sun 21/02/88 23.30

Sun 06/03/88 23.30

Sun 10/04/88 23.45

Sun 24/04/88 23.30

Mon 04/07/88 23.15

Sun 25/09/88 23.45

Thu 13/10/88 22.35

Thu 20/10/88 22.35

Late 1988

Sun 05/03/89 23.30

Mon 14/08/89 22.35

Late 1989

Mon 02/04/90 23.05

mid 1990

Mon 21/01/91 23.00 (originally scheduled to air Sun 20/01/91 23.25)

1991

Mon 08/07/91 23.10

Granada Television

Tyne Tees Television

Thu 21/04/88 23.35

Thu 19/05/88 23.05

Thu 28/07/88 23.05

Thu 25/08/88 23.35

Thu 30/03/89 23.05

Thu 30/11/89 23.15

Thu 15/02/90

Thu 22/03/90 23.15

Thu ??/??/90

Sun 03/02/91 23.30

Sun 21/07/91 23.25

probably Thu 19/12/91 23.??

probably Sun 05/04/92 ??.?? or Wed 08/04/92 23.10

mid 1992

Nov 1992

As Yorkshire

As Yorkshire

Tyne Tees Television

Border Television

Fri 24/06/88 23.35

Fri 22/07/88 23.35

Thu 22/09/88 22.35

Sun 09/10/88 23.35

Thu 22/12/88 23.05

Sun 21/05/89 23.15

Mon 19/06/89 00.00

Thu 29/06/89 23.05

1989

Mon 11/12/89 00.30

Sun 01/07/90 23.55 or Thu 05/90 23.05

Late 1990

Mon 18/03/91 00.15

Mon 03/06/91 00.00

Sun 27/10/91? 23.10

Late 1991

Wed 08/04/92 23.10 moved to Wed due to General Election.

Border Television

HTV West & Wales

Tue 30/08/88 00.00

Wed 14/09/88 00.05

Tue 25/10/88 23.35

Mon 14/11/88 23.35

Sun 12/02/89 23.45

Mon 12/06/89 00.10

Sun 09/07/89

Mon 17/07/89 00.30

1989

Mon 27/11/89 23.45

Mon 21/05/90 00.05

1990

Wed 19/12/90 00.30

1991

1991

Late 1991

Thu 13/02/92 23.40

HTV West & Wales

Grampian Television

Sun 18/09/88 23.30

Sun 02/10/88 23.30

Mon 31/10/88 23.05

Sun 20/11/88 23.30

Sun 26/02/89 23.30

Mon 03/07/89 00.30

Mon 24/07/89 23.05

Sun 06/08/89 23.35

1989

Mon 18/12/89 23.05

Mon 09/07/90 23.35

Late 1990

Sun 31/03/91 23.30

1991/92

1991/92

1991/92

1991/92

Grampian Television

Ulster Television (UTV)

Sun 05/11/89 23.20

Mon 04/12/89 00.10

probably Mon 26/02/90 00.30

probably Sun 08/04/90 23.35

1990

ep 64 03/03/91

1991

1991

1991

probably Sat 29/02/92?? 00.10

1992

1993

1993

Sat 29/01/94 00.10

Mon 11/07/94 22.40

1994

Sun 04/12/94 22.30 (see above)

Ulster Television (UTV)

TV4 Sweden

11/09/94

??

12/10/94

21/10/94

07/12/94

05/03/95

22/03/95

29/03/95

1995

28/06/95

08/10/95

Late 1995/Early 1996

28/02/96

19/04/96

11/09/96

1996

06/12/96

TV4 Sweden

Five

Thu 03/04/97 04.40

Mon 07/04/97 04.40

Wed 16/04/97 04.40

Sun 20/04/97 04.40

Tue 13/05/97 04.40

Thu 19/06/97 04.40

Fri 27/06/97 04.40

Sun 29/06/97 01.35

Fri 18/07/97 23.25

Mon 18/08/97 23.40

Tue 25/11/97 23.55

Tue 03/02/98 04.40

Sun 08/03/98 04.40

Fri 10/04/98 04.40

Sat 06/06/98 04.40

Wed 24/06/98 04.40

Fri 31/07/98 04.40

Five

Points at which regions overtook another region

ITV Region in start date order

Point at which region listed horizontally overtook region vertically

Yorkshire

TVS/Meridian and Channel

TSW/Westcountry

Central

Thames/Carlton

STV

Anglia

Granada

Tyne Tees

Border

HTV

Grampian

Ulster

Yorkshire Television (YTV)

N/A

Always ahead of TVS/Meridian and Channel

Always ahead of TSW/Westcountry

YTV ep 94 Mon ??/11/87 23.?? YTV ep 95 Mon ??/11/87 23.?? Central ep 94 Sat ??/11/87 ??.?? Central ep 95 Sun ??/11/87 ??.??

Approx ep 244

Approx ep 180

YTV ep 158 Mon ??/??/89 23.05 YTV ep 159 Mon ??/??/89 ??.?? Granada ep 158 Mon ??/??/89 23.35 Granada ep 159 Sun ??/??/89 ??.??

Always ahead of (or equal with) Tyne Tees

221 222

224 225

Always ahead of Ulster

Yorkshire Television (YTV)

Television South (TVS) & Meridian Broadcasting

Always behind YTV

N/A

Around ep 340

Around ep 70

Around ep 230

Around ep 200

Around ep 115

Around ep 108

(292 293 TVS) (292 295 Tyne Tees)

Around ep 200

Around ep 190

Around ep 210

Around ep 500

Television South (TVS) & Meridian Broadcasting

Television South West (TSW) and Westcountry Television

Always behind YTV

TVS/Meridian and Channel never overtook TSW/Westcountry

N/A

13 14

13 14

13 14

Television South West (TSW) and Westcountry Television

Central Television

YTV never overtook Central

TVS/Meridian and Channel never overtook Central

TSW/Westcountry never overtook Central

N/A

Thames/Carlton never overtook Central

STV never overtook Central

Anglia never overtook Central

Granada never overtook Central

Tyne Tees never overtook Central

Border never overtook Central

HTV never overtook Central

Grampian never overtook Central

Ulster never overtook Central

Central Television

Thames Television & Carlton Television

approx ep 425

TVS/Meridian and Channel never overtook Thames/Carlton

13 14

Always behind Central

N/A

???

Approx ep 50

approx ep 50

approx ep 425

approx ep 150

approx ep 140

approx ep

Ulster never overtook Thames/Carlton

Thames Television & Carlton Television

Scottish Television (STV)

YTV never overtook STV

TVS/Meridian and Channel never overtook STV

TSW/Westcountry never overtook STV

Always behind Central

Approx ep 80

N/A

Approx ep 6

Approx ep 12

Tyne Tees never overtook STV

Approx ep 250

Approx ep 230

Approx ep 250

UTV never overtook STV

Scottish Television (STV)

Anglia Television

YTV never overtook Anglia

TVS/Meridian and Channel never overtook Anglia

TSW/Westcountry never overtook Anglia

Always behind Central

Thames/Carlton never overtook Anglia

STV never overtook Anglia

N/A

VARIOUS POINTS

Tyne Tees never overtook Anglia

as Granada for eps after 547 otherwise always behind Anglia

HTV never overtook Anglia?????????

approx ep 670

UTV never overtook Anglia

Anglia Television

Granada Television

YTV never overtook Granada

TVS/Meridian and Channel never overtook Granada

TSW/Westcountry never overtook Granada

Always behind Central

Thames/Carlton never overtook Granada

STV never overtook Granada

VARIOUS POINTS

N/A

Tyne Tees never overtook Granada

Border never overtook Granada but joined them in 1993

HTV never overtook Granada

Grampian never overtook Granada

UTV never overtook Granada

Granada Television

Tyne Tees Television

YTV never overtook Tyne Tees

TVS/Meridian never overtook Tyne Tees

TSW/Westcountry never overtook Tyne Tees

Always behind Central

Thames/Carlton never overtook Tyne Tees

STV never overtook Tyne Tees

Anglia never overtook Tyne Tees

Granada never overtook Tyne Tees

N/A

Approx ep 24

Approx ep 35

Approx ep 35

UTV never overtook Tyne Tees

Tyne Tees Television

Border Television

Fri 24/06/88 23.35

Fri 22/07/88 23.35

Thu 22/09/88 22.35

Sun 09/10/88 23.35

Thu 22/12/88 23.05

Sun 21/05/89 23.15

Mon 19/06/89 00.00

Thu 29/06/89 23.05

Mon 11/12/89 00.30

Sun 01/07/90 23.55 or Thu 05/90 23.05

Mon 18/03/91 00.15

Mon 03/06/91 00.00

?Thu? 27/10/91 23.10

Border Television

HTV West & Wales

Tue 30/08/88 00.00

Wed 14/09/88 00.05

Tue 25/10/88 23.35

Mon 14/11/88 23.35

Sun 12/02/89 23.45

Mon 12/06/89 00.10

Sun 09/07/89

Mon 17/07/89 00.30

Mon 27/11/89 23.45

Mon 21/05/90 00.05

Wed 19/12/90 00.30

1991

1991

HTV West & Wales

Grampian Television

Sun 18/09/88 23.30

Sun 02/10/88 23.30

Mon 31/10/88 23.05

Sun 20/11/88 23.30

Sun 26/02/89 23.30

Mon 03/07/89 00.30

Mon 24/07/89 23.05

Sun 06/08/89 23.35

Mon 18/12/89 23.05

Mon 09/07/90 23.35

Sun 31/03/91 23.30

1991/92

1991/92

Grampian Television

Ulster Television (UTV)

Sun 05/11/89 23.20

Mon 04/12/89 00.10

probably Mon 26/02/90 00.30

probably Sun 08/04/90 23.35

1990

ep 64 03/03/91

1991

1991

probably Sat 29/02/92?? 00.10

1992

1993

Sat 29/01/94 00.10

Mon 11/07/94 22.40

Ulster Television (UTV)

DVD releases

File:PCBHDVD.jpg

Australian DVD release of Prisoner.

Prisoner has been released on DVD in Australia on Region 4, with interviews and photo galleries as special features.

• The Best of Prisoner Cell Block H Vol 1 - Episodes 166,287,327,400,536,550,551,552,600,601,691,692
• The Best of Prisoner Cell Block H Vol 2 - Episodes 001,002,003,004,020,165,247,248,471,586,598,667
• The Best of Prisoner Cell Block H Vol 3 - Episodes 498,499,500,501,664,665,666,667,687,688,689,690

File:Episodes 001 - 016.jpg

Prisoner Volume 1 cover.

The Complete Series is being released by Shock and they are currently planning a 174-disc box set to be released in September 2007.

The series will be released in 40 volumes in 4 and 6-disc box sets. Sets prior to Volume 34 feature 16 episodes (Volumes 34–40 will feature 24 episodes).

Available releases

Each is titled "Prisoner Cell Block H", rather than Prisoner.

• Vols 01 & 02 - Episodes 001 - 032 - Released to subscribers in Oct 2006
• Vols 03 & 04 - Episodes 033 - 064 - Released to subscribers in Nov 2006
• Vols 05 & 06 - Episodes 065 - 096 - Released to subscribers in Jan 2007
• Vols 07 & 08 - Episodes 097 - 128 - Released to subscribers in Feb 2007
• Vols 09 & 10 - Episodes 129 - 160 - Released to subscribers in Mar 2007
• Vols 11 & 12 - Episodes 161 - 192 - Released to subscribers in May 2007
• Vols 13 & 14 - Episodes 193 - 224 - Released to subscribers in Jun 2007
• Vols 15 & 16 - Episodes 225 - 256 - Released to subscribers in Jun 2007
• Vols 17 & 18 - Episodes 257 - 288 - released to subscribers in Jul 2007

Upcoming releases

• Vols 19 & 20 - Episodes 289 - 320 - Due to be released to subscribers in Aug 2007
• Vols 21 & 22 - Episodes 321 - 352 - Due to be released to subscribers in Sep 2007
• Vols 23 & 24 - Episodes 353 - 384 - Due to be released to subscribers in Oct 2007
• Vols 25 & 26 - Episodes 385 - 416 - Due to be released to subscribers in Nov 2007
• Vols 27 & 28 - Episodes 417 - 448 - Due to be released to subscribers in Jan 2008
• Vols 29 & 30 - Episodes 449 - 480 - Due to be released to subscribers in Feb 2008
• Vols 31 & 32 - Episodes 481 - 512 - Due to be released to subscribers in Mar 2008
• Vols 33 & 34 - Episodes 513 - 552 - Due to be released to subscribers in Apr 2008
• Vols 35 & 36 - Episodes 553 - 600 - Due to be released to subscribers in May 2008
• Vols 37 & 38 - Episodes 601 - 648 - Due to be released to subscribers in Jun 2008
• Vols 39 & 40 - Episodes 649 - 692 - Due to be released to subscribers in Jul 2008
• Vols 01 to 40 - Episodes 001 - 692 - Due to be released to subscribers who signed up for the boxset in Aug 2007

NB: All dates are subject to change.

See also

• • • • Future***

According to American celebrity blogger Perez Hilton Prisoner Cell Block H the musical is currently in production and will debut in London's west end some time next year.

• Prisoner characters - Inmates
• Prisoner characters - Prison Staff
• Prisoner characters - Background Prison Officers
• Prisoner characters - Miscellaneous

External links

• Prisoner at IMDb
• Who's who in Wentworth — Fan site with complete episode guide
• On The Inside — Official Fan Club
• Prisoner Online — Fan site
• Kvinnofängelset - visa.kf.mer.nu — Swedish fan site
• Kvinnofängelset fanklubb — Swedish fan club
• Hinter Gittern — Official site of the German version
• Aussie Soap Archive: Prisoner — Overview and review
• Encyclopedia of Television
• Prisoner at the National Film and Sound Archive