Prisoner Cell Block H

[aussiefan83]

Prisoner was a classic Australian Soap

Coral, aka Dramaqueen, was a script writer on Prisoner. I would like to discuss everything about this classic, and hopefully, Coral will have her input of memories, of writing for the show.

[buffygirl]

This is seriously taking me a way back..

I loved this show, it was so well written and the characters mostly were realistic..

There is so much i want to say but im going to hold back a bit for that, now the character of Val Lehthem(Bea) i loved the most she was the hard nosed top dog but undreneath it she did have a good heart in a sence if you can forget that she killed two people..well you know what they say about a woman scorned!

Lizzie Birdsworth oh she loved the booze ..thought she'd killed those people.

[Emmadolly]

I loved prisoner cell block H. My god that really does take me back in a time warp. Good old viniger t*ts, and Lizzy. And best of all was Bea the top dog. And always doing the wrong thing was Doreen, what a great show. But it was so under budget, it was great when you could see the back ground move and shake. .

Sorry i can not remember the characters name, but the female character that told Alf , she had a son by him, and it turned out, he was Rick's grandad. It was like a blast from the past, meaning she played the part of Ferguson, and she was absolutley great at it.

[I love music]

Wow, that brings back memories! One of my sisters and me used to love it and we'd set the video whenever it was on because they showed it at such weird times and then sometimes the next day we'd find they'd changed the time for some stupid sports programme or whatever and we'd missed some...

BTW Ray Meagher (Alf) was in it. He played a v.nasty prison guard called, I think, Craven.

[irish_angel]

I used to love Prisoner. It was one of the best {if not the best} show on tv around that time. My fave characters were Lizzie {who couldn't have loved Lizzie and her many adventures with home-brew }, Bea Smith, Doreen , Judy, Joan "The Freak" Ferguson, Meg Morris. And i loved Judith McGrath {Colleen Powell} and Fiona Spence {Vera Bennett} in it too.

Ray Meagher played a character called Kurt Renner in it.

Does anybody know off-hand how many episodes of Prisoner were made? Just had a quick look on IMDB and there were 692 episodes made. They should release them all on DVD or put it back on tv at least.

[katya]

I loved Prisoner. I used to stay up til half four in the morning to watch it. It was so gritty.

[-Karen-]

I loved this programme and all my friends took the mick out of me! I used to stay up and watch it late at night without my parents knowing, when I should have been sleeping and had school the next day!

I used to long for the The Freak to get her come-uppance and loved it when the women finally got the better of her just before he programme ended. The things that stick in my mind about the show were:

The freak and the 'gloves' she used to put on!

Lizzy Birdsworth - classic character

Dozy Doreen

Reb Keane (aka Lyn Scully) and the collar she used to put up all the time.

Bea Smith on the press in the laundry.

Vinegar T*** and Po Face

Judy Bryant's wierd accent

Little Julie Egbert (aka Susan Kennedy)

Nice Meg Morris

and finally...

Joyce Barry and her seriously large forehead!

Anyone remember this? I loved the theme tune!

He used to give me roses

I wish he could again

But that was on the outside

And things were different then

We'd built our world together

With a love so clear and strong

But that was on the outside

Where did i go wrong

On the inside the sun still shines

And the rain falls down

But the sun and rain are prisoners too

When morning comes around

Last night i dreamed we were together

Sharing all the love we've known

Til i had to face the nightmare

Of waking up alone

On the inside the sun still shines

And the rain falls down

But the sun and rain are prisoners too

When morning comes around

On the inside the roses grow

They don't mind the stoney ground

But the roses here are prisoners too

When morning comes around

He used to give me roses

I wish he could again

But that was on the outside

An things were different then

[Emmadolly]

A brilliant show, i forgot about Judy in her dungerees. It was a shame it ended.

[Dramaqueen]

Prisoner was a classic Australian Soap

Coral, aka Dramaqueen, was a script writer on Prisoner. I would like to discuss everything about this classic, and hopefully, Coral will have her input of memories, of writing for the show.

If this thread keeps going I will be happy to pop in and post.... it is STILL my favourite of the 27 shows I've done.

I was on the show for nearly six years.... I wasn't involved in the first 80-100 eps. Then I became first of all writer - then head writer - then Story editor/Script producer. Of the neqarly 700 hours overs 7+years I actually created around 400 of them.... I guess my best characters.... The Freak, Pixie, Myra, Colleen Powell, Rabbit, Lexie, Daphne (Now THERE's A Home and Away connection) ....and REB! Loved that James Dean hair do and we had to make Janet Andrewartha cut off her beautiful waist length hair to play the part.

Bea and Lizzie were not my creations but I loved them....and when Judy was written out and opened a halfway house...I put her back inside!!! The first sympathetic lesbian character on Aussie TV.

I think I am credited as well as creating what's called "the Golden Era" with writing 95 hours....but there's another 20-30 hours I rewrote that don't have my name on them...so that's why I always think of it as my show in a way H&A never really was. I LOVED it.

Thanks for the interest

Coral

[buffygirl]

I cant belive i forgot the old "vinigar tits" now who was it that used to shake her breasts at her and say vinigar tits .

Coral who was Rabbit? cant place her. Reb yes she did look the part of a rebel in love with the idea of James Dean. did Janet mind to much cutting her hair off? well it looked good short.

The Freak black gloves treatening to undress a inmate and do what she does to get information. i think it was Bea? who gave it to her just to stop her from doing it to the poor girl.

How could you put poor Judy back inside after all the hard work she'd done at the half wayhouse and her memorys of sharon...who was the b- screw that killed her..