Prisoner (season 3)

The third season of Australian drama television series Prisoner (commonly known as Prisoner: Cell Block H) premiered on Network Ten on 4 February 1981. It consists of 81 episodes and concluded on 11 November 1981.

Prisoner
Season 3
DVD cover
Starring	Patsy King Fiona Spence Val Lehman Elspeth Ballantyne Colette Mann Sheila Florance Gerard Maguire Betty Bobbitt
Country of origin	Australia
No. of episodes	81
Release
Original network	Network Ten
Original release	4 February – 11 November 1981
Season chronology

The season is notable for the conclusion to the tunnel escape storyline which ended the previous season; the departure of Vera Bennett ("Vinegar Tits") when she accepts the position of governor of Barnhurst; the kidnapping of Erica Davidson; the arrival of new prisoners Sandy Edwards, Kate Peterson and former inmate and top dog of H Block – Marie Winter; Bea Smith's amnesia, and later, her mysterious illness which sees her step down as top dog, only to be replaced by Sandy Edwards.

Cast

Main Patsy King as Governor Erica Davidson Fiona Spence as Vera Bennett Val Lehman as Bea Smith Elspeth Ballantyne as Meg Morris Colette Mann as Doreen Burns Sheila Florance as Lizzy Birdsworth Gerard Maguire as Jim Fletcher Betty Bobbitt as Judy Bryant Special guest Mary Ward as Jeanette "Mum" Brooks

Central supporting Amanda Muggleton as Chrissie Latham Serge Lazareff as David Andrews[lower-alpha 1] Judith McGrath as Colleen Powell[lower-alpha 2] Olivia Hamnett as Kate Petersen Louise Le Nay as Sandy Edwards Kate Sheil as Janet Conway Wayne Jarratt as Steve Falkner Maggie Millar as Marie Winter

Recurring

Julia Blake as Evelyn Randall Mary Charleston as Linda Golman Jane Clifton as Margo Gaffney Tommy Dysart as Jock Stewart Susannah Fowle as Lori Young Caroline Gillmer as Helen Smart Brian Hannan as Terry Harrison Anthony Hawkins as Bob Morris Leila Hayes as Jeannie Baxter Edward Hepple as Sid Humphrey Bethany Lee as Andrea Hennessy Alan Hopgood as Albert "Wally" Wallace Sue Jones as Kathy Hall Fay Kelton as Alison Page Nina Landis as Michelle Parks Michael Long as Mick O'Brien Tracey Mann as Georgie Baxter Ned Manning as Nick Clarke Tom Oliver as Ken Pearce Candy Raymond as Sandra Hamilton Wynn Roberts as Stuart Gillespie Gael Andrews as Sister Johnson Paul Bertram as Mr. Williamson Ernie Bourne as Peter Hope John Bowman as Henry Aileen Britton as Florence Marne Christine Calcutt as Mrs. O'Reagan Paul Colombani as Martin Richards Deborah Coulls as Micki Wallace Peter Cummins as Hartman Belinda Davey as Hazel Kent Peter De Salis as Mr. Martin Stefan Dennis as Peter Richards Rod Densley as Gerry Sue Devine as Tracey Morris Laurie Dobson as Paul Tranter Beverly Dunn as Mrs. Mitchell Marion Edwards as Mrs. Reid Maureen Edwards as Officer Bailey Jennifer Finch as Susan Page Simon Finch as Chris Page Stuart Finch as Don Page John Frawley as James Marne

Bill Garner as Det. Sgt. Ross Jon Geros as Mike the Bike Terry Gill as Det. Insp. Grace Vince Gill as Wayne Bradshaw Paul Glen as John Fitzwater Hannah Govan as Mrs. Dyson Kirsty Grant as Samantha Gary Gray as Dr. Marsden Diane Greentree as Sister Franklin Liddy Holloway as Sister Hainer Denzil Howson as Mr. Muirhead Tim Hughes as Bazza Amanda Irving as Janet Brian James as Dr. Kennedy Barbara Jungwirth as Lorna Young Paul Karo as Det. Sgt. Rouse Jackie Kelleher as Gwen Hill Bruce Kerr as Gorgon Humphrey Debra Lawrence as Sally Dean Alix Longman as Janie Chapman Dina Mann as Debbie Pearce Kerry McGuire as Arna Johannsen Joan Millar as Brenda Latham Chris Milne as Tony Morton David Nettheim as Mr. Carter Gerda Nicolson as Mrs. Roberts Helen Noonan as Wendy Scott Reylene Pearce as Phyllis Hunt Anne Phelan as Myra Desmond Valma Pratt as Matron Swartz Peter Regan as Dr. Granger Ian Smith as Ted Douglas Jon Sidney as Colin Lester Trudy Simms as Dinah Walford Jentah Sobott as Heather "Mouse" Trapp Kate Turner as Ricky Joy Westmore as Joyce Barry Bryon Williams as Dr. Weissman Myrtle Woods as Amelia Humber John Wregg as Mr. Golman Paul Young as Captain Barton William Zappa as Del Latham

Episodes

No. overall	Episode	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
166	Episode 1	Alistair Sharp	Rod Hardy & Juliana Focht	4 February 1981
Bea, Lizzie and Doreen are trapped in the tunnel collapse. Judy and Mouse get out alive but Mouse is recaptured.
167	Episode 2	Denise Morgan	John McRae	10 February 1981
Mouse takes the authority's into the tunnel to rescue Bea, Lizzie and Doreen.
168	Episode 3	Margaret McClusky	John McRae	11 February 1981
169	Episode 4	Ray Kolle	Leigh Spence	17 February 1981
170	Episode 5	George Mallaby	Leigh Spence	18 February 1981
171	Episode 6	Denise Morgan	Mike Murphy	24 February 1981
172	Episode 7	Alastair Sharp	Mike Murphy	25 February 1981
173	Episode 8	Dave Worthington	Juliana Focht	3 March 1981
174	Episode 9	Bryon Williams	Juliana Focht	4 March 1981
175	Episode 10	Denise Morgan	Leigh Spence	10 March 1981
176	Episode 11	Margaret McClusky	Leigh Spence	11 March 1981
177	Episode 12	Ian Bradley	Mike Murphy	17 March 1981
178	Episode 13	Barbara Ramsay	Mike Murphy	18 March 1981
179	Episode 14	Ray Kolle	Marcus Cole	24 March 1981
180	Episode 15	Dave Worthington	Marcus Cole	25 March 1981
181	Episode 16	Denise Morgan	Juliana Focht	31 March 1981
182	Episode 17	George Mallaby	Juliana Focht	1 April 1981
183	Episode 18	Bryon Williams	Leigh Spence	7 April 1981
184	Episode 19	Margaret McClusky	Leigh Spence	8 April 1981
185	Episode 20	Denise Morgan	Mike Murphy	14 April 1981
186	Episode 21	Barbara Ramsay	Mike Murphy	15 April 1981
187	Episode 22	Alastair Sharp	John McRae	21 April 1981
188	Episode 23	Ian Bradley	John McRae	22 April 1981
189	Episode 24	Dave Worthington	Juliana Focht	28 April 1981
190	Episode 25	Ray Kolle	Juliana Focht	29 April 1981
191	Episode 26	Denise Morgan	Leigh Spence	5 May 1981
192	Episode 27	George Mallaby	Leigh Spence	6 May 1981
193	Episode 28	Margaret McClusky	Geoffrey Nottage	12 May 1981
194	Episode 29	Bryon Williams	Geoffrey Nottage	13 May 1981
195	Episode 30	Denise Morgan	Marcus Cole	19 May 1981
196	Episode 31	Barbara Ramsay	Marcus Cole	20 May 1981
197	Episode 32	Dave Worthington	Juliana Focht	26 May 1981
198	Episode 33	Ray Kolle	Juliana Focht	27 May 1981
199	Episode 34	John Harper	Leigh Spence	2 June 1981
200	Episode 35	Denise Morgan	Leigh Spence	3 June 1981
201	Episode 36	Peter Brennan	Geoffrey Nottage	9 June 1981
202	Episode 37	Bryon Williams	Geoffrey Nottage	10 June 1981
203	Episode 38	Ian Bradley	Marcus Cole	16 June 1981
204	Episode 39	Margaret McClusky	Marcus Cole	17 June 1981
205	Episode 40	Barbara Ramsay	Juliana Focht	23 June 1981
206	Episode 41	Ray Kolle	Juliana Focht	24 June 1981
207	Episode 42	Dave Worthington	Leigh Spence	30 June 1981
208	Episode 43	Alastair Sharp	Leigh Spence	1 July 1981
209	Episode 44	David Minter & Margaret McClusky	John McRae	7 July 1981
210	Episode 45	Bryon Williams	John McRae	8 July 1981
211	Episode 46	Peter Brennan	Kendal Flanagan	14 July 1981
212	Episode 47	David Stevens	Kendal Flanagan	15 July 1981
213	Episode 48	Ray Kolle	Juliana Focht	21 July 1981
214	Episode 49	Barbara Ramsay	Juliana Focht	28 July 1981
215	Episode 50	Dave Worthington	Leigh Spence	4 August 1981
216	Episode 51	Alastair Sharp	Leigh Spence	5 August 1981
217	Episode 52	Bryon Williams	John McRae	11 August 1981
218	Episode 53	Denise Morgan	John McRae	12 August 1981
219	Episode 54	Margaret McClusky	Kendal Flanagan	18 August 1981
220	Episode 55	Peter Brennan & Coral Drouyn	Kendal Flanagan	19 August 1981
221	Episode 56	Barbara Ramsay	Juliana Focht	25 August 1981
222	Episode 57	Ray Kolle	Juliana Focht	26 August 1981
223	Episode 58	Alastair Sharp	Wayne Cameron	1 September 1981
224	Episode 59	Dave Worthington	Wayne Cameron	2 September 1981
225	Episode 60	Bryon Williams	Gary Conway	8 September 1981
226	Episode 61	Denise Morgan	Gary Conway	9 September 1981
227	Episode 62	Margaret McClusky	Kendal Flanagan	15 September 1981
228	Episode 63	Coral Drouyn	Kendal Flanagan	16 September 1981
229	Episode 64	Peter Brennan & Wendy Jackson	Juliana Focht	22 September 1981
230	Episode 65	Ray Kolle	Juliana Focht	23 September 1981
231	Episode 66	Ian Bradley	Wayne Cameron	23 September 1981
232	Episode 67	Barbara Ramsay	Wayne Cameron	29 September 1981
233	Episode 68	Dave Worthington	Lex Van Os	30 September 1981
234	Episode 69	Christine McCourt	Lex Van Os	30 September 1981
235	Episode 70	Alastair Sharp	Rod Hardy	6 October 1981
236	Episode 71	Bryon Williams	Rod Hardy	7 October 1981
237	Episode 72	Denise Morgan	Greg Shears	13 October 1981
238	Episode 73	Margaret McClusky	Greg Shears	14 October 1981
239	Episode 74	Coral Drouyn	Leigh Spence	20 October 1981
240	Episode 75	Ian Bradley	Leigh Spence	21 October 1981
241	Episode 76	Ray Kolle	Lex Van Os	27 October 1981
242	Episode 77	Wendy Jackson	Lex Van Os	28 October 1981
243	Episode 78	Michael Freundt & Andrew Kennedy	Kendal Flanagan	3 November 1981
244	Episode 79	Barbara Ramsay	Kendal Flanagan	4 November 1981
245	Episode 80	Rick Maier	Juliana Focht	10 November 1981
246	Episode 81	Dave Worthington	Juliana Focht	11 November 1981
Doreen and Judy are transferred to Barnhurst when it is discovered the rosters had been forged. Colleen is promoted to Chief Prisoner Officer, while Meg is voted to stand for Union Rep. Bea successfully come through her operation, however, she may be out of action for some time. The women's schemes are brought to a close when Lizzie is caught stealing from the kitchen which prompts them to consider that they could be dealing with a lagger. In light of the tight security measures, Marie persuades Sandy to start a riot which traps several of the officers inside the prison.

Accolades

• Logie Award for Best Lead Actress in a series – Val Lehman (1982)[1]
• Logie Award for Most Popular Actress – Val Lehman (1982)[1]
• Logie Award for Most Popular Drama Series – Prisoner (1982)[1]

Home media

The following is a list of DVD sets which contain individual episodes from season three or the complete season as a whole.

Title	Episode(s)	Release date	Format	Country	Rating	Ref.
Prisoner[lower-alpha 3]	166	18 February 2002	VHS & DVD	AUS	ACB: M	[3]
		22 September 2003	DVD	UK	BBFC: 15	[4]
		30 November 2004	DVD	USA	NR	[5]
Volume 11	166–176[lower-alpha 4]	18 August 2007	DVD	AUS	ACB: M	[6]
Volume 12	177–192	20 August 2007	DVD	AUS	ACB: M	[7]
The Complete Collection	166–246	29 September 2007[lower-alpha 5]	DVD	AUS	ACB: M	[9]
Volume 13	193–208	20 October 2007	DVD	AUS	ACB: M	[10]
Volume 14[lower-alpha 6]	209–224	20 October 2007	DVD	AUS	ACB: M	[11]
Volume 15	225–240	3 November 2007	DVD	AUS	ACB: M	[12]
Volume 16	241–246[lower-alpha 7]	3 November 2007	DVD	AUS	ACB: M	[13]
Volume 6	166–192[lower-alpha 8]	21 February 2011	DVD	UK	BBFC: 15	[14]
Volume 7	193–224[lower-alpha 9]	18 April 2011	DVD	UK	BBFC: 15	[15]
Volume 8	225–246[lower-alpha 10]	27 June 2011	DVD	UK	BBFC: 15	[16]
The Complete Season Three	166–246	8 February 2017	DVD	AUS	ACB: M	[17]

Notes

1. David Andrews is listed as a recurring character from his first appearance in episode 171. He becomes a central recurring character from episode 187
2. Colleen Powell, originally credited as Off. Powell, was credited as a recurring character, then a main character from episode
3. All content is identical in Australia, UK and U.S. aside from different cover art. The set was released as "Prisoner: Cell Block H" in the UK and as "25th Anniversary Collector's Edition" in the U.S. Re-released in UK with new packaging on 21 October 2013,[2] while the same re-packeged set was released in Australia.
4. Contains the remaining 5 episodes of season 2 (161–165).
5. "The Complete Collection" was made available in Australia before the remaining 28 volumes had been released. The set was re-released on 5 October 2011.[8]
6. Released as "The Vera Bennett Edition" in Australia.
7. Contains the first 10 episodes of Season 4 (247–256).
8. Contains the remaining 5 episodes of Season 2 (161–165). An identical set was released in Australia on 1 February 2012 when their original releases went out-of-print.
9. An identical set was released in Australia on 7 May 2012.
10. Contains the first 10 episodes of Season 4 (247–256). An idential set was released in Australia on 4 July 2012.

References

1. "1982 Logie Award Winners". Australiantelevision.net. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
2. "The Best of Prisoner Cell Block H [DVD]". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
3. "Prisoner: Set 1 DVD". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
4. "Prisoner: Cell Block H DVD". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
5. "Prisoner: Cell Block H DVD". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
6. "Prisoner Cell Block H (Volume 11 - Episodes 161 - 176)". Booktopia.com.au. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
7. "Prisoner Cell Block H (Volume 12 - Episodes 177 - 192)". Booktopia.com.au. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
8. "Prisoner: Cell Block H DVD (reissue)". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
9. "Prisoner: Cell Block H DVD". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
10. "Prisoner Cell Block H (Volume 13 - Episodes 193 - 208)". Booktopia.com.au. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
11. "Prisoner Cell Block H - Volume 14 - Episodes 209-224 [DVD]". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
12. "Prisoner Cell Block H - Volume 15 - Episodes 225-240 [DVD]". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
13. "Prisoner Cell Block H (Volume 16 - Episodes 241 - 256)". Booktopia.com.au. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
14. "Prisoner Cell Block H - Volume 6 Episodes 161-192 [DVD]". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
15. "Prisoner Cell Block H - Volume 7 Episodes 193-224 [DVD]". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
16. "Prisoner Cell Block H - Volume 8 Episodes 225-256 [DVD]". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
17. "PRISONER - SEASON 3". Amazon.com.au. Retrieved 5 November 2020.