EPISODE 359 Nola uses drastic measures to ensure the drug trading will continue First broadcast ... 1983 (Melbourne) Broadcast on Channel 5 Tuesday 15 September 1998 04:40 DVD release: volume 23 disc 2 (AUS) Duration: 0:43:46

Meg ~ Elspeth Ballantyne Judy ~ Betty Bobbitt Lizzie ~ Sheila Florance Erica ~ Patsy King Joan ~ Maggie Kirkpatrick Bea ~ Val Lehman Colleen ~ Judith McGrath Maxine ~ Lisa Crittenden Nola ~ Carole Skinner Doreen ~ Colette Mann Lainie ~ Marina Finlay Dianne ~ Rhonda Cressey Bill ~ Nik Forster Mrs Dennis ~ Eve Godley Dierdre ~ Kristine Karman Mark Hayes ~ Barry McQueen Phyllis ~ Reylene Pearce Driver ~ Robert O'Neil Written by Wendy Jackson Directed by Lex Van Os Sydney location directed by John McRae Although the script obviously called for a teddybear, as referred to by both Colleen and Maxine, the stuffed toy supplied by the props department is a dog with long floppy ears.

Doreen warns Bea that one of her colleagues is an undercover cop. Meg and Colleen find Lainie writhing on the floor in agony and try to wash off the caustic soda in the sink. Nola asks the women to bring in as many suspicious looking parcels as possible to confuse the officers and make them waste their time searching everything with no hope of finding contraband. Doreen talks to Bea in a changing cubicle: Bea refuses Doreen's offer to let her stay at her flat but does accept the offer of money, so Doreen goes to see how much she has in her handbag. She distracts the undercover cop and gives Bea some money, arranging to meet her in a cinema the next day to give her more. She puts a dress in a bag and leaves it near the theft detection system and puts the tag off it into another customer's bag, allowing Bea to slip away with the dress in the commotion caused when the alarm is set off. Nola teases the officers supervising the laundry pickup by writing a note and handing it to the driver: when Colleen confiscates it, she sees it reads "YOU'RE A REAL SPUNK" . Erica phones Judy to tell her about Lainie and ask her to come and visit, but she has bad news on the tattoo removal programme: the Department have refused to pay for it. Lainie's tattoos survive their dousing in caustic soda and she only has some raw skin to show for it. Erica asks Colleen to tell the women their mail will no longer be censored, but that all officers will be searched on entry to the prison. Judy tells Erica there is a new way to remove tattoos (by overtattooing with bleach! aargh!) which is much cheaper. Joan is annoyed by being searched and tells Nola the mail is still being read, despite Erica's assurances, in an attempt to pick up clues about the drugs supply. She makes Nola pay thirty dollars for this information. At the next exercise period, Nola picks up an empty Coke can in the grounds to bait the officers to make them think it's been thrown over the fence. Bill visits Nola and she tells him to send in another food parcel but this time without the "tea". Colleen and Joan rip apart a yellow stuffed toy left for Maxine. Judy gets the women to sign up for a tattoo removal programme, even Maxine, though she has no intention of having her tattoos removed. Judy asks Lizzie about Alan: she say she was a nice young man with "really nice manners", and Judy decides she'll get him inside somehow to visit Lainie. Doreen tries to sneak away from Dierdre but ends up taking her along to the cinema with her. Nola exchanges jars from her buyup with other women to get Colleen to collect it all up again and have it searched. Doreen gets money to Bea right under Diedre's nose by sitting next to her and exchanging carrier bags. The women watch the TV documentary, which as Nola predicted is purely a PR job for the Department. Nola gives Maxine a dope order to be passed out through Lizzie: Maxine says Lizzie won't do it, but Nola tells her she will just have to think of a way to con her . ***

The vast Moorish style cinema is mentioned by name in dialogue when Doreen says "I've already thought of a place for us to meet ... the State Theatre tomorrow afternoon". The Insight pocket guide to Sydney describes it as "an astonishingly ornate picture palace built in 1929 ... the statues, chandeliers and marble staircase inside this flamboyant gilded structure ensure that any visit will leave an indelible impression".

Script Editor: Ian Smith
Storyliners: Dave Worthington, Andrew Kennedy, Patrea Smallacombe, Billie Morton

ITV regional broadcast dates:-
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