Doreen confronting Vera in her own home (155) Static Objects by John Fiddy

[msnadiak]

According to Wikipedia Fiona Spence is only 62 nowadays meaning when she played Vera over 30 years ago she was only 30. I assumed she was about 40 and over during the show.

[anythinggirl95]

Poor Vera...but she doesn't pull off the tough look when she has her hair down

[myrabradwell40]

I hate that I can't be included in the conversations in regards to Prisoner.. You see they only showed the first season here in America and it was usually during school hours...We never got to see the Freak in fact the show actually went of the air shortly after Frankie died.. I think us americans missed out..

[BouncingPurpleCows]

I love Vera Bennett!!!

[nineballaddict]

@sheri451 please refresh my memory... what "dirty" did Meg do?

[Sheri451]

But one thing about it, they never bitched about it, they always came to the reunions. I see this in pictures on You Tube, and on their individual ights. They took it better than I would have. I heard that there were three thousand letters and calls protesting Fiona's exit.

[DaveyC95]

If Fiona Spence had not quietly been written out by producer John McRae insisting Vera had reached the end of her usefulness as a character the Freak would never have been developed as a character. Fiona Spence left quietly which makes everybody assume she quit,she didn't, she was axed along with a few months later Gerard Maguire as Jim Fletcher for the same reasons!

[Sheri451]

@DaveyC95 Well that pisses me off I LOVED Gerard and Fiona, They were my favorite two screws of the whole series.

[DaveyC95]

@Sheri451 I know. And when you think of some of the characters that did outstay their welcome like Meg and Joan Ferguson who was overated and irritated me after about eighteen months. Elspeth Ballantyne should have been axed way before the end of the show. As for the Freak do not get me started! But just think if they made a fuss Fiona and Gerard might have got a really horrible exit from the show. Rupert Murdoch had just bought Channel Ten at that point aswell.He does not own it now though.

[Sheri451]

@DaveyC95 I always thought Fiona was a real lady anyway, I saw her in a few episodes of Home and Away. She never cursed, or did anything dirty unlike Joan Ferguson or Meg. And I always will love Jim and Gerard. I always pictured the two characters getting back together when they go to their seperate places and eventually marrying and having a couple of children.

[DaveyC95]

@Sheri451 She is, but apparently she once snubbed a fan here in the UK who asked for her autograph by saying she was too busy which is a bit rude. Having said that some people today can be too in your face, but this was back in the 90s. She was close to Sheila Florance and Val Lehman on the show. In fact she said she had a lot of respect for Val, and it was mutual. Gerard Maguire got on well with Val, as you see in reunions and the Logie award on here, where they kiss.

[Sheri451]

@DaveyC95 Yes that was rude, But maybe she was having a bad day? I saw on a reminise with Fiona Spence here on YT she was very fond of Sheila. She says when Sheila was very ill and dying, she came to see her. She had to go to Sydney to be in some play, after visiting her, she said that she cried all the way to Sydney, she made it back to I'm guessing Melbourne before Sheila passed away. I loved the Lizzie character too Everyone loved Sheila. Now that was a fine lady, her real voice was English.

[DaveyC95]

@Sheri451 She was an Australian though. But with her theatre work in the UK in the late 1930s and 1940s, she would have been classically trained. I was reading an article about early 1991 as a school kid, and it mentioned that when she was getting off the train at Bristol Temple Meads station, she was performing at the Bristol Old Vic theatre you see. She had her baby daughter in her arms and an air raid started, a bomb fell nearby and the blast blew the baby from her arms and killed her. So sad

[Sheri451]

@DaveyC95 Yes I read about it somewhere on here, they said that's why she was always rubbing her right arm. Then later on, poor Sheila lost another daughter, I don't know what from this time.

[DaveyC95]

@Sheri451 I know you like Fiona Spence, so I thought you might like to know a couple of facts about her..She was the life partner of original Prisoner Writer Denise Morgan, who sadly died of Ovarian cancer aged 64 on the 25th June 2011, they were together for 32 years, and Pat Bishop who played Antonia McNally had a daughter Onagh, who when she sadly died of cancer back in 2000 lived with Denise and Fiona, they looked after her.

[Sheri451]

@DaveyC95 That's really sad. I didn't care what her preferences were. I like to see good actors. I remember watching a Reminise with Val Lehman. She said Denise was her favorite writer. She was the one that wrote the story about Bea getting amnesia. I know Denise will be missed by everyone from Prisoner. Was Pat's daughter a child? That's really sad also. My deepest sympathy goes out to her.

[DaveyC95]

@Sheri451 I do not care about preferences either, I treat all people the way I like to be treated, with respect, and I am open minded..It's the way I was brought up, my mother is a nurse and she has seen it all..Pat's daughter did live with Denise and Fiona when she was young because they put her through her HSC and payed for higher education courses for her..Denise will be missed by the Australian Film and Television industry. Val, Sheila, Amanda, Peita all say Denise was their fave.

[Sheri451]

@DaveyC95 Thank you for the information.

[DaveyC95]

@Sheri451 You're Welcome :). I meant to say those actresses said that about Denise at the time, obviously lovely Sheila is no longer with us..Incidentally RatHouse2007 Channels been closed down, must be the copyright on the music clips..Pity, I had some of the incidental music stored in my favourites..I suppose it will not be long before the Prisoner pages come down as UncleMuncher said. Take Care.

[CanberraUser]

DaveyC95 it looks like Rathouse's account was closed voluntarily

[DaveyC95]

@CanberraUser Yes, but I know that there are problems with Fremantle Media and Shock over all of these uploads of episodes breaching copyright, the fan club have been telling them and the composers of the music clips used in Prisoner all about it and they all want these pages down..So Rathouse might have closed it down before he was forced to. Thank you for the comment.

[CanberraUser]

That's alright. I think the problem is, where can people legitimately buy copies of the music because for example if I do a search for "Static Objects" by "John Fiddy", no matches come up in iTunes. If people were able to buy copies of the music, the money would (or should) go to the composers who made it?

[DaveyC95]

@CanberraUser Yes I agree with you, and I believe there are CD's with tracks on, but where from though? That is the thing with incidental music, finding out what each track is called, who composed it and where you can find it to buy.

[Sheri451]

@DaveyC95 I guess I'll have to take it off my favorites then. Because I liked Beyond The Looking Glass

[tigerwoman]

Dorren held her power ...something rare.

[Sheri451]

Doreen had no buisness coming to Vera's home and snapping at her. I love the Doreen charachter, but here, she acts like a drongo as I've heard people say there. Besides, the little twit goes out and steals Chrissy's baby girl from the hospital shortly after this. Vera never one time hit any of the women, and she's not a sociopath, That's DOREEN. Vera said thet nothing Doreen could say would hurt her, but at the very end she started tearing up.

[kronos262]

Another interesting scenario would have been Vera as the Governor of Wentworth, while the Freak was on the rampage. Again, I think Vera would have initially favored her; however, in time Vera would have been revolted by her illegal and violent methods. Interesting to think of a situation where Bea and Vera were actually allied to get rid of the Freak.

[kronos262]

I think the Joan and Vera scenario would have played out, with Vera initially being very sympathetic to Joan Eventually though, I must agree that Vera would have become repulsed by her. How that would have played out is anybody’s guess; it would be interesting if the Freak developed feelings for Vera, which she would never be able to reciprocate. That would make for quite an odd and tense scenario. Just imagine Vera eventually plotting with: Meg, Steve, and Colleen to bring the Freak down.

[kronos262]

Funny, everyone forgets that Vera could be kind at times; case in point Lizzie Birdsworth. Not what you would call a sociopath.

[BOSSINBRIXTON]

ROAKILLED PART 2 YAY

[crevrath]

go on Dor .she put Vera in her place. Vera was tough and cruel but you cud see her vulnerability beneath her exterior a lot more than the rotten Freak . Vera was tough but there was a certain line she wud never cross unlike Joan. pity Vera left the show early although cud u imagin Wentworth with both Vera and the freak in the same era

[Summerskill]

Ooh, it would have been brilliant to have seen them both in the show together. :)

[AlbieGray]

You're right on that front, Summerskill, Joan and Vera in the same era would have been something else, but I think Vera would have become nicer, given how corrupt the Freak was. Colleen Powell's personality had become nicer as a result of the Freak, who's to say that Vera Bennett wouldn't have done the same thing?

[markxxx21]

@AlbieGray You're spot on. As crooked officer Ann Yates said, "I should've known Vera is one to bend the rules not break them." Joan broke them outright. This would've pushed Vera solidly into St Meg's camp, even moreso than Colleen as Meg was about Vera's only friend

[AlbieGray]

@markxxx21 Most definitely. Vera was the way she was because of having to care for her mother. Joan was just outright mean. Meg would have welcomed her on her side immediately. I bet at Barnhurst, (where Vera became Governor) she learned from her mistakes as a guard, and ran the place wisely and well. When Bea was killed at Barnhurst, during that riot, I bet Vera did mourn her.

[Wildchild880]

i like doreen in her little pink nursey outfit thing. but her character was always dumb

[CentralCake]

I think we're all missing the point here! The point being that people like Vera will never give any of the women a chance to change, even if they are doing their best to turn things around. Vera's the sociopath!

[laminage]

You know looking at this scene it reminds me of how Soap Operas were done in the 1970's.

[CentralCake]

To be honest, particularly on Australian television, there is little distinction between the1970s and 1980s

[laminage]

I meant to say US Soaps. Sorry about that. When I look back at the Old School US Soap Opera Another World in the 1970's the filming is similar.

[CentralCake]

Never seen that so I guess I'll take your word for it!

[laminage]

Hey CentralCake, just type in Another World Soap Opera and you'll see some old classic clips.

[Summerskill]

Oh, don't get me wrong, Vera is likeable and I know she's not corrupt, but I agree that she can be harsh and cruel sometimes while always following the rule book, because she believed in professionalism and strictness, which is fair enough.

To be fair, I haven't seen all episodes of Doreen's kind of personality, but I am getting there slowly. LOL

I've only watched this scene in this episode and no other scenes, which will go against Doreen from what has been said above so I believe you, guys.

[Piggy2301]

Also,

Vera was an extremely unlikable officer, but she was also very complicated; to compare her to The Freak, is totally absurd. Vera was harsh and at times even cruel, but she was not a bent screw. Also, given how Vera is abused later in this episode at Wentworth, it is hard to imagine that she is wrong about most of the prisoners real intent and motives.

Love or hate her, Vera was more often right than wrong about the sociopaths that are in prisons!

[MsDestiny74]

not everyone who goes to prison is bad some are put there because wanker judges havent had any the night before they are corrupt and bent

[Piggy2301]

I must say, that those here who side with Vera, are right on the money. Doreen was acting like a total immature bitch at the hospital (big surprise there) and Vera simply put her in her place. Logically, if Doreen didnt want anyone to know she had been in prison, she would have been either polite or indifferent to her, to cover her own ass.

[JustB3NJI]

A great scene

[shengchenfan]

Words can be more powerful than any punch or ass kicking,Word cut right to the core.

[laminage]

You've got that right shengchefan. So what did Doreen do at the Hospital. Was she an Office Clerk, Nurse's Aide.

[shengchenfan]

Vera told people at the hospital about Doreen past.

[CanberraUser]

Nurse's aid/assistant

[ilovekevinsacre]

this appears to be by john fiddy

[tamsmith89]

The track used here is called Static Objects

[CanberraUser]

I found one match on PlayKPM for Static Objects and that is listed under John Scott, but it doesn't sound like the track played in this scene.

[tamsmith89]

The Static Objects track I'm talking about is on the Boosey & Hawkes Website

[u2atomicbomb]

What a stupid bitch dorren was.

it was her that provoked vera at the hospital not vera.

also it was vera that saved doreen from losing her parole last time when she tried to smuggle a cake into wentworth with alcohol in it.

[AlbieGray]

I will say, Vera Bennett had that coming to her, but fair! Doreen hurt her with words, worse than anyone could have hurt her with actions. In short, Vera Bennett was harmed far worse with words than any physical beating could have accomplished.

[Summerskill]

Poor Doreen. I am glad she told Vera what a mean bitch she is and that although she thinks all prisoners are bad news, some prisoners completely turn their life around and stay on the straight and narrow. Luckily for most of them, they don't end up stuck in a rut like Vera and Joan, thank God. Vera is no better than the Freak and ironically were the bad ones even though they weren't the criminals.