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Nora was having problems of her own, deep in thought about her mother (probably busy trying to figure out which character she'd seen her playing earlier in the series). Nora's 'mother' storyline was a little confusing at that moment - first she had no mother since she was given away, then suddenly she had one again, then she didn't have one because she'd died, then she did have one after all, but in disguise.. And in the meantime, who was the faceless person with the fake-old-lady voice, who whined "Ameeelia..?" (Notice the annoying use of a tinkly bell to get attention - either Jenny Hartley's Nanna was also not really dead after all, or tinkly bells were a standard accessory for old ladies then.) Ok, the plot's probably not as confusing as I think, and if I could be at all bothered to figure it out, I probably could. I think the fact that it centres around Nora makes it just seem a whole lot more dull. Anyway, back to Jenny, who made the lovely ironic quote about prison life, how she had "more freedom in here than I ever had at home". Who knows, if she stuck a lampshade on her head and walked to the gates, she could have even more freedom still.
Jenny's other significant scene was with Eve, who made a very revealing comment that she could use her female sexuality to get what she wanted. Of course, this shocked Jenny, who was reduced to blinking her eyelashes nervously and looking down at her chest.
I noticed that Eve's hairdo never actually moves. It was therefore quite fitting that she should be the one to lend Willie a hairdryer for her bum. (I jest not.) Actually, I really enjoyed Willie this episode, and thought she gave a wonderful (highly camp) comedy performance. I'm surprised some people don't like her character at all, because I think she provides a very welcome bit of light relief to these episodes.
Having stumbled across repeated episodes of the original Charlie's Angels series recently, it was nice to see the joys of pouting, trendy-clothed babes with flicked-hair play just as important a role in Prisoner. Especially in the case of Ben Fulbright. Fiancee Pippa was finally wearing his ring, declaring that she "just likes old things" (which certainly seems to explain the first boyfriend we saw her with). With Daphne ready to tackle her case, and now completely cured of her suddenly-forgotten crush on Ben, Julie declared, "I wish I could be there to see you and Mr Fulbright in action". Something that had probably crossed Daphne's mind a few times, too. Especially when this comment was followed by Lexie talking about Ben and Daphne "sticking it up them". Er, right..
Meanwhile, Pippa was pouting a lot and getting moody about the "injustice" of Reb's ECT treatment. "God Reb, it's a wonder you're ok!" she declared, as Reb struggled to remember who she was and what she was talking about. Poor old Reb, the more she said she didn't want any trouble or fuss, the more everyone seemed to ignore her wishes and stir things up. Later on, Pippa strolled into the pub disguised as a comedy prostitute. Or so it looked in any case. Presumably they were going to have a bar meal, because she already seemed to be wearing a curious piece of pink lace as a bib.
Eve's solicitor David had been playing squash with her previous solicitor, and still seemed to have problems remembering whether he was a 'solicitor' (one who interviews the client in private, prepares the case, and is referred to as a "solicitor" in the script) or a 'barrister' (one who stands in Crown Court or higher courts wearing a wig and gown, and does not interview the client alone). "Laugh while you can, my learned friend!" one of the solicitors said to the other, perhaps unaware that 'My Learned Friend' is how barristers address each other, not solicitors.
Later, we got another one of those fab little "dream" sequences, so memorable in Prisoner. Of course, we knew it was a dream sequence because the lens had Vaseline smeared around the outside, and there was weird plinky sci-fi music all over the place. Eve appeared in the dream, with even more make-up than usual, though sadly without the previously seen frilly pink maternity frock that someone in the wardrobe section seemed to have mistaken for a sexy nightie. Thankfully David woke up before Eve purred more "Day-vud.. Daaaay-vud"s than I could bear.
Most of the rest of the episode seems to have been hogged by Joycie, and when Mervin and Joyce were (literally) dancing for joy in the staff room and collided with the table, I was concerned that one of the young lovers might dislocate a hip.
The action moved to the "hospital", and it was nice to see those green plastic-covered seats again, since their time in the prison reception, and later in the visiting suite. We heard from Beryl that Norm had constantly talked about Joyce, which is odd because when we last saw him with Joyce, he barely spoke at all. This led to Beryl weeping and sobbing loudly, which actually turned into a rather impressive imitation of Dame Edna Everage. But strangest of all in the "hospital" scene, was the invisible doctor who we heard breaking the news of the invisible Norm's death to Joyce and Beryl.
Back at the flat, the son I thought Joyce had never had, made his entrance and instantly irritated me. Not by his cruel treatment of Mervin, but by the way he took the milk out of the fridge and automatically sniffed it before pouring. Joyce and offspring (who seemed to me to need charm lessons almost as much as acting ones) walked into her living room, and I'm sure we saw a little more of the set (i.e. things holding the top of the back wall) than we were supposed to.
Back to the subject of the set, and I was interested to see the library for the first time in ages (since the male prisoners, I think), and noticed it seems to have completely metamorphosized into a different shape, size and layout. Also, an interesting shot of the shape-shifting corridor this episode, with a long-take following Julie and Lexie walking, showing a particularly enormous version of this set.
As much as the writers seemed to like informing us that Eve was "very beautiful" (in case we couldn't decide for ourselves) they'd also taken to informing us how "plain" Julie was. When the favourites to win the beauty contest were mentioned as Lexie and Jenny, my first thought was, hey, what about Julie who's FAR prettier..? But shortly after I was reminded that she was "plain". Hmm..
Finally, Lexie claimed her Mum was in the newspaper (by amazing million-to-one coincidence, in the same copy and on the same page as an article about Lexie's teeshirts). One of those familiar moments that remind you how some things haven't changed over the years, it's just a shame no-one thought to credit the "Pritt-stick gluer" from the props department responsible for the flimsy heading.
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