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Although Prisoner had its fair share of drama and tension, there was also a strong comedy element that came from some of the Wentworth characters.
Humour was always an important part of Prisoner, and comedy characters were evident throughout its run. Some found a place in viewers’ hearts, some took time to get it right, whereas others were simply irritating.
There seems to have been a notion that eccentric old ladies are funny, and the 'funny old bird' character seemed to be constant through a lot of the series. Hence the chain of characters like Lizzie Birdsworth, Agnes Forster, Dot Farrar, Ettie Parslow and Ida Brown. Lizzie was the more memorable of the group because, although initially a minor character, she was maintained and developed. Her character seemed more believable, with tragedy in her life as well as comedy. And of course the actress was superb.
Lizzie's main comedy traits were her passion for alcohol, and her habit of coming out with malapropisms and mispronunciations. This characteristic was passed on to Dot Farrar, an annoying hypochondriac and complainer. But before any character development (or major plotlines) were created for her, the writers seemed to decide things weren't working, and the character was written out.
But other old ladies were equally irritating in my view. Ida Brown must have seemed a marvellous idea at the planning stage, and in theory should have worked well – a streetwise, motorbike-riding Hell’s Granny. But with her squawking parrot voice, spun sugar hair and youthful cockiness, she soon became like Sophia from the Golden Girls but without the wit.
Agnes Forster and Ettie Parslow, two confused old dears, were both played by the same actress. In fact they were both fairly similar, except that one thought she was still in the middle of World War Two, the other fussed over her cat all the time. (The pampered puss being the true source of humour in all those social work office scenes - who on earth thought up the name Butchie?!) Ettie in particular seemed to be a 'loveable old lady' replacement for Lizzie. But despite staying for a while, and giving us a few embarrassing scenes with "Meggipops" to chortle over, she was written out.
As for the younger inmates, Barbie Cox was a rather odd character. A giggly blonde with a passion for snug-fitting clothes (Lou: "Why don't you wear a tighter jumper? It'll make your eyes bigger."). Her lines were mostly a few nonsense catchphrases (“Hi-de-hi!” and so on). Whereas this was cute for the duration of an episode or two, it wasn’t really much to sustain a character whose only real purpose seemed to be two jokes (the mystery of what she was in prison for, and when Joan replied to her “naughty naughty” comment by correcting her – “naughty naughty Miss Ferguson!”). Having made her two jokes, she seemed to have little more reason to remain, and was promptly released.
Other characters were more fortunate, and despite starting off as quite irritating, quickly developed more subtlety in their humour (possibly the influence of the actresses) and were able to stay longer in the series. Helen Smart arrived with an assortment of cringe-making 'comedy' accents, ranging from Marilyn Monroe to Zsa Zsa Gabor. Before long these were (mercifully) dropped, and her humour switched to snappy dialogue instead.
Pixie Mason also became a well-loved character, with her daffiness and love of weddings, romance and the colour pink. (Her court scene was particularly memorable and cleverly written.) Along with Willie Beecham, they demonstrated a particular flair that the writers had for camp comedy.
Marlene Warren was an example of where I felt the development of the character didn't seem to save her popularity. She started off with painfully unfunny practical jokes (the governor's frothing coffee was particularly embarrassing), cockroach racing, breaking World Records, and dieting for her wedding. But although there were attempts to add depth to her at times, with more serious storylines, her time in the series was still seen as far too long by many fans.
But there were characters who provided an excellent conduit for the script writers' best humour, coupled with the actress' wonderful straight-faced delivery. This was particularly the case for Nola McKenzie, who probably had the best one-liners of the series. Lou Kelly would also come out with the occasional gem too. And Zara Moonbeam may have been eccentric and amusing, but it was the witty dialogue bounced off her by other characters that made her such a breath of fresh air when she arrived.
The actress playing Lou Kelly showed signs of excellent comic timing, a skill which was sadly under-used. And Joyce Barry was mostly remembered for her incompetence (how on earth did that woman get into the prison service?) but occasionally a true comic moment would be demonstrated by the actress, such as the romantic evening in Mervin's tiny flat.
A character I always thought would have made for some great comic incidents was the much put-upon Mrs O’Reagan in the prison kitchen, with a wonderfully stony-faced performance from the actress. Sadly, she was suddenly written out with a drink problem, without really exploiting the possibilities fully, to be replaced by an embarrassing stereotype of a gay man.
Some of the characters seem to have become unintentional sources of humour, whether the writers had their tongues in their cheek or not. Alpha Centauri of the daft cult, for example, with the hilarious sequinned costumes (looking more like a production of La Cage Aux Folles than a religion).
It’s easy to think of Prisoner as merely a drama, or think that the humour only came from shortcomings in the series. However, comedy was a consistent ingredient throughout the 692 episodes. It might not have always hit the target the way it intended, but the programme was very ‘knowing’ and not afraid of laughing at itself.
This humour was one of the things that kept the series going for as long as it did, whether intentional or unintentional, and it was one of the things that defined Prisoner as a cult series, rather than just another gritty drama. And though some aspects of the series might seem dated now (some costumes, set designs attitudes and production techniques) the humour has remained virtually unscathed.
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