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"I'm not Myra or Bea Smith. I'm not trying to be." While this was certainly true, Nora remains one of the least popular Top Dogs for many Prisoner fans. But was her boring reputation totally fair?
Nora's quote seems to say it all. Rather than try to recreate a previously popular character (as it appeared they tried to do with Myra at first), the writers tried a completely different approach with Nora. When five new prisoners were transferred to H Block after a fire in Barnhurst, it was May Collins who seemed the obvious contender for the Top Dog throne. They arrived while Myra Desmond was at a low point in her reign. She was out of favour with the governor, the women had lost faith in her, and her rivals were humiliating her at every opportunity. It looked as though a change was imminent for the top position.
May was tough, firm but fair, and had a good heart. She was also a great red herring, and easily distracted attention away from Nora, who was thoughtful, withdrawn, serious and seemed to be carrying emotional baggage. Unlike the previous leading ladies, she did not use her physical presence to get things done, but used diplomacy and democracy, with the inmates' council making decisions and deciding on punishments. This was an interesting concept by the writers. Unfortunately, it didn't make for interesting soap drama, and the scenes of the council discussing problems, rather than a Top Dog simply flushing someone's head down the toilet, earned her a name as Nora the Borer.
Despite not taking over the Top Dog position immediately, Nora's 'era' really began when Myra was killed during the Ballinger Siege. She was devastated by Myra's death, whom she'd admired. Lou Kelly had designs on the top job, which was already causing trouble, so Nora eventually stepped in to take it over.
But was she boring as a character? Well, she had been imprisoned for murdering three hitch-hikers, so she was certainly capable of killing. This was underlined at the end of the Ballinger siege, when she shot one of the terrorists. She was a trained nurse, but had been accused of trying to kill a baby (she had in fact taken the blame when the mother had tried to kill it herself). She was desperate for a baby herself, and when she unexpectedly found herself pregnant, she miscarried after being hit in the stomach by Lou. She was anxious to know who her mother was, and eventually found her. She made a successful escape attempt. And her final departure from the series was one of the most surprising!
So why is she often seen as boring? Well, after Myra's dramatic death and the excellent Ballinger siege episodes, it was a hard act for anyone to follow. And fans seemed to blame her for the unpopular prisoners' council, which was rather unfair as it had actually been Myra's idea. Nora went ahead with it out of loyalty to Myra, and with what she believed were the women's best interests.
Another criticism is that she seemed to be the figurehead for one of the series' all-time low points. In fact, this period started off with the Ballinger siege, and went on to include Joan and Terri Malone's romance, the murder of Jenny Hartley's Nanna, Dennis Cruickshank being kneecapped by Frank Burke, Nikki Lennox and the juveniles on the 'scared straight' programme, Geoffrey Chaucer from the Department being exposed for fraud, May Collins getting killed during a job for the Major Crimes Squad, Reb returning to wentworth without her memory, Rita Connors and Barbie Cox arriving, Eve Wilder bashing Joyce Barry, and Eve's solicitor shooting himself in front of her. This era also brought us Lou Kelly at her prime, showing not only deviousness but excellent acting and an underused skill in subtle comedy. So if you look at the era as a whole, I don’t think I’d say it was a particularly dull one.
It wasn't without it's share of silliness too. There were such delights as Pippa Reynolds' frequent fashion disasters, Jenny Hartley's awful Aunt Harriet and Steven Formby, the camp comedy of Mervin's TV cookery contest, Alice Jenkins in cabaret as Carmen Miranda, and the unlikely possibility of Willie being pardoned after a bump on the head made her lose her memory.
Nora is often lumped together with the other members of the 'Barnhurst Five', who are then criticised as dull characters. They included Daphne, who became depressed or aggressive when she was premenstrual, and revealed a past of childhood sexual abuse (and some excellent acting by the actress); Willie and May, who bickered like a married couple (showing a great sense of comic timing) yet showed great affection towards each other, and had been well known cat burglars when they were in their prime; and Julie, who kept her intelligence a secret, had stolen money to send her mother on a trip around the world, and was the 'ugly duckling' among the inmates. None of the characters was played by a bad actress, all had fairly three-dimensional characters, and all had their fair share of good storylines.
Nora's greatest downfall as a Top Dog character, was her loyalty. Myra's council dealt with prison issues in a diplomatic and sensible way (rather than with drama), though it's fair to say some of the punishments seemed rather limp. (Usually someone was sent to coventry, but for one particularly strict and memorable 'sentence', the guilty parties were forced to walk through two lines of jeering extras waving rolled up newspapers and slippers.) But this lack of aggression may have demonstrated Nora's strength in self control and restraint, rather than her weakness, as we already know she had the potential to use violence or even kill if she wanted to.
She might not have had the dramatic impact to the series that Bea Smith, Myra Desmond or Rita Connors had. And not all the storylines of the era were exciting. But she was a brave diversion from the norm by the writers. And if you even start to question her credibility as a Top Dog, just remember two words.. Minnie Donovan..
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