Season 5

E1. Episode 1

Feb 1, 1983 · 47m

Paddy crawls through the air conditioning and finds Bea and Joan in isolation; Erica is rescued by firemen. Mouse and Barbara's bodies are recovered from the fire. Chrissie blames herself, unaware Margo was to blame. Paddy gets Bea and Joan to the roof to safety but Bea accidentally knocks Joan off a ladder and she is stretchered out unconscious. The remaining inmates are taken to Woodridge. In hospital, Paddy learns her release has come through and she goes to live in the halfway house. Meanwhile, Bea is less than pleased to learn that Joan has survived. The women moan about the poor conditions at Woodridge. Maxine prepares a romantic meal for Tony but he is held up by Sara's problems and she falls asleep. Joan tells the police that Bea attacked her and that she admitted to her that she started the fire as a diversion.

E2. Episode 2

Feb 3, 1983 · 47m

Bea learns she will probably be charged with arson and murder. Alan Jeffries' father vows to get Sara jailed for Alan's death and have the halfway house closed down. The women realise Andy is being picked on by other male prisoners. Bea and Lizzie get out of hospital and arrive at Woodridge. Bea protests against the conditions. When Colleen mentions there were two fires, Bea realises Chrissie didn't burn the place down. Paddy comes to visit Andy but doesn't tell him his father is ill. Rejected again by Tony, Maxine hooks up with Spud and they try to rob a truck, landing them both back in jail. Andy gets a kicking and is rushed to hospital. The male inmates start a riotous protest against the women taking over the mailbag sewing contract. In the midst of the chaos, Jeannie goes into labour but the screws don't hear the women calling.

E3. Episode 3

Feb 8, 1983 · 47m

Bea and Chrissie deliver Jeannie's baby boy, which she names Christopher B after them. Maxine is sent to Woodridge. Colleen admits she stored the turps in the storeroom, which led to the fire spreading so quickly. The police learn the fire was caused by a firebomb, which means Colleen was not to blame. Judy visits Lizzie and tells her that Lori is pregnant. The Health Department visit the halfway house and everyone realises Mr Jeffries called them in. Andy escapes from hospital and turns up at the halfway house to see Paddy. Forensic evidence ties Margo to the fire; she tries to shift the blame onto Bea and Chrissie. The police try to bully them into confessing. Paddy and Andy decide to go on the run but Tony calls the police and they are both arrested. Judy is furious with him for calling the cops, so he quits. Bea denies having anything to do with the fire but the police charge her anyway.

E4. Episode 4

Feb 10, 1983 · 47m

The police tells Colleen they think a third woman was involved in the fire. Paddy and a new prisoner, Valerie Jacobs, arrive at Woodridge. It turns out Val is an old friend of Colleen's and introduced her to Patrick. Val's presence makes Colleen feel uneasy and she tells her not to mention their acquaintance to the women but Margo overhears. Carlson lets Andy say goodbye to Paddy before he is transferred to the prison farm. At the request of the police, Colleen asks Val to spy on the women for them. Hazel turns up at the halfway house. Bea gets out of solitary but ends up right back in again after fighting with Chrissie, both thinking the other lagged on them. Val refuses Colleen's request after seeing the fight. Hazel goes for a job interview but comes back to the halfway house drunk. She tells Judy she lost access to her kids. Bea manages to convince Chrissie that the police are lying about them lagging to turn them against each other and find out the truth about the fire.

E5. Episode 5

Feb 15, 1983 · 47m

Bea and Chrissie start interviewing the women to try and find out who started the fire, making Margo sweat. Lizzie discovers the Woodridge men have some booze. Meanwhile, we see a mystery woman arriving in Melbourne off a freight train. She disguises herself with a blonde wig and turns up at the halfway house, calling herself Jean Carter. Judy lets her stay and she moves into a room with Hazel. Lizzie and Maxine start a raffle: Chrissie wins a raw chicken and demands something else. Lizzie tells Maxine she needs to buy booze from the men. Sara tells Mr Jeffries he was to blame for Alan's death more than her. Lil tells Bea and Chrissie that she thinks Margo started the fire. Jean tells Judy she is broke but in actual fact has a wad of banknotes. Margo is bashed into confessing but refuses to admit it to the police and tells them if anything happens to her, the police will know who's responsible.

E6. Episode 6

Feb 17, 1983 · 47m

Colleen ponders whether to tell the police she heard Val discussing the truth about her crime. Bea refuses to incriminate Margo to her solicitor. At Alan's inquest, the verdict is death by misadventure and the charges against Sara are dropped. Colleen and Carlson go out for dinner. Bea's solicitor tells her about the illegally stored turps. Lizzie and Maxine set up a poker game with marked cards, to get the money to buy booze from the men. The women learn they are going back to Wentworth. Val is released and thanks Colleen for keeping quiet. Colleen tells Carlson she cannot see him again. Hazel finds Jean's cash, steals it and flees but Jean won't let Judy call the police. The women fill their hot water bottles with booze to smuggle it back to Wentworth. Bea's solicitor forces Mr Douglas to reduce the charges against Bea and Chrissie by threatening to reveal all about the turps in court.

E7. Episode 7

Feb 22, 1983 · 47m

It's back to Wentworth for the prisoners, where the women find new sets waiting for them, and spend time settling in to the new look surroundings. Of course, the booze smuggled back from Woodridge helps this considerably. Bea and Chrissie learn their charges are being reduced, with Mouse and Barbara being blamed for the fire to cover up Colleen's incompetence. Colleen offers to resign, but Erica refuses to accept it. Erica authorises a small welcome back party, which the women decide to make a wake for Mouse and Barbara as well, but the party is rudely interrupted by the unexpected arrival of The Freak, clad in a neck brace. Meanwhile, at Driscoll House, Jean is off on a robbery spree and planning to leave when the police arrive. It turns out that money Hazel gave for a flat was stolen from Queensland. Their room is searched, and Jean is arrested for possessing stolen credit cards.

E8. Episode 8

Feb 24, 1983 · 47m

Joan breaks up the women's party after she discovers the illicit booze. A furious Erica cancels all their privileges. Judy is blamed, as she brought in the food and drink for the party, but Lizzie owns up to save Jude. Bea and Chrissie's VJ hearing arrives, but Joan has deliberately not told them in time to call their lawyer. However, Meg has called the solicitor herself. Bea pleads not guilty, on self defence grounds, but this is dismissed as she has no evidence to back up her claims of Joan's brutality. In the end Meg testifies on Bea's behalf, against Joan, which goes in Bea's favour. Joan furiously confronts Meg, who tells her just to quit before she is booted out of the service. Meanwhile, Jean Carter is questioned by the police and, after knocking a cop out and trying to escape, is charged and sent to Wentworth (bet you didn't see that coming, eh?)

E9. Episode 9

Mar 1, 1983 · 47m

Erica toughens things up in Wentworth, aided by a gleeful Joan, who insists on enforcing the most petty rules. Meg is appalled, and falls out with Colleen when she supports it. Bea drops hints to Meg that Margo started the fire, and she in turn asks Erica to reopen the investigation. Erica refuses, and instead chooses to transfer Margo out of Wentworth to get rid of her. Erica introduces a silly points scheme thing where the women get points for being good, and get points taken off for being bad. If they want privileges, they need to earn them. The women think it stinks, so does Meg, and Joan takes great delight in totally abusing the scheme. The women suspect Jean is hiding something. Hazel is arrested for passing the stolen money, and set up by the cops to make it look like she confessed to the bank job in WA. Back at Driscoll, Judy's estranged sister Frances unexpectedly turns up from America.

E10. Episode 10

Mar 3, 1983 · 47m

Hazel arrives back at the prison charged with armed robbery, and protesting her innocence. However, she is too scared of Jean to lag. Bea realises that Hazel got the money from Jean, and that it must have been Jean who did the robbery in Queensland. Paddy, angry that Hazel is suffering from the no lagging rule, goes to the Governor and dobs Jean in. It transpires that Jean is in fact Nola McKenzie, who escaped from death row in WA. Nola vows revenge on Paddy for sentencing her back to death. Judy and sister Frances make up for lost time, and Frances agrees to move into the halfway house while she is there. However, Judy is unaware that Frances is plotting to con Jude out of her inheritance. Tension grows between Meg and Joan. Lizzie and Maxine plot to play havoc with the points chart. Prostitute Trixie Mann is admitted to Wentworth.

E11. Episode 11

Mar 8, 1983 · 47m

Nola confesses to the bank robbery Hazel was arrested for, assuming that this will keep her in Wentworth and prevent her extradition back to death row in WA. However, she is still intent on getting back at Paddy for lagging, and enlists Trixie's help to beat her up in the shower block. Frances offers Judy a large sum of money to give up her claim to their father's estate, tempting her to use the amount for improvements on Driscoll. When Judy discovers that she is in line to inherit $100,000, and that her father asked for her forgiveness in the will, she attacks Frances. Erica arrives at the halfway house in the middle of the brawl and has to pull them apart. The women try to counter the points system by starting up one of their own, for the officers. New social worker Barry Simmons arrives to work at the prison.

E12. Episode 12

Mar 8, 1983 · 47m

Judy worries she will end up back in Wentworth if Frances reports the assault, but Erica vows to back her. News comes that Lori has given birth to a boy. Hazel goes to court and gets released. Joan catches Paddy with cigarettes smuggled in by Barry Simmonds, who Meg failed to search properly. The women play funny buggers with the points, first with the officers' chart, then by changing their own points. Joan demands Bea and Chrissie, obviously the ringleaders, be transferred. Erica refuses, so Joan calls the Department, who over-rule her. After an exercise period, Chrissie is abruptly shanghai-ed to Barnhurst, kicking and screaming all the way. Nola carries out her threat to get Paddy: she ambushes her in the showers and drowns her in a sink. Bea arrives too late, and finds Nola standing over Paddy's body. Nola is jubilant, insisting they won't be able to extradite her now.

E13. Episode 13

Mar 10, 1983 · 47m

Bea has to be restrained from attacking Nola following Paddy's murder. Nola tells Erica she didn't kill Paddy for a reason, she was just the first person to come along. Joan reports Meg's failure to search Barry Simmonds to Mr Douglas, who decides to sack Meg. However, Meg resigns instead. Lizzie overhears Meg and Colleen talking about her sacking, and reports back to Bea, who threatens Erica with big trouble if Meg is dismissed. When Erica dismisses her threats, she takes the women out on strike, and a sit-in in the Rec Room. Bea tells Erica that if Meg goes, then Joan will too, she'll see to it. Judy is relieved when Frances drops the charges against her and goes back to the US. She also gets a new job as Wentworth's careers officer. The points scheme looks set to be abandoned when Lizzie once again tampers with the totals.

E14. Episode 14

Mar 15, 1983 · 47m

The strike continues, but the women are fed up. Erica talks Mr Douglas into letting Meg stay, but Douglas refuses to do anything about Joan. Nola protests against being kept in Solitary, despite Erica's insistence it is for her own good. Bea and the girls carry out a threat campaign against her; Joan makes it clear she'll stay out of it if Bea and Nola fight each other. Maxine leads a gang of the women to take revenge on Nola behind Bea's back, and they attack her, only to be stopped by Bea. Nola refuses to say who did it, but hints strongly it was Joan. She makes it clear she's no pushover, and bashes Trixie just before she is released. Judy is let off by the Parole Board for the fight with Frances, and tackles a drunken woman at Driscoll who comes after her with a broken bottle. Faye is transferred back to H Block, and Joan wants her to take over as bookie, giving her a cut.

E15. Episode 15

Mar 17, 1983 · 47m

Nola recruits Faye as her offsider but bashes her anyway to show she means business. She then goes after the rest of Maxine's gang, leaving Maxie terrified she is next. She steals a knife from the dining room for protection, and Bea sends Faye to the loo with her as guard, unaware she is in league with Nola. They bump into Nola on the way, Faye scarpers, and Maxine gets a doing after a bit of a struggle. With buyup suspended, Nola plans a tobacco smuggling racket. Bea tells Judy she is going to kill Nola for what happened to Paddy. Joan orchestrates a confrontation between Bea and Nola in the refurbished library, then steps outside to wait for the fireworks to begin… Following a suggestion from Helen Smart, Judy decides to buy new premises for Driscoll House, and lease it back to the Department. Meanwhile, Maxine puts a bet on with Lizzie that she can't give up swearing.

E16. Episode 16

Mar 22, 1983 · 47m

Bea and Nola refuse to fight in the Library, since Joan set it up, and she is furious. Erica offers to restore buyup if Maxine lags on her attacker, but she refuses. Faye starts selling fags at high prices. Nola gets her to start an insurance racket and when nobody really wants to buy, she heavies Maxine into it. Colleen catches Maxine putting razor blades into Nola's soap and puts her on a charge: Faye pays out on her insurance, so several of the girls sign up. When Nola finds the razor blades, she knows it was Maxie and goes after her, but Bea comes to the rescue. Lizzie lies she has been confined to her cell in order to claim on her insurance. Bea attacks Nola in a cell, gags her and burns her with a soldering iron, branding a ""K"" for killer on her chest. Judy finds a new Driscoll House, then discovers her inheritance is less than she expected. The PRG come to the rescue with financial aid.

E17. Episode 17

Mar 24, 1983 · 47m

The inmates are stunned at what Bea did to Nola, but eventually they agree she deserved it. The Powell marriage seems doomed when Colleen moves out and into a hotel. She is propositioned by a man at dinner, but turns him down, though she later regrets it. Nola continues pulling the strings of Faye's rackets, deciding to pinch stuff from a store room and use it to pay off the insurance claims. Faye hears Lizzie and Colleen talking, and realises Lizzie lied about being confined to her cell. Maxine gets herself sent to Solitary in order to claim the $10 payout. Judy comes across a drunken Hazel in a bar and takes her back to Driscoll with her. She wants to keep a stray cat she finds, but Judy won't let her; later, Hazel finds an abandoned baby on the doorstep.

E18. Episode 18

Mar 29, 1983 · 47m

Hazel decides to keep the baby and enlists the help of her room-mate Michelle to hide him from Jude. She seems to be using it as a substitute for her own kids, but things go wrong when Judy catches her with the child. Meg invites Colleen to move in with her. Patrick arrives at the prison to see Colleen, and she agrees to meet him for lunch, but she misses it for a cell search. Bea thinks Faye is in league with Joan. Faye and Nola use a skeleton key to break into the storeroom and steal goods. Colleen realises the store has been broken into and organises a cell search. Nola tells Faye nobody gets a payout if they get themselves put on a charge, and is finally revealed to Bea and the others as the brains behind the racket. A new prisoner, Janice Young, arrives.

E19. Episode 19

Mar 31, 1983 · 47m

Judy has the baby taken away by the police, and Hazel is distraught. Soon after, Geoff arrives at Driscoll and tells Judy that Lori has left and taken the baby. He tells Judy that baby David is deaf, and Jude realises that the baby Hazel found was her grandson. Judy tracks Lori down to a local motel, and finds her distressed, saying she doesn't want to see Geoff or the baby again. Janice Young's husband Chris meets Meg and Colleen in a bar, and tells them he's worried about how she'll cope. Meg hires Chris to build shelves for Colleen's room. Patrick comes to Meg's to talk Colleen into coming home, but she refuses. Joan turns a blind eye when Maxine's friend Roxanne visits and passes her money. Bea asks Erica if the women can buy a TV. She agrees if the women will do extra laundry from the hospital, but Nola steals Bea's thunder by offering to buy a TV with her own cash.

E20. Episode 20

Apr 5, 1983 · 47m

Judy begs Lori to come back and sort things out. Judy and Geoff realise Lori has post-natal depression, and Judy offers to give up Driscoll to help if needed. Joan finds money on Faye as she is being released, so she tells Joan all about Nola's dealings. Faye is not allowed to see her beloved niece and nephew by sister Glynis and instead of looking for a job, heads straight to the bookies. Thanks to Bea's evidence, Nola gets a life sentence at Wentworth: no extradition. Joan demands a cut of Nola's takings, but she pleads ignorance. Nola threatens Maxine with a knife, forcing her to take over from Faye as her runner. Bea is furious to find out Maxie is working with Nola. Joan quickly catches Maxine with cash, and confronts Nola again, demanding a cut in exchange for her silence. Patrick asks Meg for help in winning Colleen back, but she refuses to take sides. The prisoners' new TV set arrives.

E21. Episode 21

Apr 7, 1983 · 47m

Maxine is not pleased to discover that Joan is Nola's new partner. Nola announces she is taking orders for anything the girls want, but Bea insists no drugs. Maxine calls Roxy and gets her to bring in a load of goods. Joan oversees the visit, and Bea is suspicious of how Maxie got the goods past the screws. Faye gets a cleaning job, and makes some cash from a few good racing tips. However, she turns down an offer from an old friend to handle some stolen goods from him. Colleen seems to be interested in Chris Young in more than a work capacity, and they grow closer. She visits his house, and ends up staying for lunch with him and the kids. Lori tells Judy she wants to give the baby up for adoption, but Judy begs her not to make the same mistake she did. After a lot of persuading, and a visit to a deaf school, Lori relents and returns to Geoff, taking the baby with her.

E22. Episode 22

Apr 12, 1983 · 47m

Colleen helps Chris look for a housekeeper and Meg suggests she has ulterior motives in helping the Youngs. Judy tells Janice she has found them a housekeeper, and Janice is furious she doesn't know anything about it. Janice tells Colleen to keep out of her personal life. Nola, Joan and Maxine's black market rackets look doomed when buyup is reinstated. Lizzie plays a string of stupid practical jokes on the girls, and they very quickly tire of it. Nola suggests they get their own back, and Bea agrees, providing it's harmless. Erica is informed a new prisoner will be a departmental ""spy"" to evaluate the staff and inmates. The officers are kept in the dark about it as much as the prisoners, and the woman, Jill Clark, raises Joan and Bea's suspicions by asking too many questions. Faye finally gets to see her niece and nephew, and buys them gifts.

E23. Episode 23

Apr 12, 1983 · 47m

Janice apologises to Colleen. Colleen invites Chris to dinner at Meg's, but Meg has to go into work. Patrick turns up just before Chris, and a row ensues. Chris leaves; Colleen turns up at his place later, and they end up kissing. Nola comes up with a scheme to fool Lizzie into thinking she's gone deaf. Bea thinks Lizzie will easily see through the joke, but she doesn't. Jill continues snooping around. Maxine finds Jill's shorthand notes, recognises names in them and tells Bea. Jill lies and says she's doing a thesis for uni. Faye is upset when Glynis bans her from seeing Billy after she takes him to the races. She goes to stay at Driscoll. Helen brings a hooker called Lindy to stay after her pimp beats her up. When the Wentworth girls arrive at Driscoll for the work party, Judy's shy new neighbour Trevor is befriended by Maxie, to his mother's horror.

E24. Episode 24

Apr 14, 1983 · 47m

Meg is disapproving after Colleen spends the night with Chris. At work, Colleen snaps at Janice, and Joan implies to her that something is going on between her husband and Mrs Powell. Although Bea thinks she knows what the girls are up to, Lizzie is terrified and thinks she has a brain tumour. She reminisces about the past and writes out her Will. Meg is furious and tells the women what their stupid prank has done but it turns out that Lizzie only has eye strain and needs reading glasses. Judy and the girls move into the new Driscoll House; some of the Wentworth inmates are there for the working bee. Maxine befriends Trevor and they kiss. Billy visits Faye, and Jude lets him stay the night. Glynis and Malcolm arrive to pick him up, and Malcolm threatens to get Faye charged with kidnapping. In tears, Faye tells Judy that he can't do that – because Billy is not her nephew, he's her son.

E25. Episode 25

Apr 19, 1983 · 47m

Bea realises that Nola and Maxine are working with Joan, and tearfully bashes Maxie to teach her a lesson. Lizzie is horrified, although Maxie forgives Bea and tells her she deserved it. Nevertheless, the women are turning against Bea. Jill is sent to Solitary for having contraband, and Joan is suspicious when Ted Douglas comes to visit her and is smuggled into Solitary. She calls the court and discovers they have no record of Jill Clark. Jill tells Douglas that Joan is bent, but he doesn't believe her. Colleen is torn between continuing to see Chris and doing the right thing. Joan sees them together and tells Janice, who slaps Colleen. Colleen lets her off, and angrily confronts a smug Joan. At Driscoll, Faye tells Judy that Glynis agreed to bring Billy up as her own, since Faye had him as a teenager. Meanwhile, Lindy is freaked when she thinks someone followed her home.

E26. Episode 26

Apr 21, 1983 · 47m

Bea has had enough and tells the women to sort out their own problems from now on. She steals a spare officer's uniform, dyes her hair black, joins a group of trainee officers as they leave – and walks right out of the prison gates… Word spreads that Jill is a spy. Colleen is furious and demands answers from Erica, who admits it. Lizzie suggests the women catch her out by feeding her false information. Faye lets Snow burgle her offices, and is arrested. She arrives back in Wentworth and is sent to D Block. Lindy is unnerved by Trevor's shy behaviour and Mrs Collins doesn't want him visiting the house. Later, Lindy catches Trevor watching her undressing at her window. Colleen breaks off the affair with Chris and goes home to Patrick. Janice is released, and Chris ignores Colleen when he comes to collect her.

E27. Episode 27

Apr 26, 1983 · 47m

Bea's escape has everyone in a flap. Lizzie blames the others for the way they treated her, while Joan feels foolish at falling for Bea's diversionary tactics. Said tactics also get Maxine into trouble, and she is quizzed by the officers and the police. Nola discovers that Bea stole her money stash before she left and makes her play for Top Dog. The other women are shunning Jill now that they know the truth about her, so she is hurriedly released. Her report to Ted Douglas points the finger at Joan for the contraband, but she has no real proof. The women lose their buyup in the aftermath of the escape, and Lizzie confronts Joan in front of Colleen, demanding her insurance payment for losing her buyup. At Driscoll House, Trevor scares Lindy by approaching her while she is sunbathing; later, to Judy's disapproval, Lindy goes to get a fix.

E28. Episode 28

Apr 28, 1983 · 47m

Joan brushes off Lizzie's accusations, but the seeds are sown in Erica and Colleen's minds. Lizzie and Maxine admit Joan is involved, but won't lag on Nola. Joan visits Lizzie after lights out to threaten her. Lindy goes out on the town and meets a man called Tony, but she won't have sex with him. In the middle of the night, someone climbs through Lindy's window and rapes her. Next morning, she tells the police it was Trevor. He is arrested, charged and bailed, but it wasn't him: the real rapist phones Lindy. Helen is arrested when a ""client"" turns out to be cop, and arrives in Wentworth. The Department allow the women to get duvet covers and stuff for their cells, and Helen draws up their list for Erica. Lainie Dobson and Ellen Farmer arrive on remand; Lainie is covered in tattoos and doesn't want to strip off. Later, Nola spots them holding hands and remarks ""they're a couple of dykes!""

E29. Episode 29

May 3, 1983 · 47m

Judy realises that Trevor didn't rape Lindy after all, and the rapist is revealed as Tony, the man from the bar. She makes Lindy go to the police, and they use her as bait to trap him and lock him up. Judy and Lindy apologise to the Collins, but Mrs Collins knocks them back. Trevor announces he is leaving home. The women's items for their cells arrive: Lizzie gets a shocking pink bedspread and rug. In the showers, Helen discovers that ""Ellen"" is really a man called Alan, Lainie's boyfriend. The cops didn't realise their mistake, hence his presence in Wentworth. Maxie makes a move on Alan, at which point Meg discovers he is a man. He is hurriedly released as the women, on exercise period, watch in amazement. Driscoll resident Dianne Henley gets 14 days in Wentworth, and when she gets there she reveals she can't read. Helen suggests they try and get a teacher to help her.

E30. Episode 30

May 5, 1983 · 47m

Alan's sudden release has the women astonished. Erica says they are to act as though he never existed. Meanwhile, the Department's generosity has the women suspicious. They learn they are getting a doctor, social worker and teacher (for Dianne) and are sceptical of ulterior motives. With the Department dishing out, nobody is buying anything from Nola any more. Nola wants to start bringing in booze and drugs, but Joan says no drugs. Helen is released. Lainie goes to court and gets 4 weeks. The Department announce a TV documentary crew are coming: Nola suggests their privileges will only last til they have gone. The crew arrive and interview some of the women. A little blackmail goes a long way for Nola, who gets one of the TV crew to pass a message onto a presenter, demanding drugs in exchange for keeping quiet about certain things.