[pjw1985]

I visit various internet forums and discussion over this show crops up more than any other show, honestly it really does. I've seen so many cell block threads. This goes to show that the programme is well loved and well remembered, of course the dvd realeases are helping too. But i really think that people realise now that this show is no joke like it used to be seen as by many, its well loved

[Rosaliee]

Is it going to be repeated on TV anytime soon? A few months ago I read it was going to be repeated on Channel Five but nothing seems to have come from that.

[BrunoStreete]

Originally Posted by Rosaliee

Is it going to be repeated on TV anytime soon? A few months ago I read it was going to be repeated on Channel Five but nothing seems to have come from that.

I'm not sure anyone will ever commit to showing all 700 episodes again. Shame really.

[stud u like]

It is being repeated on australian television. So you never know!

[lil lexie]

I haven't watched it for ages now. Last episode involved that surreal ending of Nola Mckenzie getting shot in the head by Bea with a home made gun.

[Jimmy Connors]

Originally Posted by lil lexie

I haven't watched it for ages now. Last episode involved that surreal ending of Nola Mckenzie getting shot in the head by Bea with a home made gun.

Was that the last episode that you watched? It certainly wasn't the last episode they made.

[Aneechik]

I've spent the last couple of months watching the last hundred episodes on youtube. Meridian stopped showing it well before the end and I'd moved to the Granada area who had finished showing it years before so wouldn't have seen it anyway, so I never knew what happened.

I have to say, the production values were always a little low but the last year seemed to be especially bad for questionable acting and wobbling walls.

[stud u like]

Originally Posted by Aneechik

I've spent the last couple of months watching the last hundred episodes on youtube. Meridian stopped showing it well before the end and I'd moved to the Granada area who had finished showing it years before so wouldn't have seen it anyway, so I never knew what happened.

I have to say, the production values were always a little low but the last year seemed to be especially bad for questionable acting and wobbling walls.

I've watched it through to the end and not seen anything you mention. However, I have seen wobbling walls in "Fawlty Towers".

[Jimmy Connors]

Originally Posted by stud u like

I've watched it through to the end and not seen anything you mention. However, I have seen wobbling walls in "Fawlty Towers".

I agree. I thought they pushed the boat out a little toward the end. The Blackmoor scenes especially.

[Aneechik]

I'm not saying it wasn't good at the end, but it just seemed the acting wasn't quite as good as it had been - Delia, Dan, Steve, Rodney, Lurch, Mervin, Joyce etc. Even Rita had her moments. Compared to the earlier episodes the supporting actors really weren't up to much.

As for characters, they'd also started to wear the archetypes a bit thin by the end - Lexie was just a screeching bitch, and Brumby was almost a carbon copy (both from the excruciating Maxine Daniels template).

The stuff at Blackmoor was good though, although they flunked it with the dodgy top dog and not showing us Cynthia.

[Jimmy Connors]

Originally Posted by Aneechik

I'm not saying it wasn't good at the end, but it just seemed the acting wasn't quite as good as it had been - Delia, Dan, Steve, Rodney, Lurch, Mervin, Joyce etc. Even Rita had her moments. Compared to the earlier episodes the supporting actors really weren't up to much.

As for characters, they'd also started to wear the archetypes a bit thin by the end - Lexie was just a screeching bitch, and Brumby was almost a carbon copy (both from the excruciating Maxine Daniels template).

The stuff at Blackmoor was good though, although they flunked it with the dodgy top dog and not showing us Cynthia.

Oh, I agree then. The hey day of PCBH was undoubtedly the Bea/Lzzie and Doreen era for me. Not to mention Vinegar Tits.

[Andy Birkenhead]

I remember this show, because my (late) mum loved it.
I hated it !
It was like Acorn Antiques, but it was actually taken seriously (or was it ??)

[Eric Blair]

Prisoner CBH was a great corny soap opera with melodramatic plots - some of the best TV ever made IMO. I watched it on Central TV back in the late 80s when it was regularly pulling in a million viewers per episode after midnight (in the Central region, an extraordinary figure for the time).

I have to say I looked through the posts above especially to see any reference to wobbling scenery. Thanks for not letting me down! For some reason it's obligatory for PCBH to be cited as having wobbling walls. Nice to see somebody keeping up the tradition of mentioning something that just wasn't true.

Alongside the discussion of the show, perhaps we could discuss why people feel the need to say that this show had wobbling scenery. Is it a kind of urban myth? Or what we would call a meme nowadays? Perhaps people say it because the production values seemed low enough to them that it's as if the wall wobbled.

[suki c]

Originally Posted by Eric Blair

Prisoner CBH was a great corny soap opera with melodramatic plots - some of the best TV ever made IMO. I watched it on Central TV back in the late 80s when it was regularly pulling in a million viewers per episode after midnight (in the Central region, an extraordinary figure for the time).

I blame PCBH for me inevitably turning up at work on a Monday morning late, tired & hungover

OH & I would go to a pub quiz on a Sunday night and on the way home would vow "no TV & straight to bed" but the lure of the prog was too great (and we'd usually open a bottle of wine to accompany it)

Those were the days - we were young enough to handle it!

[jazzyjazzy]

I went to Derby many moons ago to see a PCBH stage show - memory a bit hazy now but there was Bea - Lizzy and Doreen and they did a few short scenes from the show then it was an audience question and answer session.
Lots of stuff on sale - bought a T shirt which Bea signed and I embroidered over it when I got home - in the loft somewhere. Can remember enjoying the night though.

[Eric Blair]

Originally Posted by suki c

Those were the days - we were young enough to handle it!

Suki c - I was a teenaged lad-about-town in the late 80s, and would collapse in front of the TV when I came in. After a while, I noticed that this funny Australian thing seemed to be always on.

There were only 4 channels back then, so I would usually end up watching Prisoner Cell Block H. Without much attention, I have to say, but I was being reeled in...

One night I was completely transfixed by one of the (comparatively rare) beautiful prisoners attempting suicide - I'll never forget the livid red of the blood on the old-fashioned studio film. That was Lynn Warner's attempted suicide, of course, and it was relatively early in the show's run. From then on, I watched all the time, right through to the end with Rita Connors swearing to become the oldest bikie in the world.

And here's the thing: half the lads in my social circle were avid watchers too. That show was big with young people at the time precisely because of its graveyard slot and because the ITV networks (all out of sync with each other) never gave up on the show and screened it two or three times per week for years.

That was just how things were back then, with 4 channels. People getting in from nights out had nothing else to watch or do!

I tried to watch PCBH all over again when it started a new run on Channel 5 in the 90s, but by then my lifestyle had changed, and it just wasn't the same anyway. Occasionally I watch parts of classic old episodes on YouTube and remain very impressed by the storytelling. I've spotted the actors in other roles down the years (no, not just Neighbours) and always have warm feelings about them, and the show.

[suki c]

Originally Posted by jazzyjazzy

I went to Derby many moons ago to see a PCBH stage show - memory a bit hazy now but there was Bea - Lizzy and Doreen and they did a few short scenes from the show then it was an audience question and answer session.
Lots of stuff on sale - bought a T shirt which Bea signed and I embroidered over it when I got home - in the loft somewhere. Can remember enjoying the night though.

A long-forgotten memory - I went to see 'Prisoner Cell Block H' the musical at Theatre Royal Nottingham - starring Lily Savage!!!!!! I now remember it being a great night!
http://www.prisoner-cellblockh.co.uk...age/index.html

[Alba_Og]

I loved this show. We are currently buying the Dvds as they are being (somewhat slowly) released.

Last year we had the pleasure of meeting the lovely Peta Toppano (Karen Travers) and last month we got to meet the fabulous Elspeth Ballantyne (Meg Jackson/Morris) and in July we have booked to see Jane Clifton (Margo Gaffney).

This show still has an incredibly strong fan base, which is incredible after 30 odd years!

[woot_whoo]

Originally Posted by Eric Blair

Prisoner CBH was a great corny soap opera with melodramatic plots - some of the best TV ever made IMO. I watched it on Central TV back in the late 80s when it was regularly pulling in a million viewers per episode after midnight (in the Central region, an extraordinary figure for the time).

I have to say I looked through the posts above especially to see any reference to wobbling scenery. Thanks for not letting me down! For some reason it's obligatory for PCBH to be cited as having wobbling walls. Nice to see somebody keeping up the tradition of mentioning something that just wasn't true.

Alongside the discussion of the show, perhaps we could discuss why people feel the need to say that this show had wobbling scenery. Is it a kind of urban myth? Or what we would call a meme nowadays? Perhaps people say it because the production values seemed low enough to them that it's as if the wall wobbled.

Just to play Devil's advocate - whilst the show wasn't as bad for wobbling scenery as some British productions (Upstairs Downstairs wobbled a fair bit, and was still excellent), there WERE wobbling walls in Prisoner. Take a look at the Great Fire of Wentworth episodes - when Barbara Fields is trying to break out of Erica's office by battering the door with a fire extinguisher, the wall wobbles with the door - she nearly takes the wall down with it! This is just one example, there are a few others. However, I never saw the famous 'red bricks' wobble - it was usually only walls which had a door in them or temporary sets erected for places outside the prison.

[edEx]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxX3UEJeHkY

[TOSSerr]

One of the best programmes ever

I've even bought the whole series on DVD (import) cause I'm that sad

[woot_whoo]

As an addendum to my previous post: wobbly walls, the evidence!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfPHroODDEI&NR=1

Skip to about 2:20 and onwards to see the wall wobble. My memory was playing me false before - rather than breaking out of Erica's office, Barbara was trying to break IN to the Governor's room (which makes much more sense!)

[lazydaisy20]

Originally Posted by suki c

I blame PCBH for me inevitably turning up at work on a Monday morning late, tired & hungover

OH & I would go to a pub quiz on a Sunday night and on the way home would vow "no TV & straight to bed" but the lure of the prog was too great (and we'd usually open a bottle of wine to accompany it)

Those were the days - we were young enough to handle it!

Back in the 90s they only used to show PCBH once a week in the ITV region I lived in (although I think at one point they did show it twice a week) and it used to be on a Thursday night. It was always on after 11pm and I can remember being really tired but wanting to stay up and watch it, even though (and this is the daft thing) I would record the programme at the same time so I could watch it again during the week

I used to have PCBH on video years ago when they brought out some of the episodes but have started buying them again on DVD. I confess I did have a panic moment when I first started watching the first one as I saw that it did look quite dated and thought: "oh no, I'm going to hate it", but after about 10 minutes I had forgotten about the dodgy hair and make-up (and of course the wobbly walls ) and was as engrossed in it as I used to be.

Great viewing and definitely deserves a repeat showing

[edEx]

Originally Posted by lazydaisy20

Back in the 90s they only used to show PCBH once a week in the ITV region I lived in (although I think at one point they did show it twice a week) and it used to be on a Thursday night. It was always on after 11pm and I can remember being really tired but wanting to stay up and watch it, ...

I used to watch it whilst doing my A Level maths homework, which was always set in the Friday morning maths lesson to be given in the following Friday. Often PCBH would have long finished before I finally completed everything and went to sleep at 2:30 or so.

Used to drive my parents mad

[Aneechik]

Originally Posted by woot_whoo

As an addendum to my previous post: wobbly walls, the evidence!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfPHroODDEI&NR=1

Skip to about 2:20 and onwards to see the wall wobble. My memory was playing me false before - rather than breaking out of Erica's office, Barbara was trying to break IN to the Governor's room (which makes much more sense!)

I was just about the post that scene.

In the last year I can think of at least two scenes where the wall shakes - one where Rita throws Roach against the wall outside the toilets (and you can see the gap between the walls at the corner) and another where someone is thrown against the wall in the corridoor.

The last year was also especially bad for the boom appearing in the shot, there was one short run of episodes somewhere about 620 where there was sometimes 2-3 appearances of the boom per episode.