I was so sad when Jim left the show, he was a nice balance between Meg and Vera. Plus it was nice to have a good-looking male amongst the cast. ♥ I'm sorry to hear Gerard is struggling with his health, I wish him all the best.
At least we know now why Rick Manning disappeared just as Rachel Milsom went to prison. I wonder if there had been a further storyline planned for the characters. One male character that hasn't been mentioned was Jock Stewart. While he was created before Coral was involved, he did return twice to the show which I think was great credit to the way he was played so menacingly by Tommy Dysart
@@TalkingPrisoner Yes Matt I watched episode 10 when it was posted the next day and was glad to hear you talk about him. Jock was a great character and loved how he came back twice to terrorise Judy again. One other male character that could be discussed is Geoff Carson who played Woodridge Deputy Governor. He clearly had an attraction to Colleen. I wonder if there were any thoughts to keep him on. The actor Danny Adcock also worked with Coral on Arcade. Perhaps one to discuss sometime. 😀
I'm already watching the next episode. A nice birthday surprise it was released today. Thank you. 😊. P.S. I was really surprised the actor who played Rick Manning wasn't that nice in real life. That was a surprise. 😮
It was Alan/Ellen Farmer - sentenced with Lainie Dobson that you're referring to re the trans debate. Andy Anderson's Rick wasn't greatly missed by me. It was quite obvious to me he'd been written out the way he just buggered off after his friend Rachel Milsom was sentenced ! Another fab episode Coral and Matt, I love listening to your work. Thank you so much for continuing to reach out to all us fans, and PLEASE come to the UK soon! ❤
@@spikeyrobertomade a mistake dude, chill. You can do that you know? No need to be condescending about it. Obviously got the details mixed up with the Edna Pearson stuff.
My favourite Prisoner male character was Tony Berman, played by Alan David Lee. He didn't last, did a 3 month stint with Jude in the Halfway House, and then left - I wss gutted - he was lovely to look at 😂 and was a good actor as well 😉
The Prisoner Cell Block H wiki has been updated on Andy Anderson already to say 'In 2024 it was revealed that Anderson was written out due to his behaviour toward the writers on set!' I remember Coral speaking about problems with the actor on a forum over 10 years ago. Interesting to hear that Gerard didn't get on with John McRae either. If my memory serves Val said she would never return to Prisoner while he was there. But he left long before she did and I think Sue Masters was producer by then. He was long gone by the 500s.
@@TalkingPrisoner I think it's only one person updating the fan wiki at the best of times and other people are encouraged to edit it at the same time, so if it's an issue you can fix it as well, but it's been changed now I've seen.
It'd be great to have Coral watch the later eps and comment on their male characters, how she would have developed them differently. Bob Moran, Ernest Craven, Marty Jackson, Rodney Adams.
@tvredone1460 definitely. She's Prisoner living history personified and offers a much more diverse behind the scenes account than the actors ever could. Would be interesting to hear from a story editor from a different era.
Another great episode. I know Coral didn't watch any episodes since she left, but I would have loved to know what she thought of the ending. What ending would she have written for the end?
Trey Devlin was Lloyd's character in _Pacific Drive_ Coral - I think Lloyd Morris was also in _Possession_ , playing Anne Charleston's son. It wasn't shown here in the UK though. He might have been a bit young for Arcade? Born 1958.
@@TalkingPrisoner I've never seen All Saints unfortunately, but I've seen in pictures online quite a bit of Prisoner and Wentworth actor "crossover" in that show!
I think the ex-con writer who went down for armed robbery was Peter Brennan who wrote 4 episodes: 201, 211, 220, and 229. This is also around the time Coral joined _Prisoner_ I think. 😊
Thanks for the interview Matt & Coral. As a long time Prisoner fan, I find Coral very entertaining to listen to & am very impressed with her memory! Having said that, my favourite years of Prisoner were 1979 to mid 1983 (when Bea exited) & then again 1986 episodes until the end. I found the 1984 episodes particularly poor, and the nadir for the show. Not saying it was due to Coral's writing - perhaps it was a different production team that wanted sensational ratings boosting stories? But some of my observations: 1979 till mid 1983 episodes (Bea's exit) were generally quite enjoyable, with a good balance of drama & humour, some extent of prison believability, and a very likable group of core characters & actors. With a few exceptions (such as the bombing of Fletchers family, a sensational & ridiculous story) stories were generally well done, & the violence was not overly graphic or gratuitous for the sake of it. Things changed Mid 1983 through to the 1984 episodes, the nadir, because: - Some shockingly bad actors (eg: Minnie Donovan / Petra Roberts/ Phil Cleary / Angel Adams); some really irritating characters (ie: Bobbie Mitchell - why was she kept on the show so long?); & a generally high turnover of prisoners and officers coming & going. - The nastiness increased as did the shock value: Meg's rape by 2 men was just tasteless & unnecessary- as if a rape by one man isn't bad enough? Where was the respect for the viewers with that NASTY scene & who decided it would be 2 men raping & punching Meg? - 1985 episodes improved: the Joan - Terri storyline was believable, well written & acted; & i found the Barnhurst 5 to be enjoyable and helped to improve the show, & the siege was riveting. Lou Kelly was a powerful character & very well acted. However I found her one-dimensional, just violent & ruthless. Yes, I have no doubt there are hardened long term prisoners like that, but was there no option to introduce shades of humanity to Lou to balance her out a bit? - The male prisoners being introduced to the prison was such a bad storyline it was unwatchable. A sign that storylines were running out. And Pixie being raped by one of these prisoners, to the point she became catatonic ? Another really nasty story for pure shock value. - I found 1986 an improvement, with a more likeable bunch of multi dimensional prisoners, the very enjoyable Blackmoor - Craven story, & the downfall of the Freak. Just my opinion folks - but I take Prisoner seriously as a long term fan, and really believe in all the above.
Hi Matt, so you have luncheoned with Nigel Bradshaw?? Does this mean we prisoner fans are gonna get a 1:1 interview with him? That would be great.....met him once at a UK event and he seemed a great guy.
Nothing surprises me about Andy Anderson in real life tho. I knew someone who worked as an extra on a show he did, said the guy was an absolute prick, no wonder gangsters almost shot him. Rick was boring and the only interesting thing he did was scream 'patrick'
Hah, this behind-the-scenes info is amusing. Now I'm imagining a spin-off: "The Surfing Doctor." Andy Anderson was in 447 episodes of The Sullivans prior to Prisoner. Perhaps he felt he earned his stripes? Talking to the writers like that though doesn't seem especially shrewd. He swent on to be fairly successful and have some bit parts in big American films. What happened to Kit Oldfield? It's like he dropped off the planet in 2000. Bambi was horrific. Also, see Watership Down and The Plague Dogs. I really liked the adult-like fairy tale with Kim Catrrall, Let Me Tell You A Story. The second seasons really dropped the ball though and I couldn't finish it. Philip Cleary was played by Steve Kuhn according to the WWW. Having the same show-runner on The Simpsons for 15 years didn't seem to help the show at all. "Absolute power corrupts absolutely." Recasting does work sometimes. Both Pippa's in Home&Away were memorable. Lots of pilots from US shows of the past have different actors than from what the shows became. Please, no one needs to know Alfred's origin story. I wish people would write new stuff. I loved Tim Burton's imaginiation for Batman. Denis Cuikshank's leaving was unfit for the character. Oh, I loved Stan. Gosh, it seems that Alan Hopgood died not long after his Talking Prisoner interview. Oh Coral, you should have scanned those scripts.
@@gp6373 I think the character just didn't go anywhere. They should have just gone for the do-gooder angle, but the character's storyline just faded out and I can't remember what happened. There were a few characters they regretted, which you could tell from their uneventful leaving.
Manning did not replace Fletcher.Steve Fawlkner did. Manning replaced David Andrews who killed Goodlove and Mary Adler and tried to kill Lizzie and Cass.
LOVE LOVE LOVE these...but MATT...PLEASE try to interrupt less! Let Coral tell her stories, I lost count of the amount of times she was mid flow and you interrupted and it ruins the flow totally (1:15:39 just one example). Luckily Coral manages to get her flow going when you do this but you do it with others and they are not as switched on as Coral and never finish their story. Great to get more input about how Elspeth Ballantyne said she could not do the cancer role, it sounds as if she did it very respectfully. Also the clarity regarding Gerard Maguire leaving was interesting.
I have to disagree with you…I did not interrupt Coral, I mentioned a point about Gerard being the first male officer when Coral was talking about Gerard and his character, it’s what people do when they talk to each other
@@TalkingPrisoner i think @tvredone1460 has a point but i know its noones fault ,sometimes when two people speak neither of you can be heard and its takes a few seconds for our brain to focus again.If we were off the internet and face to face and we were listening to the same conversation there would not be an issue
@@lamontbradford4630 @spikeyroberto OMG What possible reason can you have for hating on Coral? She's Prisoner royalty and is giving so much of her time to the fanbase. Shame on you.
@@branthonysparodiesandmore5921 Old mate has hated this podcast since Matt started the soapbox with Coral and just complains about every aspect of it because he's a troll with no respect, saying that he has free speech and all that crap. My dudes you have free speech but you can't be a dick all the time and say 'i got free speech lol.' free speech doesn't mean jack if you constantly berate someone. Coral is giving up her own time to tell these stories, you don't have to keep coming back but they do, acting all superior like. Grow the hell up, act like an adult, someone can misremember details or stories. Simple. Don't like it? Stop coming back.
09:10 The actor in H&A Coral is referring to is Martin Dingle-Wall who played the original Flynn Saunders. I’ve heard that story before!
Always a joy to listen to Coral and Matt. What a surprising opening, the story about Andy Anderson! Looking forward to next time. Get well soon Coral.
Great episode again Matt and coral can’t wait to watch episode 10
Thank you, Have you watched Episode 10 yet ?
Will be watching it tonight
I was so sad when Jim left the show, he was a nice balance between Meg and Vera. Plus it was nice to have a good-looking male amongst the cast. ♥ I'm sorry to hear Gerard is struggling with his health, I wish him all the best.
At least we know now why Rick Manning disappeared just as Rachel Milsom went to prison. I wonder if there had been a further storyline planned for the characters.
One male character that hasn't been mentioned was Jock Stewart. While he was created before Coral was involved, he did return twice to the show which I think was great credit to the way he was played so menacingly by Tommy Dysart
We spoke about him in Episode 10 - I loved Jock, Did you enjoy his character ?
@@TalkingPrisoner Yes Matt I watched episode 10 when it was posted the next day and was glad to hear you talk about him. Jock was a great character and loved how he came back twice to terrorise Judy again.
One other male character that could be discussed is Geoff Carson who played Woodridge Deputy Governor. He clearly had an attraction to Colleen. I wonder if there were any thoughts to keep him on. The actor Danny Adcock also worked with Coral on Arcade. Perhaps one to discuss sometime. 😀
Hi Matt. Phillip Cleary was played by Steve Kuhn. Rob Summerton was a 1 episode character played by Jeremy Kewley.
Rob got the knitting needle from Bev
It be better if phil and ray the cook had a fling lol
Another great episode. Excellent.
@@OutlawSlam Thank you, 🙏 are you looking forward to next one
I'm already watching the next episode. A nice birthday surprise it was released today. Thank you. 😊.
P.S. I was really surprised the actor who played Rick Manning wasn't that nice in real life. That was a surprise. 😮
It was Alan/Ellen Farmer - sentenced with Lainie Dobson that you're referring to re the trans debate.
Andy Anderson's Rick wasn't greatly missed by me. It was quite obvious to me he'd been written out the way he just buggered off after his friend Rachel Milsom was sentenced !
Another fab episode Coral and Matt, I love listening to your work. Thank you so much for continuing to reach out to all us fans, and PLEASE come to the UK soon! ❤
Allen was never transgender. He wore a lot of makeup to look like a female. It failed he looked like a man all the time not a masculine one though.
@@lamontbradford4630and not cut in the uk - what is she on?
@@spikeyrobertomade a mistake dude, chill. You can do that you know? No need to be condescending about it. Obviously got the details mixed up with the Edna Pearson stuff.
@@mthembu1020 Once and for all this is another story entirely that NONE of you have ever seen!
@@spikeyroberto That is NOT the story I am referring too. So pull your head in.
Fletcher was the best male
Can’t believe what she said about Rik Manning
This is a good insight on the show thanks carol and Matt
CORAL
My favourite Prisoner male character was Tony Berman, played by Alan David Lee. He didn't last, did a 3 month stint with Jude in the Halfway House, and then left - I wss gutted - he was lovely to look at 😂 and was a good actor as well 😉
Listening now... looking forward
Libby Tanner played Bridget Westfall in _Wentworth_ . She was the prison shrink who ended up leaving with Frankie Doyle.
Great episode ❤
Thank you.
The Prisoner Cell Block H wiki has been updated on Andy Anderson already to say 'In 2024 it was revealed that Anderson was written out due to his behaviour toward the writers on set!' I remember Coral speaking about problems with the actor on a forum over 10 years ago. Interesting to hear that Gerard didn't get on with John McRae either. If my memory serves Val said she would never return to Prisoner while he was there. But he left long before she did and I think Sue Masters was producer by then. He was long gone by the 500s.
My guess from that fan wiki entry is because it was news to the person who added it. Lots of info on there is second, third hand.
I just saw this also, I wonder why they did not write on the WIKI where is was revelaed .
@@TalkingPrisoner I think it's only one person updating the fan wiki at the best of times and other people are encouraged to edit it at the same time, so if it's an issue you can fix it as well, but it's been changed now I've seen.
It'd be great to have Coral watch the later eps and comment on their male characters, how she would have developed them differently. Bob Moran, Ernest Craven, Marty Jackson, Rodney Adams.
I would love to see a reaction video to Coral watching the final episode
Yes!!@@tvredone1460
@tvredone1460 definitely. She's Prisoner living history personified and offers a much more diverse behind the scenes account than the actors ever could. Would be interesting to hear from a story editor from a different era.
@@tvredone1460 That's a great idea, I'd love that, I would love to watch her react to any episode.
I would love to have seen how those characters would have been with Coral behind them.
Another great episode. I know Coral didn't watch any episodes since she left, but I would have loved to know what she thought of the ending. What ending would she have written for the end?
Dennis' final scene is always so heartbreaking, knowing he can't return back to work or walk again. Where would he be now? Did he learn to walk again?
Trey Devlin was Lloyd's character in _Pacific Drive_ Coral - I think Lloyd Morris was also in _Possession_ , playing Anne Charleston's son. It wasn't shown here in the UK though. He might have been a bit young for Arcade? Born 1958.
Libby Tanner of course went on to be in Wentworth as Dr Bridget Westfall!! A great character!
Did you ever watch Libby in All Saints ?
@@TalkingPrisoner I've never seen All Saints unfortunately, but I've seen in pictures online quite a bit of Prisoner and Wentworth actor "crossover" in that show!
I think the ex-con writer who went down for armed robbery was Peter Brennan who wrote 4 episodes: 201, 211, 220, and 229. This is also around the time Coral joined _Prisoner_ I think. 😊
Thanks for the interview Matt & Coral. As a long time Prisoner fan, I find Coral very entertaining to listen to & am very impressed with her memory!
Having said that, my favourite years of Prisoner were 1979 to mid 1983 (when Bea exited) & then again 1986 episodes until the end.
I found the 1984 episodes particularly poor, and the nadir for the show. Not saying it was due to Coral's writing - perhaps it was a different production team that wanted sensational ratings boosting stories?
But some of my observations:
1979 till mid 1983 episodes (Bea's exit) were generally quite enjoyable, with a good balance of drama & humour, some extent of prison believability, and a very likable group of core characters & actors. With a few exceptions (such as the bombing of Fletchers family, a sensational & ridiculous story) stories were generally well done, & the violence was not overly graphic or gratuitous for the sake of it.
Things changed Mid 1983 through to the 1984 episodes, the nadir, because:
- Some shockingly bad actors (eg: Minnie Donovan / Petra Roberts/ Phil Cleary / Angel Adams); some really irritating characters (ie: Bobbie Mitchell - why was she kept on the show so long?); & a generally high turnover of prisoners and officers coming & going.
- The nastiness increased as did the shock value: Meg's rape by 2 men was just tasteless & unnecessary- as if a rape by one man isn't bad enough? Where was the respect for the viewers with that NASTY scene & who decided it would be 2 men raping & punching Meg?
- 1985 episodes improved: the Joan - Terri storyline was believable, well written & acted; & i found the Barnhurst 5 to be enjoyable and helped to improve the show, & the siege was riveting.
Lou Kelly was a powerful character & very well acted. However I found her one-dimensional, just violent & ruthless. Yes, I have no doubt there are hardened long term prisoners like that, but was there no option to introduce shades of humanity to Lou to balance her out a bit?
- The male prisoners being introduced to the prison was such a bad storyline it was unwatchable. A sign that storylines were running out. And Pixie being raped by one of these prisoners, to the point she became catatonic ? Another really nasty story for pure shock value.
- I found 1986 an improvement, with a more likeable bunch of multi dimensional prisoners, the very enjoyable Blackmoor - Craven story, & the downfall of the Freak.
Just my opinion folks - but I take Prisoner seriously as a long term fan, and really believe in all the above.
I was responsible for the 85 episodes...especially the Joan Terri story which I had to fight to get through
Hi Matt, so you have luncheoned with Nigel Bradshaw??
Does this mean we prisoner fans are gonna get a 1:1 interview with him? That would be great.....met him once at a UK event and he seemed a great guy.
I have had a convo with Nigel in the past and he speaks highly of his time on the show so I would love this too
Nigel is a gentleman and we will have him on at some stage
Could listen to Coral all day, and Matt of course lol
Thank you Matthew, i hope you are well.
The undercover cop idea? Was this eventually used for the Wendy Glover storyline around 650?
Perfect as ever...I couldn't make out where Coral said the writers were based, was it perang? I'd love to know. Was that a Grundy office there?
Prahran…
@@allenmx Thanks!
Nothing surprises me about Andy Anderson in real life tho. I knew someone who worked as an extra on a show he did, said the guy was an absolute prick, no wonder gangsters almost shot him. Rick was boring and the only interesting thing he did was scream 'patrick'
Hah, this behind-the-scenes info is amusing. Now I'm imagining a spin-off: "The Surfing Doctor."
Andy Anderson was in 447 episodes of The Sullivans prior to Prisoner. Perhaps he felt he earned his stripes? Talking to the writers like that though doesn't seem especially shrewd. He swent on to be fairly successful and have some bit parts in big American films.
What happened to Kit Oldfield? It's like he dropped off the planet in 2000.
Bambi was horrific. Also, see Watership Down and The Plague Dogs.
I really liked the adult-like fairy tale with Kim Catrrall, Let Me Tell You A Story. The second seasons really dropped the ball though and I couldn't finish it.
Philip Cleary was played by Steve Kuhn according to the WWW.
Having the same show-runner on The Simpsons for 15 years didn't seem to help the show at all. "Absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Recasting does work sometimes. Both Pippa's in Home&Away were memorable. Lots of pilots from US shows of the past have different actors than from what the shows became.
Please, no one needs to know Alfred's origin story. I wish people would write new stuff. I loved Tim Burton's imaginiation for Batman.
Denis Cuikshank's leaving was unfit for the character. Oh, I loved Stan.
Gosh, it seems that Alan Hopgood died not long after his Talking Prisoner interview.
Oh Coral, you should have scanned those scripts.
Steve Kuhn (Phil Cleary) is probably one of the worst actors I've seen on TV ever.
@@gp6373 I think the character just didn't go anywhere. They should have just gone for the do-gooder angle, but the character's storyline just faded out and I can't remember what happened. There were a few characters they regretted, which you could tell from their uneventful leaving.
@@gp6373 The guy Meg and Bob took in was way worse lol. Nick Clarke wasn't it? Dude couldn't act to save himself.
Manning did not replace Fletcher.Steve Fawlkner did. Manning replaced David Andrews who killed Goodlove and Mary Adler and tried to kill Lizzie and Cass.
I meant David Bridges. Andrews was the teacher Doreen had the hots for.
Bro you can misremember details and not sound condescending about it.🤷
LOVE LOVE LOVE these...but MATT...PLEASE try to interrupt less! Let Coral tell her stories, I lost count of the amount of times she was mid flow and you interrupted and it ruins the flow totally (1:15:39 just one example). Luckily Coral manages to get her flow going when you do this but you do it with others and they are not as switched on as Coral and never finish their story. Great to get more input about how Elspeth Ballantyne said she could not do the cancer role, it sounds as if she did it very respectfully. Also the clarity regarding Gerard Maguire leaving was interesting.
I have to disagree with you…I did not interrupt Coral, I mentioned a point about Gerard being the first male officer when Coral was talking about Gerard and his character, it’s what people do when they talk to each other
Flow was not ruined either but you are entitled to your opinion ❤
@@TalkingPrisoner i think @tvredone1460 has a point but i know its noones fault ,sometimes when two people speak neither of you can be heard and its takes a few seconds for our brain to focus again.If we were off the internet and face to face and we were listening to the same conversation there would not be an issue
Coral are you saying there are scenes out there with the trans character that we could see somehow?
She is talking nonsense
As usual
@@lamontbradford4630 @spikeyroberto OMG What possible reason can you have for hating on Coral? She's Prisoner royalty and is giving so much of her time to the fanbase. Shame on you.
@@branthonysparodiesandmore5921 Old mate has hated this podcast since Matt started the soapbox with Coral and just complains about every aspect of it because he's a troll with no respect, saying that he has free speech and all that crap. My dudes you have free speech but you can't be a dick all the time and say 'i got free speech lol.' free speech doesn't mean jack if you constantly berate someone. Coral is giving up her own time to tell these stories, you don't have to keep coming back but they do, acting all superior like. Grow the hell up, act like an adult, someone can misremember details or stories. Simple. Don't like it? Stop coming back.
@@mthembu1020 💯
Yeah I bet the two Rick manning fans are upset. lmao such a boring character
😂
I have heard talk that the actor caused issues during a stint in Neighbours too
@@tvredone1460 The dude is awful. Full on awful. Glad he hasn't been seen on a set since 2016. Writers, crew and other cast finally got peace.
You are not a Rick fan ?
@@TalkingPrisoner Never was. Rick was just super annoying. The best thing he did was leave.