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Prisoner: Cell Block H

In 1980, Maggie accepted a role in one of Australia's top rating dramas,  one which would go on to prove an instant hit with fans of the series,  and for which she still reveives fan mail to this day.

Originally intended as the nemesis of Bea Smith,   Maggie was cast as the insurmountable Marie Winter.  Ever since then, she still finds it rather odd that her character made such an impact on the show, and even more peculiar when fans still see her as Marie - more than twenty years after she lay the character to rest.

Due to the popularity of the character,  Maggie was invited to return to Prisoner seveal times over the course of the show,  which ran until 1986. 

Prisoner fans (affectionately referred to as 'Blockies')' still speak of their delight whenever Maggie returned to the series.   Marie would bring chaos to the Wentworth Detention Centre,  as well as a wealth of hilarious one-liners,  and a stash of drugs!

When Maggie landed the role of Marie in 1980, she was given a brief description of her character...

She became a bikies moll at 14 and spent 3 years in and out of trouble with the police. In the vain hope of getting away from the gang scene, she married a truck driver, became pregnant to him, and tried to settle down. But her husband bashed her and she lost the child. She roped in some of her old bikie friends to beat him up. Satisfied, Marie rejoined the gang and became involved in a rival bikie clash. She accidentallly let off a shot gun three times, killing one person and injuring two others. She was then arrested and given a life sentence for murder.
The 1982 season of Prisoner is one which fans often pick out as being a favourite.  During this time,  Maggie worked closely with Louise Le Nay (Sandy Edwards) and nemesis Dr Kate Peterson (Olivia Hamnett) in some of the darkest and chilling episodes of the show.   Tensions were running high as the truth about Dr Kate was revealed,  giving all three actors some challenging material and which each of them carried off to perfection.  

When Sandy Edwards mysteriously disappears, Marie starts throwing her weight around but is halted with the arrival of Bea, (Val Lehman).  Marie's heavies back down intimidated by Bea's presence, and Marie loses her top-dog status. The war between Marie and Bea continues until Marie is transferred back to Barnhurst in episode 269.

Marie returns to the series again in episode 461 and teams up with Reb Kean (Janet Andrewartha) and they start dealing cocaine to the other Prisoners. This time Marie has to tackle Judy Bryant (Betty Bobbit) for top-dog status and is soon back controlling the women.
Marie sparks off another riot in episode 466 in which Joan Ferguson (Maggie Kirkpatrick) allows her to become overwhelmed.
During a fight with Marie, Reb is pushed down several flights of stairs. A fire rages through the prison and Marie tries to make a bid for freedom but is quickly stopped by Judy.

Marie finally meets Myra Desmond (Anne Phelan) in episode 468 who treats Marie very similar to the way Bea once did. With Myra and Governor Anne Reynolds (Gerda Nicholson) against her, Marie blackmails Joan Ferguson into helping her escape for good. Joan arranges for a helicopter to land in the grounds of the prison while the inmates are on their exercise period. Marie gets Lou Kelly (Louise Siversen) to start a diversion as she makes her third bid for freedom. The Prisoner's watch as she climbs the fence and sprints towards the helicopter. As Joan pretends to fumble with her keys, the officers are helpless to prevent the escape. In true Prisoner style, Marie Winter is last seen dangling from the helicopter as it flies away! Marie is later recaptured and sent to the maximum security prison Blackmoor to finish the remainder of her sentence.

Facts
When the series first began in 1979,  Maggie was offered the part of Frankie Doyle,  however due to having a young family at the time she decided to turn it down.  A year later,  she returned as the infamous Marie.


Maggie's Prisoner memories

Little did I think when I took the Prisoner gig some twenty (thirty??!!) odd years ago that I'd still be talking to fans in 2009!  Its weird to think that the images of us way back then are still being looked at by fans today, when we've all changed such a lot. Well, I certainly have!!  The wonders of television - eternal youth!

A few of my strongest memories:  The wobbly sets!   The seemingly never-ending scenes set in the dining room,  sometimes five meals would have to be eaten in one morning!  Well not in their entirety, but two brekkies, lunch and dinner on the trot were not unheard of.  Believe me, to make eating the last meal convincing sometimes took enormous acting ability!!

Working with such brilliant performers as Janet Andrewartha,  Maggie Kirkpatrick, Genevieve Lemon and Jude McGrath to name only a few,  was a delight, even though the long days were often exhausting.

Another vivid memory was the hilarious Marie Winter escape;  A blow-up doll dressed in Marie-type wig and prison clobber was attached to the skids on the helicopter which took off into the wild blue yonder,  Unfortunately, the powers that be had forgotten that an air-filled doll would be very much affected by the wind, so there was "Marie" swaying wildly in the very strong breeze, hundreds of feet in the air!!!  They had to shoot it again, this time with a dummy half filled with water!!  Ah, the wonders of television yet again!!


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