Underplayed Gems

Within These Walls (1974)

Within These Walls poster
Directed by
Tony Wharmby, Peter Moffatt, Jim Goddard, Bill Bain
Genre
soap opera, drama television series, LGBT-related television series
Country
United Kingdom
Length
5 seasons, 72 episodes
Rated
15
Rating
6.0 of 10 from 4 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this series is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

This drama is set in a women's prison in 1970s Britain. It follows the governor as she tries to reform the prison while dealing with her own personal life. The show focuses more on the staff than the inmates.

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What happens

Within These Walls is a British television drama programme made by London Weekend Television for ITV and shown between 1974 and 1978. It portrayed life in HMP Stone Park, a fictional women's prison. Unlike later women-in-prison TV series, Bad Girls (ITV, 1999–2006), and Australian series, Prisoner (aka Prisoner: Cell Block H, Grundy Organisation, original run: 1979–1986), and Wentworth (2013–2021), Within These Walls tended to centre its story-lines around the prison staff rather than the inmates. The lead character was played by British film actor Googie Withers who played the well-groomed, genteel governor Faye Boswell and episodes revolved around her attempts to liberalise the prison regime while managing her personal life at home. Another prominent character was her Chief Officer, Mrs. Armitage (Mona Bruce). Googie Withers left after three series; in Series Four her character was replaced as governor by Helen Forrester (Katherine Blake), who in turn left to be replaced in the final Series Five by Susan Marshall (Sarah Lawson). Creator and screenwriter of the programme, David Butler, appeared in some episodes as prison chaplain, Rev. Henry Prentice. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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