Within These Walls (1974)

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

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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