Barbara Jungwirth

The Wentworth Star, Issue 10, December 1996

'I couldn't bear the thought of staying at home and not having Prisoner to go to. It was withdrawal symptoms. It was easier to give up smoking, at least I could always go back to that!' For one special evening I felt like I was at a Prisoner Reunion, even though I'd never personally been in the show. I was made welcome to a wonderful meal prepared by Barbara, 'Lorna' and the delightfully honest Lyn Ford, 'Ronnie'. Hazel who played 'Tina', the third Musketeer was unable to join us for this evening of memories...

Did you work on film and television prior to Prisoner?
Yes, I went to Crawford's Drama School and then we did some videos for the perusal of the producers of Crawford's and I was one of the lucky ones. I was chosen for The Master Class, so we had thirteen weeks of intensive training with Bud Tingwell and they started giving me work while I was at the school. They were very good to me. I owe them a lot.

Were you the longest serving cast member of Prisoner?
Yes, along with Elspeth Ballantyne and Hazel Henley. I was first seen when Bea is returned to Wentworth, I was in the garden, and right through to the series end!

Have you ever been recognised as Lorna on the streets of Melbourne?
Yes, fortunately not often. The children in the street know me and they would stop me and ask me what I was in for. I'd say, 'I shot my parents because I wanted to go to an orphans picnic!' (Laughter) I often got asked why I was in Prisoner and I'd just come up with the one about the frozen leg of lamb!

Let's hear it!
I hit my husband over the head with it and fractured his skull. They couldn't find the murder weapon because I put it in the oven and cooked it, didn't I? I must have done something pretty vicious! Betty Doren's character, Jill, was indicted for being drunk and disorderly - five years later she's still in prison! (Laughter). The writers forgot to release her! I remember her saying, 'Oh, Prisoner at last!' Because for every one of us, there were thirty waiting at the gate, for a role in Prisoner so we had to behave ourselves.

Did the atmosphere change after 'Bea', 'Lizzie', and 'Doreen' left?
Very much so. People were not in for so long. We had a variety of actresses coming in, some darn god ones! It was a very profitable experience. Prisoner was a very good training school. They never seemed to run the show around one person after that, though you had your figure heads like the Freak, Meg and Anne Reynolds of course. People were in for shorter contracts, three months or six months and then it would be renewed, so that no-one had total control.

Did you think this change in policy was a way to keep fans hooked or a means to control the actors?
That's a hard question to answer. It could have been a bit of both. Once the show revolves around one person you've got a power play because there's always the thought that if that person leaves, the show would fold, so I imagined they took a gamble on that and did change the stars over, after Val left.

(The rest of this interview didn't seem to be printed in my copy as it ends rather abruptly. If anyone's got the rest of it - I presume I've got a page missing - could they let me know!)