My memories of 'Within These Walls' are a bit hazy. Early evening on LWT? A little less camp and outrageous than the supremely silly 'Bad Girls'. Did it segue into 'The Professionals' at one point? Doyle and Bodie put away, or take out the bad boys. Sensible Governor Faye Boswell takes care of the errant girls.In a perfect world, she would have hooked up with Cowley, CI5's boss, a Googie-Gordon combo. They must have been of a similar vintage.
I know Withers was in 'The Lady Vanishes' (1938) and was a steady second division star of stage and screen for years. But prison governess roles linger longer in the memory. Obituaries suggested that the Aussie creators of legendary 'Prisoner Cell Block H' wanted Googie to get back in the office and sort out the hard nuts at Wentworth. She declined, leaving the stage free for the fabulous Patsy King to become Erica Davidson, boss to Jim, Vera, Meg and co. Patsy was also classically trained. I know little of her other work, but still dream of her on a regular basis, fantasising that I am sent to Wentworth for skipped deadlines or poor washing up and left in her tender charge. She did brave the London stage, one of a handful of cast originals to grace the deplorable stage production of 'Prisoner' put on at the Dominion in 1989. I had hopes for a post-performance gin-and-tonic with Erica/Patsy afterwards, but the sheer awfulness of the first act provoked a mutiny by my companions and we quit the theatre at half-time.
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