Colleen Powell
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| Colleen Powell | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | 48 |
| Last appearance | 456 |
| Information | |
| Occupation | Warden |
| Relationships | Patrick Powell |
| Children | Robert Powell Jennifer Powell |
| Portrayed by | Judith McGrath |
Colleen Powell was a character in Australian prison drama Prisoner. She was played by Judith McGrath.
[edit] Profile
Officer Colleen Powell's first appearance in the Prisoner series was in 1979. She was initially a recurring minor character rarely given her own storylines. In her early appearances, Colleen had her hair tied back and wore glasses.
Her first appearance was in Episode 48, filling in for Jim Fletcher, and her first job was to unlock the cells in the morning. Since she was a new officer, she didn't know why Jim was absent. Her next appearance was in Episode 65 where she showed herself as an aggressive and spiteful Union representative.
After episode 65, Colleen made five uncredited appearances in Episodes 71, 76, 77, 80 and 111. Her appearance in 111 involved Debbie Pearce, who had a 24-hour stay in Wentworth to see what it was like to be in prison. Colleen had supposedly observed a programme like this in Parramatta, where she had worked prior to coming to Wentworth.
She was the person who called a drunken Vera Bennett into work for a late shift in episode 155. When the prisoners discovered Vera was drunk, they stole her keys, allowing Lizzie to steal one of Erica's decanters from her office and the rest of the women forced Vera to drink it.
After the drunken Vera incident, Colleen began to make more frequent appearances. In episode 161, she was one of the officers who Stuart Gillespie sent to the rifle range for target practice, when he recommended that armed guards needed to be posted around the perimeter fence. Colleen appeared again in Episode 165, where Gillespie told her she would have to work unpaid overtime on the day of the pantomime. In that same episode, Colleen and Gillespie were discussed posting officers on the roof on the day of the pantomime.
In episode 166, her spitefulness came to a head again when she threatened to call in the Union when Jim was told to recall the officers going home after their shifts had finished, so they could serve meals. In episode 168, she arranged security arrangements with the Union, when Gillespie visited Wentworth to discuss security arrangements. In episode 169, Colleen told Erica that her husband was a hopeless handyman when Erica asked Colleen if her husband could fix the rec room television. She did however recommend Sid Humphrey, an elderly retired neighbour, who did come in to fix the TV as long as it was for "the cost of parts only." In a way, it was all down to Colleen that Lizzie later fell in love with Sid Humphrey! In Episode 174, when was Lizzie was worried about Sid not coming in, she asked Colleen to check on him. This, of course, Colleen did but sadly found Sid lying unconscious on the floor, having suffered a stroke. He made a request for Lizzie to visit him.
By 1981, Colleen Powell had developed into a main character in the show's storylines. She had emerged as a nasty, strict and sometimes aggressive officer who made many enemies among the staff and the prisoners. She was she very militant in her Union Representative role. With a little help from Vera she engineering the resignation of prison teacher David Andrews in episode 194, when she overheard him suggesting to Bea that the women go on strike. In episode 193, Colleen threatened to call in the Union yet again when Jim told her and Vera of Erica's decision that Judy could take over the laundry and Bea could work full time studying. Colleen lead a delegation to Erica, telling her that the officers refused to do overtime and therefore wouldn't supervise Bea.
During 1982 Colleen seemed to soften considerably in her outlook, mainly connected to the arrival of young prisoner Susie Driscoll, a relatively innocent young prisoner not much older than Colleen's daughter Jennifer. Colleen's friendship with colleague Meg Morris developed. Colleen later became enemies with corrupt officer Joan Ferguson. Her husband Patrick, her daughter Jennifer and son Robert were all killed by a car bomb in 1984. Some months later Colleen resigned from Wentworth to travel the world.
