Episode 5.8
Written by Ann McManus & Maureen Chadwick
Produced by David Crean
Directed by Julie Edwards
It’s the day of Ritchie’s funeral and Colin is on escort duty. Despite the circumstances, he’s looking forward to spending the day handcuffed to Yvonne, until Fenner informs him that he’ll be planting a bag of cocaine on her when she returns to Larkhall – if Colin knows what’s good for him; he’ll look the other way. Fenner’s plan goes off without a hitch, but it places Colin in a very difficult position; he is rapidly falling for Yvonne, but on the other hand, Fenner is the only person who knows what really happened between him and Shell Dockley.
Buki is thrilled when she receives a letter from her long-lost son, thanking her for his new wheelchair, but when she’s told that she won’t be allowed to write back to him, she realises that being a part of Lennox’s life is going to be much more difficult than she thought. Meanwhile, Di can’t resist spilling the beans about her pregnancy. However, Neil’s convinced that the baby can’t be his and makes an appointment with his doctor to find out about a paternity test. But there’s bad news. If Neil wants to know if he’s the father, he’ll have to wait until the baby is born.
Julie S is revising for her exams, but suddenly that seems a lot less important when she discovers a lump in her breast. After scaring herself half to death with some Internet research, Julie’s initial reaction to ignore the problem and hope that it goes away. However, with the support of Julie J and a sympathetic Karen, she finally plucks up the courage to see the deeply unpleasant Dr ‘No No’ Nicholson, and then faces an agonising wait for the results of her biopsy.
Yvonne feels that Hedges has betrayed her and refuses to speak with him. Unable to cope with her animosity, he breaks down and reveals the truth about what happened to Shell – can’t Yvonne see that Fenner has got him over a barrel? Yvonne responds by giving Colin a simple choice. If he cares about her as much as he says he does, he should go straight to Karen and tell the truth about Fenner, whatever the consequences. As the pressure mounts, Colin once again resorts to his old friend, heroin.
The results of Julie S’s biopsy are in and Dr Nicholson is blunt to say the least when he informs her that the results of her biopsy are positive. She has a malignant tumour in her breast and will have to have surgery to remove it.
Read the factsheet written by the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies to accompany this episode:
Episode 8 - Healthcare for Prisoners