A to Z of HMP Larkhall
W
Waddle, Mark
Nice guy PO who always ended up a loser in love. Originally transferred to G-Wing from D-Wing, he was involved in a tempestuous relationship with Gina. The repercussions that followed a brief indiscretion with Di in the Officer’s Club toilets led to the breakdown on their relationship (s3ep14). After Gina transferred to another prison, Mark caught Karen on the rebound. Although seemingly ideally suited, their relationship stuttered to a half after Karen was raped by Fenner (s4ep9). After being dumped by Karen, Mark accepted Neil’s offer of a promotion and transfer to another prison (s4ep14).
Read Mark’s character profile.
Wade, Nikki
Fiery and outspoken inmate who was a thorn in the side of every single screw on G-Wing until Helen succeeded in getting her onside. Nikki always had the potential to be G-Wing’s top-dog, but was always more concerned about defending the rights of the weaker women in the prison, something that regularly got her into deep trouble. The other major source of Nikki’s preoccupation was her secret relationship with Helen. After lots of fits and starts, the two finally got their act together after Nikki was released on appeal (s3ep16).
Read Nikki’s character profile.
Wake
The Julies held a wake in their cell to commemorate Spencer Lindsey’s death. After informing the screws that they would be having tea, biscuits and a few prayers, the Julies cracked open their watering-can of Chateau Larkhall in Spencer’s honour and drunken hilarity ensued (s1ep8).
Walker, Claire
A solicitor friend of Helen’s who took over Nikki’s case at her request (s2ep11). Although Claire’s first request for an appeal on Nikki’s behalf was turned down (s2ep13), she persisted and eventually saw her client walk out of court a free woman (s3ep16).
Walkie Talkie
Carried by all of Larkhall’s staff and used to call for backup in the case of an emergency. Most of the units on G-Wing were found to be defective during the outbreak that led to the whole prison being quarantined. The delay caused when Rowan tried to radio through the news that the mass epidemic had been caused by Legionnaire’s disease and no ricin very nearly cost Phyl her life when she was mistakenly shot by armed police (s8ep1).
Watering-can
Used instead of a demijohn by the Julies when they decided to try their hand at winemaking. Nikki was extremely reluctant to get involved with the scheme at first, but was eventually persuaded to sterilise her watering-can and hide it inside a pile of compost to keep it warm (s1ep8).
Waugh, Thomas
A corduroy jacketed, dashing doc who was initially brought in to Larkhall by Helen in order to psychologically evaluate Pam Jolly (s3ep6). After the sacking of Dr Nicholson, Helen offered Thomas the job of SMO and then later, ended up in his bed (s3ep14). Thomas was quick to spot that Helen was floating down that great Egyptian river – de Nile – and dumped her, freeing her up to make it up with Nikki (s3ep16).
Read Thomas’s character profile.
Weddings
We’ve seen quite a few over the course of 8 series. Crystal and Josh were married by stand-in lay preacher Barbara when Crystal decided that being married in the eyes of God was far more important than legality (s3ep10). Definitely one of the happiest moments on G-Wing was when Barbara and Henry finally tied the knot (s5ep16).
Di was on the verge of making a huge mistake when she planned to marry violent bully Barry Pearce. Fortunately, Shaz, Barbara and the Julies had Barry’s measure and conspired to cancel the ceremony (s4ep3). Di later married Neil in a marriage of convenience type arrangement; although the ceremony was never shown (s4ep15). Di the serial bride struck again when she married Fenner (s6ep12), although he was thrown into jail immediately afterwards (s7ep1) and then was very quick to demand a divorce as soon as she’d helped him to prove his ‘innocence’ (s7ep8).
Hollamby got hitched to Dr Nicholson in an expensive ceremony in a hotel (s7ep6). This marriage lasted as long as the honeymoon when Dr Nicholson tried to murder his new bride and was shot dead by Phyl (s7ep9). David Saunders was so devoted to his mum Julie S that he agreed to have his wedding blessed at Larkhall (s8ep6).
Weeding Fork
Nikki was weeding furiously during an argument with Helen was so distracted that she plunged the prong of a weeding fork straight through her hand (s2ep12). Every cloud does have a silver lining though and in Nikki’s case, her subsequent trip to the hospital wing put her in contact with Janine, the nurse she bribed to smuggle her out of Larkhall for the night (s2ep13).
Pat smuggled a weeding fork out of the garden hidden in her boot (s8ep5). She planned to use it to kill Natalie during an ‘escape’ attempt she set up with the Julies. Thinking that Natalie was hiding inside a rubbish bag and awaiting collection by the binmen, she pounced. However, Natalie had already smelt a rat. During the massive fight that followed, Pat killed Natalie by hitting her over the head with a brick (s8ep6).
Wellington Arch
Also known as Constitution Arch, this London monument is situated to the south of Hyde Park and is in the centre of a large traffic island. Kris climbed on top of the Wellington Arch so that she could shout out her innocence to the world (s6ep12).
Wentmore, HMP
Neil was the Governing Governor of this male prison before taking over at Larkhall. Noreen Biggs’s son had been an inmate at Wentmore at the time and shared a cell with someone who had seen Neil “in the chapel... up the vicar”.
Wheeler, Betty
Sadistic PO, eerily reminiscent of Joan ‘The Freak’ Ferguson from Prisoner Cell Block H, who works on Larkhall’s muppet wing. Wheeler conspired with Hollamby to make Shell’s short stay on the muppet wing as uncomfortable as possible, even going so far as confiscating ‘Podger’ Pam Jolly’s nightly dose of lithium and then blaming Shell for stealing them. Pam saw red and viciously laid into Shell in the showers (s3ep2).
Whiskey
Fenner used to keep a bottle in a drawer in the PO’s Office until it was stolen by Barbara to give the Julies a proper send off before their short-lived release (s3ep12). Fenner stole a bottle of whiskey from Karen’s flat and then planted it in her car after he ran over a pedestrian (s5ep13).
Wilcox, Ashlee
Natalie’s violent, drug-addicted sidekick, known strictly for her brawn rather than her brains. She terrorised a number of inmates on Natalie’s behalf and so no one really shed a tear when she died in the outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease that struck G-Wing (s8ep1).
Williams, Renee
Yvonne’s sworn enemy. She was also secretly having an affair with Yvonne’s husband, Charlie. After the way she terrorised practically every inmate on G-Wing, it was only a matter of time before someone finished Renee off for good. But when she finally keeled over in her shepherd’s pie, the list of suspects rivalled Gone with the Wind for length. A post-mortem later revealed that Renee had died of an allergic reaction to some peanuts someone (probably Yvonne) had added to her pepper pot (s2ep11). Yvonne later worked out that Renee and Charlie had set her up – manipulating her into putting the hit out on Renee’s husband so that she would be sent down and out of their way.
Williams, Sheena
An ex drug addict who was moved to G-Wing after her son Dylan was deemed too old to remain with her on the MBU. Sheena was persuaded by Di to allow her to stand in as foster parent. Later, when Sheena’s release on electronic tag became a definite possibility, Di spiked her tea with methadone and then hid the bottle in her pocket (s7ep8). Moved by Sheena’s plight, Pat arranged for Dylan to be fostered by a friend of hers (s7ep9). Pat and Sheena’s friendship quickly deepened, but their romance petered out after Sheena’s release.
Read Sheena’s character profile.
Winston
The name given to Buki’s son Lennox by Social Services when he was found in a toilet cubicle at Kings Cross station. See Lennox.
Women Inside – Mad, Bad or Sad?
The name of the television documentary that Rowan was secretly researching during his time as Larkhall’s SMO. Phyl and Bev found out what Rowan was up to and used their knowledge to blackmail him into authorising Phyl’s temporary transfer to a cushy private clinic (s8ep2). Later, Rowan was forced to come clean to Lou about his activities (s8ep7) but even with her support, Joy was unwilling to give her authorisation for the documentary to go ahead (s8ep9).
Wylie, Shaz
Shaz arrived on G-Wing after being given a life sentence for triple murder – a practical joke gone wrong (s2ep10). She was an immediate hit with Denny and together, they made it their mission to make life a living hell for G-Wing’s screws. Although she was desolate when Denny escaped with Shell (s3ep7), Shaz began to develop a certain maturity. She was later reunited with Denny (s4ep4) but their happiness was short-lived. Shaz was transferred to another prison after beating Maxi up (s4ep12), and then their inter-prison visit ended in tragedy when Shaz died in the fire caused by Snowball’s bomb (s4ep16).
Read Shaz’s character profile.