Prisoner of Melbourne: Myra Desmond

Anne Phelan is Myra Desmond, the bravest Top Dog of all. Myra succeeded Bea Smith as Prisoner’s central character in 1984, after a gap of several episodes following Val Lehman’s departure from the show in Episode 400. An ex-con, shop owner, and prison reform activist, Myra returns to Wentworth after she kills her husband in Episode 431, essentially because he says something filthy about their daughter. The heroic Top Dog takes a bullet for the other women during a terrorist siege of Wentworth and she assuages her friends’ guilt before she hits the floor.

The name “Myra Desmond” is reminiscent of Norma Desmond from Sunset Blvd. and is one of many, many references to classic American cinema in Prisoner beginning with the Psycho-like shower murder of Wayne Travers in Episode 1. Myra was introduced after Phelan had already played a prison officer and a dopey prisoner in a small number of early episodes. She appears as Myra in only a smattering of episodes between 154-429, but the character is mentioned often enough to remain a presence throughout. Even removed from the context of its time, without the benefit of real-time news or gossip about performers’ contract status, it is obvious that the character was kept around either as a safety net for the producers, should Lehman leave the company, and/or as a bargaining chip.

Some aspects of Myra’s story echo scenes that were played with Lehman’s Bea Smith. Examples: both women are driven to keep drugs out of Wentworth because of a daughter who became addicted to drugs, both are husband killers, and both avenge a friend by branding a letter into an offender’s flesh. The recycling of certain character archetypes and plot details is the result of producers’ attempts to maintain the show’s original peak audience in the 1980s. As each attempt varies, so varies audience affection for these characters and storylines. A popular Top Dog both among viewers and with “the women,” Myra’s mantle of power nonetheless starts to slip after she bashes young Bobbie Mitchell for doing drugs, loses the respect of the governor for attempting to frame the Freak, and lags on a prisoner to prevent her boyfriend from losing his parole. Myra is later redeemed by her final acts of bravery.

Anne Phelan tells us that after Myra was shot dead by Ruth Ballinger’s terrorists for Episode 552, Anne still had two days of work as Myra’s body, which was being cradled by the next Top Dog, Nora Flynn. Sonja Tallis delivered Flynn’s stoic resolve in her refusal to leave Myra’s body. Under her corpse-blanket, a silent Phelan was concealing, “the best pair of follow-me-home-and-f***-me pumps you’ve ever seen and a six-pack of beer.”

Phelan left the series after producers refused her salary requirement. She went on to further acclaim on television in the role of Mamma Darcy in The Harp of the South and Poor Man’s Orange. In addition to other roles, Phelan is a prominent philanthropist. She is a recipient of the Medal of the Australian Order for her acting career and work on behalf of the homeless and women with HIV.

Prisoner is admired for the fact that the show employed hundreds of women, women from the theatre, and because is presented womens’ realistic appearance, that is with very little makeup. After Myra is arrested for killing her husband, watch her dyed-brown hair grow out as her grey roots take over week by week. Says Val Lehman, “I only wore mascara.”

Phelan organized a legendary Prisoner fan event in Melbourne in February, 2000. She assembled more than 200 cast members and crew for a 21st Anniversary charity event at the Forum Theatre in Melbourne, where a sing-a-long of the show’s theme, “On the Inside,” is remembered a decade later as a touching communion of the cast and fans worldwide.

Anne Phelan as Myra Desmond. Here’s Myra as she escapes from the prison fete under a hat that the bigomist Pixie Mason made out of a blouse belonging to accused porn king killer Leigh Templar. Making a cameo appearance in this screen capture from Episode 459 is Betty Bobbit as Judy Bryant. Bobbit had been scheduled to attend the 30th Anniversary celebration but unfortunately was under the weather. Her character, one of the backbones of the series, was an always-ready interim Top Dog.