This Crawford Productions comedy series for Channel 10 in Australia took the idea of a hallowed public institution – in this case, a prison – and turned it into a taxpayer’s nightmare of comic bungling, mismanagement and bucking against authority.
Set in Cragmont Jail, a country prison in the fictitious township of Gladstone, the inmates had such a jolly time that they tried to make their stay as long as possible.
CB (former game show host Garry Meadows in his first acting role) was the prisoners’ leader. He controlled the money-making rackets and devised schemes to make life behind bars more comfortable than at home.
CB’s aides were Homer (George Spartels) and Claude (Brian Blain) – two long-term convicts who preferred the soft life in Cragmont to the harsh realities of the outside world.
Homer was a slow-witted safecracker with nimble fingers, while Claude was a master of disguises, which came in handy when the inmates planned one of their many deceptions.
Chuck Faulkner shed his Division 4image to portray Chief Warder Sharpley, a strict disciplinarian – nicknamed “Gestapo” by the inmates – whose life was devoted to catching prisoners at their various pranks, his trusty Doberman at his side.
Vic Gordon from Matlock Policeappeared as gentle-as-a-lamb Governor Eames, who believed that “the boys are basically good inside”, and in his eyes, the inmates could do no wrong.
Denise “Ding Dong” Drysdale played the buxom Nurse Peachum – “Peachy” to the inmates – a sweet, innocent thing in the prison infirmary who invariably (unwittingly) helped the prisoners in their scatterbrained schemes.
Other well-known actors in the series were Eric Oldfield, Carla Hoogeveen (from Class of ’74), Reg Gorman (Number 96), Abigail, Frank Wilson and Bert Newton in his first dramatic role.
It had all the makings of a good show like Hogan’s Heroesor McHale’s Navy. But somewhere, The Bluestone Boys missed out. The large cast was straining for laughs, the dialogue was corny, and the jokes just weren’t there.
The Doberman got the most laughs by just sitting and looking deadpan – which sums up the show rather neatly.
Governor Eames
Vic Gordon Chief Warder Sharpley
Chuck Faulkner CB
Garry Meadows Nurse “Peachy” Peachum
Denise Drysdale Homer
George Spartels Claude
Brian Blain Shirl
Carla Hoogeveen Warder Heap
John Cobley Brigsy
Reg Gorman
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CB (former game show host Garry Meadows in his first acting role) was the prisoners’ leader. He controlled the money-making rackets and devised schemes to make life behind bars more comfortable than at home.
