Janet Andrewartha FROM PRISON TO RAMSAY STREET...and beyond!

TWO ICONIC ROLES MADE THE ACTRESS A HOUSEHOLD FAVOURITE

- Glen Williams

For actress Janet Andrewartha, there is one particular moment from her time on Prisoner that still sticks in her mind all these years later - perhaps because it involves being doused in sticky honey by her fellow inmates! "I loved the time Betty Bobbitt, Caroline Gillmer and Jane Clifton's characters covered me in feathers and honey," recalls Janet, who played tough troublemaker Reb Keane on the iconic Aussie drama.

"I wasn't prepared for that. It was actually excruciating... no acting required! It was terrible, but I looked fantastic."

New Idea is catching up with the screen stalwart near her Melbourne home. Quick with a laugh and highly animated, Janet, 72, chuckles as we mention Prisoner's trademark fight scenes.

"I used to laugh at the choreography for the fight scenes until I saw them played back," she reveals. "The camera angle was so great and direction so good that when I saw the fights back, I couldn't believe how brutal they looked.

"To us it was almost like doing a dance."