We first crossed paths with Carol Burns a year ago whilst she was appearing in 'Alibi For Murder' (alongside Paul Darrow who played Avon in 'Blake's Seven') at Buxton Opera House.  Our immediate reaction upon meeting her was, to be honest, shock.  Could this softly-spoken,  diminutive figure truly be the driving voice behind the now legendary Franky Doyle, one of the most powerful women to hit our TV screens?  In brief, yes.  "I'm quite lucky really," says Carol.  "I'm not as easily spotted as the other cast members because of the actual physical differences between Franky and me.  Because Franky swaggered a lot, looked very mean and wore baggy clothes, I came over on TV as quite big - whereas I'm really a slender 5' 4"."

Carol's voice is also a million miles away from the gruff, sneered rants of Ms Doyle.  She speaks in an almost perfectly cultured Queen's English, despite her Aussie upbringing.

Born and brought up in the late 40s in an inner city suburb of Brisbane, Carol describes her upbringing as "normal working class, older sister, younger brother and supportive parents.  I attended an ordinary primary school followed by state high school.  I was bitten by the acting bug at the age of 12, when I joined a Saturday afternoon drama group, the Brisbane Junior Players - I was originally going to sign up for the art group, but it was full.  My first acting role was playing an old lady who believed in fairies at the bottom of the garden.  Thankfully, the part required me to sit in a rocking chair - It hid the fact that my legs were quivering.  I was that nervous I even threw up whilst waiting in the wings.  My tutor, Miss Jones, pulled me through and at the end, after the applause, I was totally hooked."

By choice, Carol spent the first ten years of her professional career working solely in the theatre, then spent four years signed to ABC, the Aussie equivalent to the BBC.  In 1978, at the age of 31, Carol was offered the role of Franky Doyle, a character that represented just about every negative aspect of society.  The product of a very disturbing upbringing, Franky was an illiterate, volatile, butch lesbian who practised violence as a way of life.

"When the first episode was screened in February '79, I expected to become the most hated woman in Australia.  In fact, the opposite happened.  Viewers saw Franky as 'misunderstood', one of life's underdogs who never got a fair suck of the pineapple.  In fact, as the storyline unfolded, Franky Doyle became a national heroine" - and Carol Burns was dragged into the limelight.  "Even though I only appeared in the first 19 episodes [N.B.  Franky actually died in episode 20], I have continued to get fan mail from all over the world for 11 years.  When Franky's death was shown in the States (where the show was watched by 39 million people), fans in New York held a public wake.  A coffin was carried through the streets and people mourned openly over Franky's demise."

All this is pretty powerful stuff for an actress who modestly describes herself as "a middle-aged newcomer.  At the end of the day I am an actress and Franky Doyle was a character that died in '79.  I have absolutely no desire to revive her, and would never play the role again.   [N.B.  Later that year (1990) Carol did briefly revive Franky for the On The Outside/Great Escape tour.]  Prisoner was a wonderful show to work on.  At the time it was the cream of Australian drama and I feel privileged to have been involved with such a strong cast."

Carol is currently based here in Britain with her husband, musician Alan Lawrence.  She has just finished a run in 'Summer of the 17th Doll' at the Birmingham Rep - once more working alongside Val Lehman.  "Eleven years ago, when we worked on Prisoner, nobody could have predicted that we'd end up together on the British stage, appearing in a classic Aussie play.  It's all quite bizarre, really."

[Taken from the H-Block Herald - May 1990]
 

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