AustLit

'A strange mixture of characters leads Bluey and Department B on the puzzling mystery of tracing "The Hydra". Who or what is The Hydra?

'The young, defenceless sister of a stripper, who is a good friend of Bluey's, is in great danger. Someone or something is lurking in the mire of sleazy night clubs, waiting, watching, ready to pounce.

'Bluey and his team enter the bizarre world of would-be religious fanaticism, blackmail, female impersonators and the lost world of the soup kitchen. The clues have been given by The Hydra - but are they real clues or ones to throw the police off the track?

'Which ever is the case Bluey is working against time to reveal the true identity or identities of the Hydra - a beast with seven heads.'

Source: Synopsis held in the Crawford Collection in the AFI Research Collection (RMIT).

The script for this episode held in the Crawford Collection in the AFI Research Collection contains the following character notes (excluding regular characters):

'RANDY KNIGHT: Also known as Angela; Randy Knight is a stage name. In her early twenties, Randy is a stripper in a sleazy nightclub in Fitzroy Street. But don't judge the book by its cover. She's a battler, loved by everyone, raising and looking after a handicapped sister. She takes her job very seriously, and her audience of winos and local derelicts never fail to go away a little richer for the experience of seeing her on-stage. She should be blonde. She should be a dancer, and she should behave with a lovable, Marilyn Monroe style innocence.

'FELICITY: Randy's younger (16) sister. She is deaf and dumb. She goes to a special school by day, and is babysat in the evenings while Randy is working. A bewitching, sloe-eyed creature, who seems the essence of childlike purity ... a fawn. She communicates with Randy through a simple sign language, and seems to have great admiration for her big sister. Felicity often seems to behave at the mental age of about eight years, and we are never to know if she is 'backward'. On special occasions, however, we feel that she is way ahead of us. No spoken dialogue.

'GAY GORDO: A very convincing female impersonator who works with Randy at the strip joint. A junkie. A seamstress. Camps it up even when off-stage. Bit of a creep. Personally, I don't like him very much.

'BENNY ALLMAN (Allen Easter): Stand-up comic at same strip joint. Delivers with a vaguely Dave Allen style, but never seems to get many laughs from the audience of pervs. A very short, very fat, very depressing man, who might best be described as the 'beast' in this beauty and the beast story.

'STELLA HEDLEY: Stella manages this same strip joint. The Ethel Merman type. Loud. Showbiz. Gets on well with Bluey. Will bear a resemblance to one description of "The Hydra".

'MRS. McCORMACK: Felicity's babysitter. Ocker. Smokes always. Bluey will say to her "Mrs. McCormack, I wouldn't let you babysit my dog." She also could be "The Hydra".

'HARRY SILVERMAN: Although it defies genetic believability, Silverman is the father of Angela and Felicity. Brain addled with turps, Harry hasn't quite been himself since about five or six years ago when he walked out on his two lovely daughters. He has been a merchant marine, but mainly he's into drinking. Such a bloody mug we should feel sorry for him. He looks a lot like the men who make up Randy's audience.

'JUD: Jud is a man who brings a little sunshine into your life just by walking into the room. He's a Salvo, knows the skid row scene, gets along with Bluey.

'CLERIC: Runs small city chapel. Long hairs, bearded. Could actually be Jesus.

'DRUNK:

'DERELICT EXTRAS: Club audience.'