Poor old Ric. There he was, lying quietly in his cell, when he woke up with a start to find his face being smeared with jam swiss roll. No, we're afraid that the dimly-lit prison doesn't do the make-up department's efforts justice. When he steps into the light, it's clear that he's actually had his head kicked in pretty badly - and we all know who is to blame. But how could Johnny have got into Ric's cell? Well, after he spots Guard Jones chatting and laughing with Johnny in the courtyard, it all becomes crystal clear. Ric gets straight on the phone to his grandfather and begs him to have a word with the governor about his ill treatment and corrupt staff. This is something to which Alf readily agrees, but it doesn't do much good. "I stand by my men", huffs the fat controller when approached. "I have no reason to expect them of any wrongdoing." The best he can do is offer Ric a transfer to another prison, but this could take up to two weeks. In the meantime, he'd have to go back to doing time with all the other old lags. Hope is fading fast for poor Ric. Will Johnny get to him again tonight?On the rocks

We're beginning to worry about Martha, and not just because she seems to have been replaced with Claire Sweeney on the new opening credits. As she works away behind the Surf Club bar, she seems to be running a drinks policy of "one for you, one for me". And when the abortion clinic calls her asking her to reschedule a follow up appointment, she decides to make them all doubles. A short time later, a tipsy Martha backchats a customer who asks for more celery in his juice drink. If you ask us, wanting to put something as disgusting as celery juice in his mouth means that he deserves all he gets. Tony, however, witnesses the exchange with horror - and is aghast when he notes that a sheepish-looking Martha is holding a whiskey barrel behind her back. Although he tries to get her to open up, Martha covers the truth by insisting she is simply upset about Ric's situation. Tony accepts Martha's apologies; she gives a sigh of relief as soon as his back is turned. Her secret is still safe, then, but not for much longer...

Prison break

We've already floated the ideas of Sally baking a file into a cake and Alf getting the prison blueprints tattooed all over his body, but the plan Matilda comes up with to break Ric out of prison is even more unlikely.

"It's a little crazy," she admits, "but hear me out." Cassie looks on agog as Mattie trots out with something that's just so ludicrously bonkers that it just might work. Later that day, she brush-pens Johnny's gang's trademark tattoo onto Lucas's arm and pushes him in the direction of the prison gates. Talk about sending the lamb after the lion.

Thankfully, though, bare-knuckle fighting isn't on the cards. Instead, Lucas approaches Guard Jones and advises him that he has an important message for Johnny: the person really responsible for Rocco's murder is about to go to the police. Jones races back inside the prison to tell Johnny the news.

Back at Summer Bay House, Cassie, Matilda and Lucas are waiting with bated breath for the phone to ring - but Alf is the one who ends up taking the call. And after he hears what Ric has had to say for himself, he drags everybody down the police station where they request to speak to Peter as a matter of urgency. Will their breakthrough be enough to get Ric out of jail?

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