Such is the power of Maggie Kirkpatrick's portrayal of Miss Ferguson, the prison warder from hell (better known to all Prisoner: Cell Block H fans as 'The Freak'), that we can't help feeling nervous pulling up outside her home, to hours' drive from from Sydney.

But the woman who greets us is as friendly as can be - a big, warm bundle of laughter, nothing like the sadistic warder from the popular Aussie prison soap.

"I'm astonished at the following The Freak has gained - and I'm damned if I know why!" says the 53-year-old actress as she ushers us into her extremely long modern bungalow.

She shares her home with her daughter Caitlin, son-in-law Michael, grandson Daniel and newborn grandaughter Megan. Bix and Buster also bound out of the bungalow, tails wagging furiously.

"I got Bix, the black and tan, rom the dog pound," says Maggie. "And Buster, the bull terrier, was orphaned when his owner, a friend of Michael and Caitlin, was killed in a motorcycle accident."

Maggie divorced her husband, Caitlin's father Norman Kirkpatrick (an ex-Merchant seaman), 15 years ago. She has lived with her family for over a year now.

"The house is big enough for them to be at one end and me at the other."

Nowadays Maggie is as well known in Australia for her Shakespeare as her soaps (she left Prisoner: Cell Block H in 1986) and she works for AIDS charities. "I've lost several friends to AIDS," she explains. "Education is the most important thing in fighting this illness."

Maggie's home stands in acres of gum trees and was at risk during Sydney's bush fires earlier this year.

"The fires were blazing only a few kilometres away," she says, taking us out on to the lawn to show us where the horizon had been ablaze.

"I do worry about fires," she says, "but this house is in a clearing and is protected by a sprinkler system. I worry more about snakes. Last summer I saw only one, but they are deadly. The only way to avoid them is to tread carefully."

One beast she's happy to hear from is Henry the rooster. "Henry's crowing doesn't bother me," she says. "Living here, one of the joys is waking at dawn. You don't let the day slip away from you as there seems to be something to do all the time."

Henry's female companion Amy and Alice provide eggs for Maggie's kitchen, but they won't end up in the pot. "They'll die of old age, along with me. I couldn't do that now they've been given names."

The actress frequently has guests. "Any entertaining I do is decidedly informal," she says. "But I'm passionate about cooking. I like the good 'working-class' food of France, Italy and Greece - what I call peasant food."

Does she ever watch tapes of old Prisoner: Cell Block H episodes?

"I caught a couple when I was in London last year. It seems so long ago. If I got royalties fro mthat show I'd be a millionairess!"

Captions read: Maggie goes to work on an egg, thanks to her obliging chickens Amy and Alice. "When I was a child we always had a few 'chooks'," she says, "so I have no trouble looking after these."

Maggie, holding the clapperboard given to her on her last day's shooting on Prisoner: Call Block H, in the living-room of the bungalow she shares with daughter Caitlin, son-in-law Michael and grandchildren Daniel and Megan. Daniel's portrait stands on the mantelpiece. The collection of dolls belongs to Caitlin.

Maggie always listens to music while she's cooking. Here she looks for a recipe for Pavlova, using fresh-laid eggs. "I also like working-class food from France, Italy or Greece," she says.

Maggie tackles a crossword. "I enjoy arts programmes on TV, doing the crossword and reading," she says. "I'm struggling through Maggie Smith's autobiography at the moment."

Maggie relaxes with a cuppa while Bix and Buster join her. The pets are not always so quiet. "Buster is a relentless stick-chaser," says Maggie.

By Christine Harris
Quick Magazine