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  Roz Vecsey
PARTNER IN CRIME
Roz Vecsey
Roz was born in 1964 in the Midlands city of Derby, UK, and stayed there for 37 years. Her interest in all things Australian began at five, when she became an ardent viewer of the children's TV show Tinger and Tucker, the weekly adventures of two cute stuffed koalas and their firm but fair guardian Aunty Jean Morton. From Tinger and Tucker Roz moved on to Skippy the Kangaroo, replaced in her affections in her late teen years by Young Doctors and Sons and Daughters. Educated (after a fashion) at Bemrose Comprehensive School, Roz's only ambition upon leaving was to be "drummer with The Sex Pistols or a Charlie's Angel" (an early indication of her diverse musical taste, love of camp/kitsch TV, and personal politics). As neither of these careers seemed likely, the nice people at the unemployment office tried to guide Roz towards more suitable employment, and placed her on a government training scheme at an isolated lock-up institution for the mentally ill, where she lasted 4½ days. At this point fate intervened, and she was invited to join a team of volunteers at BBC Radio Derby, to work on their new 'yoof' show, Barbed Wireless, presented by media slut and bad boy broadcaster Terry Christian. This involvement led to a five-year job with the BBC, learning all aspects of programming from presentation, production to research, and also led to her becoming the first female nightclub DJ in Derby. A brief sojourn to London to work in the relatively new field of Community Radio came to a sudden end when the Greater London Council was abolished, and she returned to Derby, where she became involved with Derby AIDS line, and trained as a phone counsellor. It was during this time that she discovered the delights of late-night TV, which was a relatively new concept in the UK in 1988. Central TV, the company responsible for the Midlands region, had launched a new late-night Aussie drama, Prisoner Cell Block H (the CBH was added in the UK to avoid confusion with the 60s show of the same name), and Roz was quickly hooked. In fact, it seemed like the whole of the Midlands became hooked, with everyone talking about this amazing new show. Along with a former school friend, Tracey Elliott, Roz launched a fan club for the show, in the hope of finding other fans and maybe a bit of info on the show. This was not as easy as it sounds, this was 1988, there was no Internet, and information about the show was scarce. As more people got hooked on the show, word of the fan club spread, and soon Roz and Tracey and their quest for knowledge became widely featured in the media. As the fan club took off Roz and Tracey produced regular fanzines, The H Block Herald, and eventually formed their own company, Eve Promotions, to handle things. In 1989 the first of many personal appearance tours by Prisoner cast members was organised by Eve Promotions, culminating with the Great Escape tour, starring Sheila Florance, Val Lehman, Amanda Muggleton and Carol Burns. Following the Great Escape Roz and Tracey went their separate ways, and Roz launched the successful SOAP (Save Our Aussie Programs) campaign to get Prisoner repeated in the central TV region. Roz continued to be involved with fan club activities, and also began working for Val Lehman as her press agent. In the mid-nineties Roz merged the fan club with Blockade, the highly successful UK Prisoner publication, and contributed to the mag on a regular basis. In Nov 1990 she visited Australia for the first time, at the invitation of Val and Charles, returning in February 2000 to help with the Flight of Fantasy trip, and attend the Prisoner 21st reunion. She returned to Australia again in February 2002, and met her soul-mate, prompting her to move over to Oz permanently in September 2002. Before launching Partners in Crime, Roz spent 12 months working as the manager of Ballarat's community radio station, Voice FM, and continues to produce and co-present her own Monday night program, 'Gay Abandon'. Roz currently resides in the bustling metropolis of Haddon in Central Victoria with her partner Jos, their two dogs Lillie and Gish and 14 chooks.