The second season follows her attempting to gain control over the prison by replacing Franky with Bea in the top dog position.

The third season shows a more psychotic side of Joan as Bea turns against her and the prison as well as her vendetta against Will Jackson leads her to being arrested in the last episode.

Joan returns to Wentworth as a prisoner in Season 4 and attempts to exonerate herself and end Bea Smith's rule, doing this first by befriending Kaz Proctor and convincing her to murder her star witness, Nils Jesper.

But they all discover her now lifeless body in the box, and she was believed to be dead until appearing in the closing seconds of the Season 7 finale episode ‘Under Siege Part 2’ confirming she is indeed alive.

Her no-nonsense attitude won her fans in high places and she was fast-tracked to Deputy Governor of Queensland’s most troublesome prison, Blackmoore.”[3] Joan was born in Korsakov, Russia, on August 24, 1964.

In the midst of Bea's escape, Fletch finds out from Bryant that Joan assaulted Kelly to keep her quiet on her relationship with Jianna Butler.

Joan then plants drugs in toys that Nash Taylor bring forJoshua in revenge for Doreen making fun of her and to further turn Bea's friends against her.

She plants a recording device in the secure spot where Kaz Proctor tells Bea the name of Joan's henchman, Nils Jesper.

Joan is later seen smiling as a news report states that due to an anonymous tip from the prison, Kaz Proctor has been incarcerated at Wentworth.

At the end of the episode, Allie is in the shower by herself when Joan appears behind the mirror, holds her down and injects heroin into her neck, staging a drug overdose.

She has Jake become closer to Vera, moving in with him and throwing her a birthday party, and also makes him have sex with the prison nurse, Mrs Radcliffe.

Joan cuts out Lucy Gambaro's tongue and has Jake put it in a gift box to give it to Vera as her birthday present.

Joan is put in the medical unit following the incident but is very quickly released into general by the new Governor Derek Channing, who wishes to have her dead and refuses her requests for security.

Vera begins to receive anonymous phone calls and disturbances at her home in which muddy footprints are seen outside her house, a dead bird appears on her doorstep, a brick being thrown through her window, and finally, a pair of black leather gloves on her pillow.

With the fate of Ferguson still left up in the air, she is currently presumed dead, although the outcome of the police investigation DNA results have not been mentioned, nor is it known if they have been confirmed.

Her transport vehicle travels under a bridge where homeless people are keeping warm as a hooded figure amongst them is revealed to be Joan Ferguson, who is alive after all.

Fearing that they will be charged with attempted murder, Vera, Will, and Jake are called to the hospital to find Joan, having no memory of them, believing now that she is, in fact, Kath Maxwell.

[26] She later comes face-to-face with Allie, who is now Top Dog, and makes a failed attempt in forcing Joan to face up to her past crimes.

[27] Greg is convinced that Joan has, in fact, lost her memory and believes that she will be released following her upcoming committal hearing as she can't be held responsible for crimes if she cannot remember.

As she recovers in hospital, the girl appears one last time, uttering the words 'I love you, Mummy', before leaving Joan's mind forever.

The attack evokes a painful memory, where it is revealed that the young girl was actually Joan as a child, witnessing her mother being drowned in a bath by her cruel father.

A furious Vera forces Linda Miles to place Joan in a spit hood for which she experiences flashbacks, regaining her memory, proving that she was suffering from amnesia.

[29] Three weeks pass, and Joan is struggling to keep up the "Kath Maxwell" facade, convinced that her murderous rage is about to re-emerge, especially now that she remembers that Vera, Will and Jake were involved with her burial.

He unofficially prescribes her an unapproved drug, Psuldrycin, the same one he used to treat Liz Birdsworth for her dementia, in an attempt to contain her anger and help her to express empathy and in the process, aiding her towards her upcoming trial.

Joan suddenly retaliates; Eve is later found with her left eye missing and is transferred to a psychiatrist instruction, while Jake is located alive.

[35] As the court hearing takes place, Joan is prepared to call Vera's bluff, but suddenly reveals that her memory has returned, ultimately putting an end to her freedom, and also, Greg's career.

Will informs Joan that her time at Wentworth is up and she is to be transferred to a psychiatric hospital, as a type of parting gift authorised by Greg following his dismissal.

Vera discovers that Ann Reynolds knew for sometime about the bomb and prevented it from being disarmed as a means of having Judy Bryant in the area of detonation, thus having her killed.

[40] Metro said, "Joan 'The Freak' Ferguson isn't just the most terrifying character in all prison dramas - she's the baddest and most sinister baddie ever to grace TV.

"[41] Graeme Blundell of the Australian wrote "So much awe surrounds Ferguson that she seems to possess supernatural powers, a Hannibal Lecter-like superhuman cunning and lack of empathy, though Rabe, a performer of unerring grace and authenticity, is such an accomplished actress she avoids the melodrama, turning Ferguson into one of the most believable villains we’ve seen on the local screen.