“Not exactly Raffles, is it?”: Watching Tenko

[Mel O'Drama]

Private Lives meets Prisoner Cell Block H meets It Ain’t Half Hot, Mum with a bit of Lost and The Sullivans for good measure.

Series One



Parts One to Three


I watched some of this when I was young, but remember nothing other than a few specific scenes. And I discovered one significant spoiler on my travels a couple of years ago. But I’d like to keep spoiler-free to fully appreciate the series.

I love how well the characters were unhurriedly set up in the first two episodes, seeing them go about their (mostly) privileged lives. The sets, the period setting and the relationship analysis in this initial period felt very Cowardesque. Stephanie Beacham more-or-less proto-Sable, dressed to kill and looking fabulous. Sister Ulrica stubbornly fasting in order to get money promised to her and her sisters. Stephanie Cole being bossy and unpopular.

The transition to the POW camp has been an organic one. We could arguably have met the characters already interned in this environment and got to know them as the series progressed (or - as would be more likely today - though flashbacks), but I feel the way it happened got across the profound contrast of their world of just days earlier and the one in which they now find themselves. It also allows the viewer to understand both the shock and the seeming acceptance they have about their situation. Because it’s been part of a journey.

There are facets of them that were exclusive to the pre-intenment selves. Gone, for instance, is the cool, accomplished ease that Christina Campbell displayed when giving people tours of Singapore. In her place is currently a terrified shell. But there will no doubt be new facets that emerge in each as a result of their new situation.

The ensemble is a damned strong one. Like Cell Block H, actresses must have been falling over themselves to appear in this series. To do some real acting with no makeup and drenched in sweat (my God - the women really sweat in this. Soaking armpits and everything). And they got the best.

Even in such a large group, many of them are already shining and excelling. Ann Bell is the perfect combination of grit and guilt. As Sister Ulrica, Patricia Lawrence has already shown us some of her determination. It’ll be interesting to see how she is in the camp. Stephanie Cole’s Beatrice is efficiency in motion, drilling the women as hard as the guards. As the brash Blanche, Louise Jameson is almost unrecognisable from most of her roles (I most associate her with Bergerac where my memory is of an almost ethereally classy lady). Renee Asherson as Sylvia had a terrific moment in the third episode when she refused to bow to Entwistle Major Yamauchi.

Stephanie Beacham’s Rose is delightfully self-centred and spoilt, which has given me many smiles already. During the panic on board a ship after an enemy ship was spotted close by, Rose loudly complained about Christina laddering her stockings when running past. After the ship is torpedoed and many have been lost at sea with a few making it to an island, Rose sits looking mournfully at the water where her husband was last seen. But it turns out she’s worried about her missing luggage. In the midst of her search, her husband shows up, only for her to immediately start whining to him about her suitcases without so much as a “hello”. When Sylvia refuses to sleep next to Christine because she’s not white skinned, Rose chastises Sylvia and swaps beds with her. But it turns out that she had her eye on Sylvia’s mosquito net which she claims as her own. She has all the best one-liners in the series so far (“I don’t suppose it’s à la carte”, she asks of the camp’s cook as she eyes up the gloop being served). This angle is a nice surprise. I'd long assumed that Steph B's character was a bit of a mouse in this series. That's the impression I get from most of the cast photos where she always looks like she's nervous or hiding. And I suppose that could have been fun to watch as well, but for different reasons

There’s a nice balance of camaraderie and the underlying horror. With a bit of naturalism (Dorothy visibly vomiting here, Blanche stripping off there). All served up with a hefty dose of humanity.

 

[Alexis]

Oh, I'm so glad you are doing this. I am looking forward to your thoughts on Tenko. I really loved it when I watched a few years back. Such a great show.
Also...
Private Lives meets Prisoner Cell Block H meets It Ain’t Half Hot, Mum with a bit of Lost and The Sullivans for good measure.
What a great description of the show!

 

[Zable]

Thanks so much for this walk down memory lane, @Mel O'Drama. I caught this on yt a few years back. Never got much shuteye, devouring it 5-6 episodes a day, everyday till it was all done. An epic emotional roller-coaster. Hope that significant spoiler you encountered on your travels didn't come from me.

Stephanie Beacham. Gawd. I told this story before. Soon after Tenko, SB got pulled up for speeding. The copper was so awe-struck he couldn't speak. When he found his voice, I'm censoring here, he talked about the show as if his wife was the watcher in the family, that he was hearing all about it from her. No surprise, Steph didn't get a ticket.

Tenko hit home for a great many families, I suspect. Many with older relatives who were so brutalised in the Far East as prisoners of war under the Japanese that it was not a topic of discussion among the generations in the families. Secretly, relatives' imaginations must have run riot, wondering what the conditions were like. With Tenko it was like the breaking of a huge, collective emotional dam.

Oh, and I loved Tony Valentine in Raffles! Those were the days.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Oh, I'm so glad you are doing this. I am looking forward to your thoughts on Tenko. I really loved it when I watched a few years back. Such a great show.

I caught this on yt a few years back. Never got much shuteye, devouring it 5-6 episodes a day, everyday till it was all done. An epic emotional roller-coaster.

Oh - this all bodes very well indeed. My viewing will be at a fairly leisurely place - probably one episode most evenings, with a double-bill here and there perhaps at weekends. Even so, that means I should watch the entire series in under a month.

Hope that significant spoiler you encountered on your travels didn't come from me.

Ha ha. No. I actually came from reading Stephanie B.'s autobiography Many Lives a few years ago. She probably spoke about the series quite a bit, but in terms of plot events one thing jumped out at me. You can probably guess what it was.

Stephanie Beacham. Gawd. I told this story before. Soon after Tenko, SB got pulled up for speeding. The copper was so awe-struck he couldn't speak. When he found his voice, I'm censoring here, he talked about the show as if his wife was the watcher in the family, that he was hearing all about it from her. No surprise, Steph didn't get a ticket.

She's absolutely mesmerising in it (as are the entire main cast). And she's so charming I can't imagine her ever needing to worry about a speeding ticket.

Tenko hit home for a great many families, I suspect. Many with older relatives who were so brutalised in the Far East as prisoners of war under the Japanese that it was not a topic of discussion among the generations in the families. Secretly, relatives' imaginations must have run riot, wondering what the conditions were like. With Tenko it was like the breaking of a huge, collective emotional dam.

Very well put. I was talking about it after watching last night, and emotional was one of the words used to describe it. It brought those events to life in such a real way that may have been unsettling for those families. Perhaps, too, there was some relief at being visible after so long, but who can say. It's certainly outside the realm of anything I have experienced.

I noticed in the credits that the series has a "Prison Camp Advisor", Molly Smith. A little search found this:

Another key figure was Molly Smith, who had been interned with Betty Jeffrey and many of the other women [Lavinia] Warner [series creator] had been in contact with.

She brought her own wartime experiences of the camps to the series and was there as a credited adviser with Warner to support the writers and the actors. [Jill] Hyem and [Anne] Valery [series writers] often locked horns with producers on authenticity, character motivation and storylines and dealt with what Hyem describes as 'unconscious male censorship'. However, by the third series, [Ken] Riddington [producer] had developed a good working relationship with Hyem and Valery and was praised for his ability to cast the show.

It's also striking how this drive towards authenticity affected Molly Smith. There are some very moving recollections of how Molly visited the studio recordings, with the cast in costume for the first time on the interior sets of the camp, now complete with resident cockroaches, and caught a glimpse of one of the guards. It clearly brought memories flooding back as did her visit to the Dorset exteriors when she saw the Chinese extras dressed as guards. This was compounded later when Dame Margot Turner [a prisoner of war, who inspired the series when Lavinia Warner - researcher for Dame Margot's This Is Your Life episode - watched Dame Margot and her fellow prisoners of war reunited on the episode] offered her own seal of approval for the authentic exterior sets during a visit to the Moreton location.

I haven't read the entire article for fear of spoilers, but it looks very interesting indeed. If you'd like to read it in full, it can be found here. I might have to seek out a copy of the book at some point as well.

 

[Zable]

You can probably guess what it was.

Um.

It brought those events to life in such a real way that may have been unsettling for those families.

The British govt was complacent about Singapore's security. Too many years of being a naval superpower left no room for thinking out-of-the-box. They were ready for a sea and air battle, never dreaming the Japanese would bicycle their way in overland from Thailand, over the length of the unprotected Malayan peninsula and over the bridge to the island. Whatever happened to military intelligence? And what were the unarmed townsfolk to do but to line their streets and surrender. Feeling scared, angry and betrayed by their colonial masters.

It was my da's bad luck that his young man's love for adventure had brought him to Singapore at the time. Japanese soldiers showed up at his place of work. There was him, two other men and a boss. Their boss was forced to choose one of them to be sent away with the soldiers. There was no picking of the short straw: da was the only one unmarried. He was flown to Japan, where he remained until after Japan surrendered. His story has some parallels with Christina Campbell's. He was bilingual, but not in Japanese. Not then. After the war was over, he had no papers to return. He faced British and American hostility. The British wouldn't help him. They considered anyone who'd worked for the Japanese army to be a traitor, notwithstanding he was also an orderly in a Japanese clinic. It was the Americans who eventually sent him home to his uncle, to a feast for a prodical son.

If you'd like to read it in full, it can be found here. I might have to seek out a copy of the book at some point as well.

An interesting read, thanks. Yes, some inevitable spoilers in the article; and so too in the book I would imagine, with the comings and goings. The article is maddeningly circumspect when it comes to such things as border shenanigans, trouser droppings, the Department of Undesirable Publications and the need for Stephanie Beacham to pull strings with royalty. How she managed to had, I suspect, something to do with her late elder brother having served as an economic adviser -- something I read a decade or more ago but don't know if true.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

in terms of plot events one thing jumped out at me. You can probably guess what it was.

Um.

Oh, maybe not.

When talking about her friendship with Stephanie Cole, she mentioned what happened between the characters in their final onscreen moments together.

The British govt was complacent about Singapore's security.

This aspect was played up well in the first episode of the series, I thought. Along with news about the invasion - once it was known - being deliberately withheld from the public and the media.

It was my da's bad luck that his young man's love for adventure had brought him to Singapore at the time. Japanese soldiers showed up at his place of work. There was him, two other men and a boss. Their boss was forced to choose one of them to be sent away with the soldiers. There was no picking of the short straw: da was the only one unmarried. He was flown to Japan, where he remained until after Japan surrendered. His story has some parallels with Christina Campbell's. He was bilingual, but not in Japanese. Not then. After the war was over, he had no papers to return. He faced British and American hostility. The British wouldn't help him. They considered anyone who'd worked for the Japanese army to be a traitor, notwithstanding he was also an orderly in a Japanese clinic. It was the Americans who eventually sent him home to his uncle, to a feast for a prodical son.

Wow. What an experience. No wonder the series was such an emotional and powerful watch for you.

An interesting read, thanks. Yes, some inevitable spoilers in the article; and so too in the book I would imagine, with the comings and goings.

I'm glad you enjoyed it. And yes, I'll hold off reading it until I've reached the end.

The article is maddeningly circumspect when it comes to such things as border shenanigans, trouser droppings, the Department of Undesirable Publications and the need for Stephanie Beacham to pull strings with royalty.

How intriguing. I'd love to know more about these aspects.

 

[Zable]

When talking about her friendship with Stephanie Cole, she mentioned what happened between the characters in their final onscreen moments together.

Which was what the copper was actually referencing and I was "censoring", lol.

Wow. What an experience. No wonder the series was such an emotional and powerful watch for you.

Yes.


I once knew an English family where the father was a Japanese POW who'd miraculously survived the Death March and Burma Railway construction. In the time I knew him, he was a quiet, soft spoken shell of a man. His only son wanted to marry a Japanese girl and the whole family agonised how to tell him, for fear of how it would effect him. They had other misgivings too, because the son lived in a bleak and desolate place. Farming there was a hard life, and they didn't know if the girlfriend could adapt to it. I moved away soon after so don't know what happened next.


I was told of some of the horrors of being a wartime Japanese captive: 3 ways of slow death of such unspeakable cruelty stick in my mind. What's in Tenko is utterly tame in comparison.

ETA: Stats from Britannica:

More than 11 per cent of civilian internees and 27 per cent of Allied POWs died or were killed while in Japanese custody; by contrast, the death rate for Allied POWs in German camps was around 4 per cent.​

How intriguing. I'd love to know more about these aspects

So would I. They were probably saving the gossip about that for the book. ....They don't mention which royalty SB connected with. Either in Brunei or in Malaysia. Possibly Thailand. Several of the Malaysian states are sultanates, and the one nearest Singapore has an English bloodline, I've just remembered. The late Josephine Ruby Trevorrow was already married into that royal family at the time Tenko was being made. She definitely was the Sultanah when it was being broadcast. It's either her grandson or step-grandson who's the Sultan now.

 

[Barbara Fan]

Oh @Mel O'Drama - I continually thank @Alexis for getting me to buy the box set ?? 2013 0r 14

I dug it off the shelves last month to rewatch it all - S1-3 and the Reunion film and it was every bit as good as i remember.
S1-2 will always top s3 for me but i loved the twist at the end of Reunion movie too

Inspired casting, plots and stoylines - some great acting, Anne Bell, Stephanie Cole, Veronica Roberts and co and special mentions also to Steph Beacham and Louise Jamieson

The weakest link for me was Renee Asherson who i found hammy and over acting in every scene

I loved Burt Kwouk as Gen Yamaouchi (? spelling) and found his performance moving at times and that he was in a job and being forced to do things he didnt necessarily want to do

Wait for S2 and Miss Hassan - She is a cracker, This is the most harmonious camp,...... and Verna Johnson and the wonderful Jean Anderson now stars as Joss

it was BBC at its best and I strongly recommend the Tenko Book by Andy presitner which is full of epiosde reviews and lots of off screen/behind the scenes titbits

Gets and A+ from me

 

[Zable]

Josephine Ruby Trevorrow was already married into that royal family at the time Tenko was being made. She definitely was the Sultanah when it was being broadcast. It's either her grandson or step-grandson who's the Sultan now.

Corrections: Ms Trevorrow never became Sultanah because they divorced in the '60s before her husband ascended the throne of the sultanate. He remarried. However, her son is the present sultan.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Series One
Parts Four to Six


With the premise now firmly established, and the women well and truly interned, the richness of character and the strength of the ensemble is tangible. Each of the characters are having their moments to shine and it works to become part of a whole.

It’s to the credit of all involved that even with such horrific subject matter, the tone of Tenko isn’t depressing. The atmosphere can be oppressive; there are scenes of horror and poignancy. But it’s balanced out with a natural humour and a sense of camaraderie which enters the heart of the viewer and becomes overwhelmingly uplifting, despite the consistently demoralising and ugly situations and the stench of death. In fact, it’s the kind of bonding that can only come out of a shared experience as intense and inescapable as this one.

There’s the natural chatter that goes on in the ablutions hut or dormitory: the kind of banter that could just as easily be taking place at a spa or on the bus. There are the moments of feel-good team spirit encapsulated by the women singing For We Are Jolly Good Fellows as they built the medical hut, watched on approvingly by Beatrice and even Yamauchi.

And then there are the one-to-one scenes in which reach a different level of conversation and tell us more about the women’s true feelings as well as theirbackstories. A favourite of mine came between Blanche and Rose while sharing an al fresco fag at night, with Blanche speaking frankly about missing sex and Rose revealing that she was previously married (I’d assumed her lover from the first episode was her hubby, but nope. It was just an arrangement). Blanche revealing to Dorothy that she had given up a child for adoption showed new depth to her (Blanche, Rose, Dorothy. Whenever two of their names are mentioned together it’s impossible not to think of The Golden Girls).

The complex dynamics between these three characters came to an ugly head in Part Six’s attempted gang rape scene. The ugliest aspect of the scene wasn’t even the threat of rape, but instead the varying responses of the women. And Dorothy in particular. While Rose responded with horror, Blanche seemed to view the situation as a necessary evil - something one does in order to survive and perhaps get a few privileges from. But Dorothy revelling in the situation as a form of punishment was the most disturbing. At that point, she simply didn’t care what happened to her or - thanks in part to her arguable complicity - the other women.

It’s not that simple, of course. Dorothy is proving to be perhaps the most psychologically fascinating character. We met her when she was in a state of shock: a new mother whose husband had been murdered before her eyes, leaving her unable to care for herself or her baby daughter Violet. Seeing her suddenly come to life at the prospect of buying a single egg from the trader to feed Violet was very touching. And so were the lengths to which she would go to feed her daughter: working for Mrs Van Meyer for a pittance (the contrast between the British women’s stark dormitories and that of the Dutch prisoners, surrounded by their home comforts, luxuries and jewels was startling); getting punctured by barbed wire to sneak out and buy milk from Lia, the trader’s wife. Only for Violet to die of dysentery and Dorothy’s actions to result in Lia’s murder after she is caught (once again, it was touching that Dorothy was willing to risk being shot to give Lia water while she was tied to the post and left to die).

All of which has brought us to the Dorothy who not only watches with detached lack of interest as she and her companions are about to be raped, but then goes on to sell her friends out by protecting the guard and refusing to tell the truth. It’s ironic that Rose - the one who was viewed as hard and someone who would do what they needed to do to survive - was the person least willing to allow the situation and the most vocal in calling for justice.

The attention to detail in this series continues to blow me away. Checking each other for headlice while chatting casually away. Picking maggots out of the rice. The tan lines when they're undressed. The marks from insect bites on the women's necks. I even noticed Stephanie Beacham had armpit hair in one scene, which is as it would be. Most of it is not even mentioned in dialogue. It's just there and it all sells this for absolute truth. One scripted element was Blanche's long black roots emerging, forcing her to cut her hair off. Which looks so much better.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

What's in Tenko is utterly tame in comparison.

I can well believe it. There's only so much horror that can be shown. Those statistics you posted are pretty horrifying.

S1-2 will always top s3 for me but i loved the twist at the end of Reunion movie too

Well I'll make sure I appreciate every minute of the first two series. I'm loving it so far.

Inspired casting, plots and stoylines - some great acting, Anne Bell, Stephanie Cole, Veronica Roberts and co and special mentions also to Steph Beacham and Louise Jamieson

The casting is unbelievably good. Louise Jameson kind of crept in quietly for me. I wasn't sure at first, but she's become a scene-stealing favourite of mine. I love Blanche's outspokenness.

The weakest link for me was Renee Asherson who i found hammy and over acting in every scene

I think she's great in it so far.

I loved Burt Kwouk as Gen Yamaouchi (? spelling) and found his performance moving at times and that he was in a job and being forced to do things he didnt necessarily want to do

He's great. It's taking a bit of adjustment for me because he's been in so many of the British sitcoms I've been watching. Just hearing his voice makes me want to laugh as I think of Entwistle. But I'm getting past that, and I think the aspect of him finding the job difficult and actually caring for the women is just emerging.

I watched a wonderful scene last night between Yamauchi and Marion in which he was coming down hard on her, but then asked about the pregnant girl (Sally?) and was talking fondly about the Japanese tradition of celebrating four months before the baby is born, and you could see the human being shining through.

Wait for S2 and Miss Hassan - She is a cracker, This is the most harmonious camp,...... and Verna Johnson and the wonderful Jean Anderson now stars as Joss

I'm really looking forward to it.

I strongly recommend the Tenko Book by Andy presitner which is full of epiosde reviews and lots of off screen/behind the scenes titbits

It's on my wishlist and I'll definitely invest at some point. I've found this great Tenko website which I think may be run by the person(s) behind the book. I'll explore it properly once I've watched as I'm sure there are spoilers.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Series One
Parts Seven and Eight


The passing of time is incredibly well done. More than eight months have passed in the space of as many episodes, but still so much room for character is found. Something in every scene pushes the story forwards but it happens in a way that feels organic and mostly unhurried. The only scene that’s jumped out at me as being there to move time forwards was the montage between Sally and Nellie, but that was fine as it was a stylistic choice to tell the audience something about their characters.

In writing terms there’s a sense of a bigger picture. There’s frequent foreshadowing; characters’ actions have an effect on outcomes; we are regularly given hints about certain characters’ unspoken thought processes or inner feelings that make those actions seem truthful for them. All of which is such an immersive experience for the audience that the passing of time isn’t jarring or distracting. If anything, it adds to the sense of time being rather fluid and at times disorientating (one of several aspects which feels particularly easy to identify with when watching the series in this 2020 lockdown situation).

Two dead infants in less than three episodes. It certainly drives home the brutal reality of the camp with its lack of nourishment, hygiene and medications. And both in ways that are particularly cruel for the mother: Debbie after bonding with Violet; Sally after going through a traumatic labour in the camp (I loved Blanche’s typical irritation with Sally’s screams of pain, and it didn’t need to be said that there was more going on under the surface for her than appeared).

Nellie had stayed more or less unnoticed by me up until Part Seven. She tended to blend into the background a little more in the shadow of dominant Beatrice and the more gregarious Kate. I appreciate how well this was used in introducing her crush on Sally, which began very subtly and became more and more apparent.

Tenko being such a carefully crafted series, I have every faith that I could go back to earlier episodes and see hints of Nellie’s sexuality. I found it interesting that Beatrice could recognise Nellie’s growing dependence on Sally for what it was, while Kate apparently hadn’t. The latter even commented about all the men Nellie had dated. This is something that could mean any number of things. It could be that Kate knows and was covering for Nellie (this feels the least likely explanation). Or that Nellie had lied to Kate about who she had seen. Or it could simply mean that Kate is either bisexual or was in denial of her sexuality. But at this point, all that matters is the present. Because that’s all any of them have.

The characters responses to the rumours about Nellie and Sally were perfect. Did Beatrice stamp on it because she disapproved? Because she felt it was affecting Nellie’s work? Or simply because she knew it wasn’t reciprocated? Did Marion talk about all young girls holding hands as a way of defusing Mrs Van Meyer’s hostility? Because she couldn’t get her own head round the idea? Or because she was fine with a same-sex relationship? Blanche and Rose seemed the most accepting of the idea in their own unique ways. Nobody said “lesbian”, because it simply wasn’t the done thing. Instead there are euphemistic slurs like “unnatural” and “unhealthy”. And - less subtly - “perverts”. Nellie came out of the episode a far more sympathetic and human character than she had been up to that point, and such positive representation can be considered groundbreaking for early Eighties Britain.

Dorothy in particular is now very much the outsider. In the aftermath of the attempted rapes, there is a lingering tension and she is viewed as the antagonist. It can be seen clearly when Rose angrily informs Dorothy of the need to temporarily change cabins. And when Dorothy’s attempt to bond with Sally over their shared loss is rebuffed, it’s Dorothy who is the main instigator in the lesbian gossip (I don’t believe it’s stated, but I feel it would also be Dorothy who carved the “perverts’ message).

The relationship between Rose and Blanche, too, remains interesting. There’s still an awkwardness but such respect and even love. Rose becomes Blanche’s main confidante when the others refuse to form an escape committee. There’s that beautiful moment in the ablutions hut where Rose turns her back to dig out her diamond ring, handing it over to Blanche so she can support herself after escaping, but saying “You know I think you’re a bloody fool, don’t you?” It’s Rose who feels betrayed when she learns young Debbie has escaped with Blanche (Debbie’s mother, Judith, being the latest series fatality). And - when inevitably caught - the situations are reversed and Blanche views Rose as the treacherous one, spitting in her face. There’s a lot of spitting in this series, I can’t help but observe (mostly for practical purposes such as cleaning shoes and whatnot). And with such practice, at least Blanche’s aim will be good.

The tone of the series is absolutely continues to win me all over again with each passing episode. It's highly addictive. On paper it's so grim, but there's such heart and a sense of community and fortitude that's incredibly inspiring. From the organised quiz nights; to Judith falling asleep during Mrs Van Meyer's talk; to Sylvia's growing acceptance of Christina; to the women doubling up with laughter at the ridiculous propaganda statements they were asked to include in their postcards home. It's warming my heart.

 

[Alexis Colby Carrington]

I used to love Tenko, I rewatched it recently in the UK, it must be something about strong women I've always been drawn to as I love Cell Block H too.

 

[Barbara Fan]

The producer asked the girls if they would grow their arm pit hair (ugh)

Dorothy is one of my favs and stick with it to the every end and reunion movie, i loved it and what happened to her character, wont spoil the surprise

When i re watched it i realised that Kate was very annoying and prob my least fav of the core cast and the "child" debbie is annoying and needs to get herself some drama / acting lessons - there is another wooden plank of a child in S2

Im sure you will love Miss Hassan and just wait for her "Hassans treasure"

- the wonderful Stephanie Cole has some great lines in S2 and LOL moments said with a dead pan face, its wonderful seeing her character mellow and what can i say about Metro Goldwyn Meyer? She was married to the producer or director of Tenko btw


Also in S3 Elspet Gray features and i just picture her in Fawlty Towers as You're 2 Drs, did you sit the exam twice?

S2 tugs at the heart strings and some beautifully played scenes but wont spoil the surprise - you are in for a treat

 

[Barbara Fan]

PS like your new avatar, book is a great read and i re read it at the same time as i watched each episode as it sets the scene and all the backround to filming as well as a synopsis of each episode xx

 

[Mel O'Drama]

I used to love Tenko, I rewatched it recently in the UK, it must be something about strong women I've always been drawn to as I love Cell Block H too.

Great. It's nice to know there are people who are enjoying it.

I can relate with the strong female ensemble. It does remind me of PCBH in some ways.

The producer asked the girls if they would grow their arm pit hair

It's definitely not a vanity project for people who want to look their best. But I do think it must have been very rewarding and perhaps quite liberating for the actresses to be able to look rough and muck in. I imagine it wasn't easy to film, and I suspect makeup may have taken even longer than it would for glamorous roles to make sure they all looked suitably mucky, sweaty, sunburnt and bitten by insects.

When i re watched it i realised that Kate was very annoying and prob my least fav of the core cast

She's working fine for me, other than the fact that she looks distractingly full-faced and healthy for someone who's spent ten months in a POW camp.

the "child" debbie is annoying and needs to get herself some drama / acting lessons

We're in agreement on this one, BF. She worked for me in earlier episodes when her role was quite small, but featuring her more in the latter part of Series One is showing her limitations. Like Kate, she looks a little too bright eyed and bushy tailed, even when she's made up to look mucky.

Im sure you will love Miss Hassan and just wait for her "Hassans treasure"

- the wonderful Stephanie Cole has some great lines in S2 and LOL moments said with a dead pan face, its wonderful seeing her character mellow

I've just finished Series One, so I'm looking forward to starting Series Two - probably tomorrow evening.

what can i say about Metro Goldwyn Meyer? She was married to the producer or director of Tenko btw

Oh - that's interesting. It's always fun to learn about details like this.

PS like your new avatar,

Thanks. I thought since I'm immersing myself in the series and thinking about it a lot I'd go for a Tenko inspired avatar and signature.

 

[Barbara Fan]

error, its Trier's treasure, not Hassan, you will have to wait and see what it is!!

Miss Hassan is a scream, i hope you love her as much as i did, and watch out for Verna meeting Blanche for the 1st time - wonderful - got to love Louise Jamieson who I still thought of as Leela in Dr Who

PS a Young Burt Kwouk with Ingrid- this time he was a nice guy!

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Series One
Parts Nine and Ten


Series One has drawn to a close, with some powerful moments in these final two episodes.

The business with making the five hundred hats in order for Yamauchi to consider a reprieve for Blanche had a great sense of urgency. I could feel the frustration of them not picking up the technicalities as quickly as they’d like, and working with bloodied fingers overnight while battling exhaustion as well as the clock.

It’s occurred to me that there’s a great disparity between Blanche surviving the best part of a week tied to the post while Lia appeared to die in the course of one night. There could be all kinds of reasons for this, I suppose, including their treatment before being tied, and the fact that Blanche was taken indoors at night (and presumably given at least a little fluid).

I have mixed feelings about Beatrice singing Jerusalem. The staging of the scene - with everyone humming the melody until Beatice spontaneously stepped forward to sing - gave it the air of a musical, which seemed almost malapropos. But the strong, heartfelt performances - Stephanie Cole’s in particular - overcame any contrivance and gave a scene which gave the hairs on my arms a workout.

The fallout between the Dutch and English prisoners being resolved after Yamauchi pointed out to Sister Ulrica that both camps had one god was almost a little too convenient. But not only was the discussion itself between Ulrica and Yamauchi was quite fascinating, the end justified the means, as I was badly hoping the fallout wouldn’t be permanent. Like so many of the stories, this one came down to unity. With healthy smatterings of guilt and anger. The palpable relief when discovering they’d exceeded the target was quite exhilarating.

The unity continued into the final episode, just in time for everything to be turned on its head. I’m sure one of the upcoming episodes must have a scene that I clearly remember, since it happened during a death march situation, which is exactly what’s just begun with the women leaving the camp.

 

[Barbara Fan]

This was posted in 2017

Christmas Reunion!

From front left: Joanna Hole (Sally), Ann Queensberry (Judith), Lavinia Warner (Tenko creator), Ann Bell (Marion), Stephanie Beacham (Rose), Veronica Roberts (Dorothy), Stephanie Cole (Beatrice), Louise Jameson (Blanche), Betsan Roberts (widow of Tenko director Pennant Roberts)

.
Photo shared from Official Stephanie Beacham.
Photo copyright Joanna Hole.

 

[Barbara Fan]

Another from Tenko FB

At the "Remembering Tenko" event, a huge gathering of Tenko cast and crew gather for a photo. How many can you recognise?! — at Imperial War Museum London.
i love seeing pics of cast now - some are easy to spot, others less so