''Tenko'' is a television drama series co-produced by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

(ABC), which was broadcast between 22 October 1981 and 26 December 1985. The series dealt with the experiences of

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

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and

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

women who were captured after the

Fall of Singapore The fall of Singapore, also known as the Battle of Singapore, took place in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War. The Empire of Japan captured the British stronghold of Singapore, with fighting lasting from 8 to 15 February 1942. S ...

in February 1942, after the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

invasion, and held in a fictional Japanese internment camp on a Japanese-occupied island in the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

in modern day

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between Singapore and Australia (the actual location of the island is not revealed in the series but it is assumed that the fictitious locations are set in south east

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

). Having been separated from their husbands, herded into makeshift holding camps and largely forgotten by the British

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, the women had to learn to cope with appalling living conditions,

malnutrition Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients which adversely affects the body's tissues a ...

, disease, sexual violence and death.

Background

''Tenko'' was created by Lavinia Warner after she had conducted research into the internment of nursing corps officer Margot Turner (1910–1993) for an edition of television programme '' This Is Your Life'' and was convinced of the dramatic potential of the stories of women prisoners of the Japanese. Aside from the first two episodes, set in Singapore, which were written by Paul Wheeler, the series was written by

Jill Hyem Jill Hyem (8 January 1937 – 5 June 2015) was a British actor, and radio and television writer. Early life and acting career Jill Hyem was born in 1937 in Putney, London, England, to Hilda (''née'' Gladwell) and Rex, a solicitor, and was raise ...

and

Anne Valery Anne Valery ( Firth) (24 February 1926 – 29 April 2013) was an English screenwriter, author and actress noted for co-writing episodes for the BAFTA-nominated drama ''Tenko'' in the early 1980s. The daughter of actress Doriel Paget, she joined ...

. War hero and prisoner of war Margaret Thomson was consulted about the series but she did not like to talk about her experiences and never watched the programmes. Owing to high production costs, only the first two episodes of the first series were filmed on location in Singapore, together with the post series reunion extended episode. For the majority of series 1 and 2, set in the camp, the programme was filmed in a specially constructed set in

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

. Hankley Common was also used. The series takes its name from the Japanese word ''tenko'' () which means "roll-call". POWs and internees in Japanese-run camps had regular roll-calls, where they had to line up and number off or were counted in Japanese. A total of thirty episodes were produced over three series between 1981 and 1984, followed by a one-off special (which was twice the length of the other episodes), ''Tenko Reunion'', in 1985. Only Ann Bell,

Stephanie Cole Patricia Stephanie Cole (born 5 October 1941) is an English stage, television, radio and film actor, known for high-profile roles in shows such as '' Tenko'' (1981–1985), ''Open All Hours'' (1982–1985), ''A Bit of a Do'' (1989), '' Waiting ...

and Claire Oberman appeared in all thirty episodes plus the reunion.

Series One (1981)

Ten fifty-minute episodes broadcast 22 October to 24 December 1981. The first series depicts the events leading up to the

fall of Singapore The fall of Singapore, also known as the Battle of Singapore, took place in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War. The Empire of Japan captured the British stronghold of Singapore, with fighting lasting from 8 to 15 February 1942. S ...

to the invading Japanese forces in 1942, and the abortive evacuation of civilians from the city. As the war in Europe suddenly erupts into a world war, a group of British and Dutch women find themselves forced to cope with captivity in a Japanese internment camp. They also must find a way to live together as a community, breaking down the barriers of class and race between them, if they are to survive. Marion Jefferson is enlisted as the leader of the women due to her husband being a colonel. Sylvia Ashburton learns to see past race when she begins to bond with Christina Campbell. Dorothy Bennet suffers the loss of her infant daughter, Violet, due to malnutrition. A pregnant Sally Markham suffers the tragedy of stillbirth. Sally then grows close to nurse Nellie Keane, and rumours begin to circulate about their intimacy. In the last episode of the series, the women celebrate Christmas before being marched through the jungle to another camp.

Series Two (1982)

Ten fifty-minute episodes broadcast 21 October to 23 December 1982. The second series continues with the women marching through the jungle and being split up before they arrive at a new camp, an old mission school, on New Year's Day 1943. Tensions arise as the internees are forced to adhere to the new regime implemented by the strict and fierce official interpreter, Miss Hasan. After a joyous reunion with old friend, Lillian, Marion is forced to take a back seat as the women's official leader in favour of the overbearing wolf in sheep's clothing, Verna Johnson. Sally sinks into depression following the death of her husband and vows to take her own life. Dorothy continues to trade favours with the guards, teaching English to Shinya in exchange for cigarettes and later discovers that she is pregnant. Sister Ulrica vows to not speak in order to repent for her feelings of hate towards the Japanese. Blanche returns later in the series, as does Yamauchi, as he is promoted to Major and becomes the new commander. Rose escapes to meet Bernard but they are caught when one of the women informs Yamauchi. As conditions in the camp worsen, the women take a stand against Verna and Miss Hasan but they are prevented from exposing them when an allied plane bombs the camp.

Series Three (1984)

Ten fifty-minute episodes broadcast 7 October to 16 December 1984. The third series starts just before the end of the war in early August 1945 and the internees are in their third camp and are living under appalling and harsh conditions with Marion Jefferson once again being leader of the group and the remaining prisoners of the camps are told by Yamauchi that the war has ended. They are later liberated by Allied troops and travel to Singapore. Billeted at Raffles, the women are free. However, peacetime only brings further dilemmas for the women as they struggle to forge new futures in an uncertain new world. Marion struggles as she assumes the role of the "colonel's wife" which causes friction between Clifford and herself. Joss strikes up a relationship with Stephen. Maggie and Dorothy become embroiled in a love triangle with the handsome rogue, Jake.

Tenko Reunion (1985)

A double-length special was broadcast on 26 December 1985. Set in 1950, Marion organises for the women to reunite in Singapore five years after their liberation from the camp. After an evening at

Raffles Hotel Raffles Singapore is a historic luxury hotel at 1 Beach Road, in Singapore. It was established by Armenian hoteliers, the Sarkies Brothers, in 1887. The hotel was named after British statesman Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, the founder of mod ...

, the women plan to continue their celebrations the following day at the residence of 'Metro Goldwyn' van Meyer but they are interrupted by the infiltration from communist guerrillas in search of weapons and ammunition, leading to a shocking revelation about one of the women.

Main cast list

DVD release and books

All three series plus the Reunion Special were released in one DVD box-set in 2011 through

Acorn Media UK RLJE International Ltd, d/b/a Acorn Media, a British company that publishes and distributes DVDs, as well as selling home-video products and streaming videos with a particular focus on British television. History Launched in 1997, Acorn Media ...

. Three paperback books were published in the 1980s. One covering the first series, titled Tenko, while a second called Last Tenko, covered the second and final series. The third book, written by Anne Valery, covered the Reunion. A book about the making of Tenko called ''Remembering Tenko'' by Andy Priestner was published in October 2012.

References

External links

Tenko website
authorised by creator Lavinia Warner * * * *
Lavinia Warner's page on Tenko

RealPlayer version of the opening titles, at the BBC Cult homepage

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tenko (TV series) 1981 Australian television series debuts 1981 British television series debuts 1985 Australian television series endings 1985 British television series endings 1980s British drama television series Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming BBC television dramas British prison television series Television series set in 1941 Television series set in 1942 Television series set in 1943 Television series set in 1945 World War II television drama series British English-language television shows Television series by BBC Studios