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Tenko
Format Drama
Created by Lavinia Warner
Starring Ann Bell
Stephanie Cole
Stephanie Beacham
Louise Jameson
Patricia Lawrence
Veronica Roberts
Emily Bolton
Elizabeth Chambers
Claire Oberman
Jean Anderson
Burt Kwouk
Nicolas Corry
Country of origin UK
No. Drama is the specific mode of Fiction represented in Performance. Lavinia Warner created several successful TV series in the 80s and 90s all of which featured women in the leading roles Ann Bell (born 29 April 1940) is a Cheshire -born British actress probably best known for playing prisoner of war Marion Jefferson in the Stephanie Cole, OBE (born October 5, 1941) is an English actress, best known for playing characters a great deal older than her Stephanie Beacham (born 28 February 1947 is an English actress. Louise Jameson (born 20 April 1951 in Wanstead, London) is an English actress, most famous for playing Leela Patricia Lawrence (born 19 November 1925, Andover, England, UK - died 7 March 1993, Chelsea London Veronica Roberts is a British actress best known for playing Dorothy Bennett in the BBC drama Tenko and Laura Elliott in the ITV Emily Bolton is an actress probably best known for her appearance in the James Bond film Moonraker in which she played 007's Brazilian contact Manuela Elizabeth Chambers (born 1982 is an American television host and news reporter for Current TV. Claire Oberman is a Dutch -born (1953 British and New Zealand -raised actress best known for her role as Australian nurse Kate Norris in the Jean Anderson ( 12 December 1907 – 1 April 2001) was an English actress born in Eastbourne, Sussex. Burt Kwouk ( Chinese: 郭弼 Pinyin: Guō Bì (born July 18, 1930) is a Chinese - English Actor who was Nicolas Corry (born November 26, 1972) was a child star in Tenko. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located  of episodes 31
Production
Running time 1 Hour (including ads)
Broadcast
Original channel BBC
Original run 1981 – 1985
External links
IMDb profile

Tenko is a television drama, co-produced by the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) and the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly abbreviated to the 'ABC' is Australia's national public broadcaster. A total of thirty episodes was produced between 1981 and 1984, followed by a one-off special (which was twice the length of the other episodes), Tenko Reunion, in 1985.

The series dealt with the experiences of British, Australian and Dutch women who were captured after the fall of Singapore in February 1942, after the Japanese invasion, and interned in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands Singapore For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics.

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 This Is Your Life and was convinced of the dramatic potential of these women's stories. Lavinia Warner created several successful TV series in the 80s and 90s all of which featured women in the leading roles This Is Your Life was a television documentary series hosted by its producer Ralph Edwards. Aside from the first two episodes, set in Singapore, which were written by Paul Wheeler, the series was written by Jill Hyem and Anne Valery. Formerly an Actress, Jill Hyem became a successful British Television Writer.

Due to high production costs only the first two episodes of the first series were filmed on location in Singapore. The majority of the series, set in the camp, was filmed in a specially constructed set in Dorset. Dorset ( (or archaically, Dorsetshire) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast

Contents

Major characters

See : Tenko Characters

The major characters who featured in all three series and the reunion telemovie were:

First series

The first series establishes the pre-war lives of many of the characters before chronicling the fall of Singapore, and the evacuation of British nationals from the city. One ship, bound for Australia with a smattering of refugees on board, is torpedoed and sinks in the Java sea.

The survivors gather on a beach, and are subsequently captured by Japanese soldiers before being interned under Commandant Yamauchi (Burt Kwouk), a deeply traditional Japanese soldier, who regards the prisoners as "fourth-class women". Burt Kwouk ( Chinese: 郭弼 Pinyin: Guō Bì (born July 18, 1930) is a Chinese - English Actor who was His sadistic deputy, Lieutenant Sato (Eiji Kusuhara) is dubbed "Satan" by the inmates.

Conditions in the camp are harsh; no clean water, and little more than rice and water for the inmates to eat and drink. In addition to the main cast, the major personalities of the first season's episodes included elegant snob Rose Millar (Stephanie Beacham), tarty Cockney Blanche Simmons (Louise Jameson), nurse Nellie Keene (Jeananne Crowley), newlywed Sally Markham (Joanna Hole), mother and daughter Judith (Ann Queensberry) and Debbie Bowen (Karin Foley) and Sylvia Ashburton (Renée Asherson), a haughty general's wife. Stephanie Beacham (born 28 February 1947 is an English actress. Louise Jameson (born 20 April 1951 in Wanstead, London) is an English actress, most famous for playing Leela Jeananne Crowley (born 1946) is an Irish -born actress remembered for her roles on British film and television Joanna Hole is a British actress possibly best known for her role as Sally Markham in the 1980s BBC Television drama series Tenko Renée Asherson (born 19 May 1920 in London, England) is an English actress with a distinguished career in theatre films and television

The first series chronicles the women's first year in captivity, ending during Christmas 1942, focusing on their efforts to adjust to being interned and to their new Dutch companions in the camp.

Second series

As the second series opens, the prisoners are being shifted to a new camp. The first few episodes deal with the long march through the jungle, and the remainder are set in the new camp, an efficient facility under the leadership of Miss Hasan (Josephine Welcome), the commandant's interpreter, who exploits the prisoners with the help of a "collaborator", Verna Johnson (Rosemary Martin), whom she has installed as her puppet leader of the internees. Rosemary Martin ( 17 December 1936 &ndash 14 August 1998) was an English actress equally well remembered for her Sitcom

In addition to the main cast and several holdovers from the first series, including Rose Millar and Blanche Simmons, new additions to the cast included tough-as-boots aristocrat Jocelyn "Joss" Holbrook (Jean Anderson), Lillian Cartland (Philippa Urquhart), orphaned Daisy Robertson (Anna Lindup) and Dr. Jean Anderson ( 12 December 1907 – 1 April 2001) was an English actress born in Eastbourne, Sussex. Philippa Urquhart is a British actress best known for her performance as Lillian Cartland in the 1980s BBC Television drama Tenko Natalie Trier (Carolle Rousseau).

The second series ends on a cliffhanger of sorts, as the camp receives a direct hit during an Allied bombing raid on the local Japanese headquarters.

Third series

The third series opens with the liberation of the prisoners-of-war, amidst the end of the war and the return of Singapore to British control. All of the returning POW's make a difficult adjustment to civilian life.

Dorothy and Maggie Thorpe (Elizabeth Mickery) befriend local businessman Jake Haulter (Damien Thomas), Joss is re-acquainted with an old friend, Stephen Wentworth (Preston Lockwood) and Marion's marriage to Clifford (Jonathan Newth) - now a brigadier - suffers because of his expectation she return to life as a docile army wife. Damien Thomas (born 11 April 1942 in Ismailia, Egypt) is a British actor noted for his roles in British Films Preston Lockwood ( 30 October 1912 &ndash 24 April 1996) was an English Actor. Jonathan Newth (born 6 March 1939) in Devon is a British actor best known for his performances in television

The third series also follows Clifford's work in bringing war crimes charges against the Japanese, including a personal vendetta to indict Yamauchi for his role in imprisoning Marion and the others. Because of her unique relationship with Yamauchi - Marion and the commandant came to a grudging respect for one another through the turbulent events of the first two episodes - Marion (as well as Christina and Ulrica) refuses to testify against Yamauchi, further estranging Clifford.

Analysis

The series was praised for its bold storytelling, and outstanding performances from its leads. Despite its comparatively modest production values, it has been favourably compared to big-budget versions of what is essentially the same story, such as the Bruce Beresford film Paradise Road. Bruce Beresford (born 16 August 1940 is an Academy Award -nominated Australian film director writer and producer Paradise Road is a 1997 Film which tells the story of a group of women who are imprisoned in Sumatra during World War II.

Tenko can also be regarded as an interesting fusion of historical drama and soap opera, with its focus on the more personal aspects of living in the camp and its handling of issues such as rape, stillbirth, lesbianism, suicide, abortion and euthanasia within the context of 1940's morality.

Tenko Reunion

In 1985, a two-hour special, Tenko Reunion, was produced. It picked up a story thread from the final episode of the series, in which the surviving prisoners of war, on the eve of their repatriation from Singapore, had made a promise to reunite five years later, at Raffles Hotel - a fixture in their pre-war lives, which also served as a repatriation centre during the liberation of Singapore.

Tenko Reunion featured Marion Jefferson (Ann Bell) now divorced from Clifford; Dr Beatrice Mason (Stephanie Cole) and Christina Campbell (Emily Bolton) now working in a community centre in Singapore, Domenica Forster-Brown (Elizabeth Chambers), the now happily re-married Mrs Van Meyer, nurse and now doctor-in-training Kate Norris (Clare Oberman), young Alice Courtenay (Cindy Shelley) and working class girls Dorothy Bennett (Veronica Roberts) and Maggie Carter (Elizabeth Mickery), now a successful businesswoman and married mother of two, respectively. Cindy Shelley (born 23 March 1960 in Barnet, Hertfordshire) is a British actress best known for her roles in two high profile

The reunion examined how each of their lives had changed, and how life in Singapore was also changing. In a dramatic twist, the women are held at gunpoint at the plantation on the estate of Domenica Forster-Brown - after one among them passes information that there is a cache of guns on the estate to a band of local communist rebels.

It featured Domenica's new husband Teddy Forster-Brown (Robert Lang), Christina Campbell's boyfriend, Lau Peng (Swee Hoe Lim) and a young doctor who catches Kate Norris's eye, Duncan Fraser (Christian Rodska). Robert Lang ( September 24 1934 &ndash November 6, 2004) was a versatile English actor who was spotted by Laurence Olivier Christian Rodska (born 5 September, 1945 in Northumberland) is a versatile English Actor who has appeared in many Television

The major twist of the Tenko Reunion was the revelation that it was one of the women who had betrayed them to the communist rebels. The spy was revealed to be Christina Campbell, whose difficulty adjusting after life in the camps had been developed in detail in the third series.

Christina's experience with racism - from Sylvia Ashburton's "Raj"-style disdain for her in the first series, to the difficulties of being caught between the British establishment in Singapore, and her Chinese appearance, had stoked the fires of rebellion in her. She secretly worked for the rebels, hoping to trigger independence for Singapore on their terms.

The series concluded at a subsequent reunion, this one at Christmas, at Marion's home in London, attended by Dominica, Alice, Jake, Stephen, Bea, Marion, Maggie, and Dorothy, with brief glimpses of Kate, Ulrica, and Duncan serving Christmas dinner to the poor at the community centre in Singapore, and Christina - alone and unrepentant - in her prison cell.

DVD release

The complete series of Tenko is available on DVD (Region 2, UK) through Acorn Media. For Australia, Series 1 (in two parts) in 2006, Series 2 will be released in March 2008 and Series 3 later. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics.

External links

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