Tenko

I remember watching this with my mom when I was 12 & it still resonates with me 15 years later. There aren't very many shows/movies concerning the lives of women during World War II, and I seriously doubt anything in the future could top Tenko in terms of quality. Quality of cast, story, set design, make-up, etc. In the States, Tenko aired in the late 80's on the Arts & Entertainment Network (aka 'A&E'). During that time, A&E was primarily an outlet for WWII and British programing. It was with Tenko that I got my first taste of what the BBC could accomplish. I'd also recommend a movie called 'Bent' for its depiction of homosexuals in Nazi concentration camps. Although the plot is fictional, the premise is based on fact. 'Bent' may not be the best WWII movie but it's interesting because, like Tenko did for women, it sheds light on the plight of gays in WWII. As fascinating as Bent may be, it doesn't hold a candle to Tenko. Perhaps one day it will be released here in North America.

I watched this programme years ago, recently I have purchased series one and two on dvd they are still powerfull.The will to survive is very strong in human beings even in a prison camp.All aspects of life are racism loyalty and above all freindship the pain of the heroines hurts at times you laugh and cry.The acting and writing is wonderful I must mention Stephanie Cole who as the doctor is out of this world.Watch and enjoy if only the BBC could get back to this type of drama.

Without doubt, Tenko is one of the BBC's most successful and popular drama series. Never repeated on BBC television, and only the first season available on video (and long since deleted), Tenko still holds strong and popular places in the memories of its audience. I managed to record the whole run on its recent digital television rerun, and became hooked, sometimes watching six episodes in one sitting.

Forcing a group of women to survive in a prison camp, Tenko explores the very human dramas, emotions and personality clashes that arise from this unbearable situation. We spend three-and-a-half years in the company of this group. They have little food, no clean water and no medication or sanitation. Forced into slave labour, sleeping on bare boards, the stresses and strains of their predicament are entirely believable, and make for edge of the seat viewing. Perfectly written (the series was created by a woman who survived a Japanese prison camp) and perfectly acted; blessed with truly amazing make-up (some of the women really do look starving, emaciated, covered in blisters and sunburn); some of the cast have only one dress to wear for the entire series. The human tragedy and awful, grinding horror of prison camp life is unforgettable.

The first series deals with the Japanese invasion of Singapore, disrupting lives of the ex-pats living in the British colony. Forced to evacuate, the survivors fall into Japanese hands, and we follow some of the women into prison. Mentioning "the survivors" is a very relevant point. Tenko is not afraid to show that life in this condition can result in awful, lingering death. Characters whom we grow to know and love, to understand and empathise with, are struck down with beriberi, cholera, malaria. The aching sadness and genuine humanity of Tenko is truly remarkable. Gradually revealing more about the characters, their past lives, and their hopes for the future, piles on the emotion, making it absolutely unmissable. There were some scenes I found I was watching while holding my breath, not wishing to disrupt the heart-and-soul being displayed onscreen.

Season two moves the women to a new camp, offloading several en route and picking up some new faces. The new camp, although better equipped, has a very different regime, and introduces us to Miss Hasan, the malicious and spiteful right-hand woman to the Commandant. The second half of season two deals with a prisoner receiving a gunshot wound: operating on her in a hut full of flies, with just a pair of sugar-tongs to remove the bullet, is absolutely gripping.

Season three deals with the war drawing to a close, and the survivors' return to Singapore. Their struggles to return to "normal" and realisation that they may have had more freedom in prison, away from the strictures of post-war austerity, are perfectly played.

No-one involved in Tenko has a happy ending. There's a definite feeling that, as the survivors climb about the ship to return to the UK, they have lost everything, and are fragile and broken. The horrors they've witnessed and cruelty they faced daily, will be with them forever more. Those who escaped Japanese capture will never understand.

Tenko is a real masterwork. One of the most intense and powerful pieces of television I have ever seen. Careful touches throughout the series never fail to amaze: Commandant Yamuchi occasionally allowing his humanity and honour to shine (witness the scene in season one where he stands beside a newly dug grave, lost in thought); old-fashioned bigot Sylvia Ashburton gradually letting her prejudices slip as she realises everyone is the same, underneath; season two's black marketeer Verna Johnson losing sight of her pole position in the camp as the war takes a turn for the worse; Dorothy Bennett's uncomfortably close relationship with some of the guards; Lillian's love for her young son gradually driving her mad; Sister Ulrica being forced to make decisions she would not make in the "real" world; Doctor Mason's horror at the death and disease she cannot solve ... Tenko is a special thing. Not to be missed, under any circumstances.

Forget Paradise Road! If you really want to have any idea what the women who were prisoners of war of the Japanese this is the series to watch. At times the make up department are so realistic that you do not know these sores are not part of the women. What the men and women went through in these camps is nothing short of Hell. If the fact of malnutrition and hard work didn't kill you the malaria would! Congratulations to everyone who worked on this production because unlike Paradise Road they actually did their homework to make this as real as possible!

I absolutely adore Tenko - I saw it on video for the first time when I was 19 years old and was absolutely hooked! When I found out that only Series 1 was available on video, and that the BBC had failed to release Series 2, Series 3 and the two part special Tenko Reunion on video, I was hopping mad, I can tell you!

Finally, UK Gold repeated the entire series last year, and thanks to a fellow Tenko fan named Patsy, I now have the whole thing on video for me to watch over and over again!

The characters in this series are so real, that the viwer really does care for them deeply - Ann Bell is Marion Jefferson, the wife of a British army colonel, who finds herself appointed leader of the British women; Sister Ulrica (Patricia Lawrence) is the formidale nun, leader of the Dutch internees; Beatrice Mason (Stephanie Cole), the determined, no-nonsense doctor; Major Yamauchi (Bert Kwouk), the strict but at times compassionate commandant of the camp; nurses Kate Norris (Claire Oberman) and Nellie Keene (Jeananne Crowley); and so on, were just some of the protagonists who made this series so unforgettable.

Some of the most dramatic storylines occurred in Series 2, where a Eurasian woman, the evil Miss Hasan (Josephine Welcome) and a sly internee named Verna Johnson (Rosemary Martin) called the shots. Series 3 took place in Singapore, when the War had ended and the women had to cope with being free, trying to get used to their lives after years of imprisonment.

Gruelling, dramatic, shocking, funny, gripping - Tenko was all of these things, and much more. If it is ever on television, I urge you to watch it.

FYI: I recently met the actress Louise Jameson, who was so brilliant as Cockney Blanche Simmons in Tenko. I told her how much I loved the series, and she said that Tenko was her favourite acting job of all time - and she's been in Doctor Who, Bergerac and EastEnders to name just a few!