Ten Pound Poms

Not an unforgettable drama or a terrible one, somewhere in the middle. One of those shows where you should probably bail if the characters and storyline in the first episode don't grab you.

It had decent production values, with a few sound and lighting wobbles and a solid ensemble cast. Michelle Keegan's character felt a bit far-fetched in some of her endeavours, but fans will no doubt forgive her. One of its strengths was the number of strong female characters.

If you get on board with the first episode stay with it, if you don't jump ship as it continues along the same path.

On the downside there was a lot of heavy-handed messaging that didn't need to be there.

If I had to summarize my experience of watching 'Ten Pound Poms' so far I would have to say that Danny Brocklehurst was determined to work his story around xenophobia and racism, and chose the Labour Camp outside Sydney as his best way to integrate those themes, as it brought many races closer together. Unfortunately, it makes the story flat as every day we see Terry going off to do his bit in a hole in the ground, and in the evening he gets together with the other immigrants for a drink or party. It's a generalization of course, but many members of the Maltese side of my family went to Australia at this time and they ended up in the big cities. I think this makes the whole story seem untrue. There may have been one of two places that were like the camp, but they were probably the exception rather than the rule and this is where this story falls flat for me.

The production values, acting, scoring, cinematography are all world class. It's just that the story falls flat, it is too crowded, and the characters are not three dimensional enough. I will make an exception for the Terry character, and I think the Michelle Keegan character could have been worked better. The orphanage scene was embarrassing and unconvincing.

I think the subject material needed a more sensitive approach and probably should have come from someone with more first jhand experience of the process of emigration.

The first episode starts very well then it takes a nose dive. The cinematography and acting is superb, it is let down by a very weak script. Other reviews call it 'soap opera' drama and I tend to agree.

The writers had an amazing opportunity here to write a period drama delving in to the issues of the time. Instead we get a bloated over dramatic 'modern show' with nothing new.

If this is renewed for a 2nd season. I hope they tighten up the story focus on fewer characters giving the audience a chance to become invested. And for god sake leave the modern drama tropes behind. There is reality tv for that.

Good show well acted story was good . I think people may find it interesting especially if they had parents from Britain that immigrated after ww2 . No jobs in Britain after ww2 many people immigrated to Australia the advertisements made it seem like a dream . But not so much the reality .

Poverty and discrimination face the the new arrivals . The brochure didn't say they be faced with the harsh realities .

In the end it's about community and making friends and talking everyone wants to work and have job and get along .

I would recommend this to anyone who likes good writing , interesting characters , and Australia .

As much as this was a depiction of what happened when Ten Pound Poms came to Australia, I think the important thing to remember is that this is a drama show, not history. Having said that, an old ex of mine was a 6 year old when his family came to Australia on a boat, landing in Perth and then Sydney, before being transported to Ipswich, Queensland. They were also under the impression that they would have somewhere to live and jobs would be plentiful. The accommodation was very much what was shown here, and the attitude towards the "Poms" was very much the case in this show. I really hope that there is a season 2, it was a little slow to start but it got better as it went along. Loved the style of the era and the depiction of Australia at the time. Although I have to say that I found the racism awful and I was bubbling with anger as I watched. Sad to think that the Australian "spirit" was severely lacking.