TEN POUND POMS - SUNDAY 9pm bbc. TV PACE. NO SPOILERS

[Blondeshavemorefun]

In dreary postwar Manchester, Annie Roberts is at her wits end when husband Terry spends all his wages down the pub. Desperate for a better life for her children, Annie responds to an emigration advert that promises Brits a prosperous new life in Australia for a tenner. Expecting whitewashed houses and sun-soaked adventures, the Roberts family arrive in Sydney to find life down under isn't quite what they've been sold.

Ten Pound Poms is the new original drama series created by BAFTA-winning Danny Brocklehurst (Brassic, Ordinary Lies) produced by Eleven, the team behind the award-winning Sex Education. A co-production between BBC and Stan, the series will premiere on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK and as a Stan Original Series in Australia.

The six-part series follows a group of Brits as they leave dreary post-war Britain in 1956 to embark on a life-altering adventure on the other side of the world.

For only a tenner, they have been promised a better house, better job prospects and a better quality of life by the sea in sun-soaked Australia.

But life down under isn’t exactly the idyllic dream the new arrivals have been promised. Struggling with their new identity as immigrants, we follow their triumphs and pitfalls as they adapt to a new life in a new country far from Britain and familiarity.

At the heart of the drama are Annie (Faye Marsay) and Terry Roberts (Warren Brown). They try to make the best of the situation for their family, but the poor living conditions at the hostel and local attitudes towards immigrants test them in ways they couldn’t have imagined.

They aren’t the only people at the hostel avoiding the truth. Kate (Michelle Keegan) is a young nurse who arrives without her fiancé and will do whatever it takes to try and rewrite her devastating past.

Bill (Leon Ford) has lost his family business back home and is so desperate to prove he’s living the Australian dream that he’ll stop at nothing in order to get a lifestyle he can’t sustain.

Teenager Stevie (Declan Coyle) comes from a troubled background and hopes to use this new adventure to escape his oppressive father.

Meanwhile Ron (Rob Collins), an indigenous Australian war veteran, struggles with feeling like an outsider in his own country.

Cast
Michelle Keegan - Kate Thorne
Faye Marsay - Annie Roberts
Warren Brown - Terry Roberts
Hattie Hook - Pattie Roberts
Finn Treacy - Peter Roberts
Stephen Curry - JJ Walker
David Field - Dean
Emma Hamilton - Sheila Anderson
Leon Ford - Bill Anderson
Berynn Schwerdt - Arty
Cheree Cassidy - Marlene
Rob Collins – Ron

At least they didn't go down the back street abortion route - that wojld have been seriously grim.

how likely is it that the guy driving her would have been so understanding and nice?

I thought so too.

If she had been able to have an abortion, how, as a schoolgirl, did they expect her to pay for it?

I assumed she stole the savings they had for her summer camp.

The BBC spend so much on their productions they really should get things right .

I had the subtitles on and when the man driving the daughter for an abortion , stopped his car, it said 'Seat belt clicks' .They weren't around in the 50s . People didn't say' Hiya' as a greeting or 'I'm good ' when being asked how they were .

These little things irritate me !

the teen girl looks older than her mum.
I do wish there was a bit of humour in it.

Seems everyone in RL is mad about this!.I am disappointed ,so many stereotypes Racist Aussie Deano ,wronged Aboriginal , and a totally odd storyline with Kate on her own looking for her Son (Would she have been accepted as a woman travelling alone back then? Seems to lack something!

Those stereotypes are exactly right for the era though aren't they? Wouldn't it be inaccurate to have everyone living in harmony?

I suppose they wanted to bring in the adoption story as this is what happened to a few children after the war and tie it in with the 'ten pound poms ' families too
Although I agree that Kate isn't really typical of that time and wouldn't have been able to go and live there alone I suppose
They probably would have sent her home

this is what happened to a few children after the war

Thousands of children were illegally taken by the UK Government and sent to Australia, South Africa and Canada, where many suffered terrible childhoos under the "care" of religius organisations.

Many women were tricked or coerced and never got over the trauma.

Compensation cases and political apologies are still being sort.

I know this is only a very silly tv series, but please dont let it make you think that the trivial way they are showing it in any way reflects what actually happened - well into the 1970s.

I wonder if Kate is ok to be there as she is a nurse, so has a profession and a job.

I think she would have been able to go as a nurse. Nurses are always in demand. She would probably have been in a women's hostel though not her own hut.

Also, it was more than just a few children who were taken out there as 'orphans' despite still having parents. It was quite a scandal and went on until the 70s.

No, I can imagine what went on back then :(
I hope I haven't upset anyone using the word few. Wasn't thinking before I wrote there
It must have been awful.

It sounds horrendous , why were children sent away ? Were they mostly orphans ?

Sorry the80sweregreat - my post wasn't meant to be a personal criticism, but more how tv series can misrepresent situations as they are (obviously) more interested in the story line than being factual.

I was sort of aware that some children were taken abroad to Australia to be adopted, but I didn't know it went on for so long till the 70s or what the actual circumstances were
There was a mini documentary about it on the 'one show ' once and how bad it was , not every child ended up in nice homes, but they only followed one person 's story for that.

It sounds horrendous , why were children sent away ? Were they mostly orphans

Most weren't orphans but at a time that being an unmarried mother was socially unacceptable, families would pressurise women to give up their children.

And although oftne told they would be adopted by a nice family were in fact shipped out to what were then part of the British colonies (as a way of helping make those countries more "white"). Many went to religious organisations which were extremely harsh, and became cheap labour.

But also there was pressure from social services (dont think they were called that then) on women who did try to bring up a child/ren on their own, that it wasn't in the best interest of the child, and so they should give them up. But what also happened is that women who were for instance recently separated, went for help and said can you look after my child while I find a job and somewhere to live, and once I have done that I will come and collect them. Only to find they had been sent away.

I think this is the story line in this tv series.

In fact the UK Government is one of the few that has not yet apologised for this. This article is from only a https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/may/09/victims-of-forced-adoption-step-up-pressure-for-uk-government-apology

There was a film made about this focusing on the social worker who first starting breaking the silence of what had happened. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-12818070

Beggars belief 🙁. Good that times have changed .

Awww when she saw her son

But she can check medical records for injections and find his address

Sad taken off her as unwed 🥲

Also have subtitles and saw seat belt clicks 😂😂

Why can't Terry say no to any booze he's given

The comment he made about the sausage was funny

Yes sure many back street abortionist about tho the man seemed nice about it all

Ah I can't say I can blame him for drinking with how shit his situation is and how he was so desperate to fit in after how they treat him at work and in a new place with no one. Enough to drive anyone to drink never mind someone who's already got a drink problem

True @purpleme12

Wise words

Poor Terry.
He obviously is suffering PTSD after the horrors of war.
He seems a decent chap. Trying to do the right thing.
The world has moved on and he hasn't got the professional treatment needed to help him, and his wife can't help him. She has enough on her plate trying to survive.
It must have been so hard after the war for those lucky enough to have survived.
No doubt so many who had fought in WW2 had undiagnosed PTSD and didn't get the professional help needed.
Alcohol dulls the pain.
Pattie was very lucky that there was a such a big yellow coat available that hid her bump. 😀
I thought it odd that the little brother was there when she told her parents.
Heartbreaking but I was glad her Mum took that deep breath and came back in to support her.

Monday 8pm on BBC 4 Ten Pound Poms: the Real Story.

Thanks @CaptainMyCaptain

Thank you @CaptainMyCaptain