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Original poster

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

378 replies

Blondeshavemorefun · 08/05/2023 13:49

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

OP posts:
WeAreTheHeroes · 14/05/2023 21:35

No way would Michelle Keegan's character have said "Hiya" to anyone in 1956. One of the anachronistic things so far. That and the daughter playing football being very highly unlikely.

LemonjeIIo · 14/05/2023 21:37

Has Michelle had her lips done? Such a pretty girl, no need to

strawberryFforever · 14/05/2023 21:41

Why has michelle done her lips? So obvious
She didn't need it

Aquarius1234 · 14/05/2023 21:44

Looks like she's had a lot of work done.

Aquarius1234 · 14/05/2023 21:44

Not realistic for 1956!

BarryShitpea · 14/05/2023 21:47

Fil went with his brothers and parents as his parents didn't want them doing national service. They came back after NS finished in the uk and all 4 promptly joined the forces 😂

MeinKraft · 14/05/2023 22:28

I watched this by accident (just happened to continue watching BBC 1 after the BAFTAs) and quite enjoyed it. I wasn't sure what the premise was, and kept expecting one of the camp to turn into a serial killer or something. Might still happen, who knows Grin

Netaporter · 14/05/2023 22:30

Mmm I was looking forward to this, but it Was a bit meh for me. Michelle Keegan is a beautiful girl but has really messed about with her face to the point where it is distracting. Storyline was a bit predictable.

tourdefrance · 14/05/2023 22:42

Watched the first episode and am pretty confused.
Terry is an alcoholic? Kate is running away from a nasty fiancé but also has a child who was sent to Australia (some Barnados kids were).
Who is the blonde woman?

Original poster
Blondeshavemorefun · 14/05/2023 22:49

I enjoyed this

Yes Terry has a drink problem that's why they left U.K. to have a new start

But has met new friends (eventually) and will be in the pub too much

I didn't reliese the hate the quakes had for the Poms :(

Why did no one mention the boy they hit 🥲🥲

OP posts:
DannyZukosSmile · 14/05/2023 22:51

Just watching ep 2 on BBC iplayer. I am loving it. Smile Didn't even know it existed until a few minutes before it started and thought 'sounds good....' It is. Grin

Original poster
Blondeshavemorefun · 14/05/2023 22:52

Yes assume kate had a child and maybe evacuated due to war? Or adopted

OP posts:
DannyZukosSmile · 14/05/2023 22:54

Blondeshavemorefun · 14/05/2023 22:52

Yes assume kate had a child and maybe evacuated due to war? Or adopted

Both - I suspect.

LakeTiticaca · 14/05/2023 23:11

Omg just watched the first episode 😳😳

Wingedharpy · 14/05/2023 23:22

My take on it was Kate, as an unwed Mum, had her boy taken into care and put in a Children's home.
From there, he was sent to Australia, with no consultation/permission from Mum.
Google "Home Children"/Child Migration scheme.
So, so sad and scandalous.

Taytocrisps · 14/05/2023 23:37

I really enjoyed the first episode. I've heard the expression 'whingeing pom' but I didn't realize the Australians resented the British so much. Why? Was it because it meant more competition for jobs? I don't know anyone who went to Australia in the '50s - I think most Irish people from that generation went to the UK or the US. It's been interesting to read the real experiences on this thread. Sounds like a mixed bag irl - some people thrived and others didn't.

I'm assuming Terry will now descend into full blown alcoholism. Will Annie be able to support the family if she gets the supervisor job? At first I thought the little boy was Kate's little brother but then I figured he was her son. She's obviously keen to get away from her fiance (domestic abuse?) but is he the father of her son? And I'd like to know more about the blonde lady.

Their clothes must have been so unsuitable for a hot climate.

I'm a child of the '70s so I remember tealeaves. They were horrible. Even with the tea strainer, some of the leaves would escape into the tea.

I thought it was very unlikely that Kate would have been able to phone the UK from the hospital. That phone call would have been so expensive - there's no way the hospital would have allowed it.

Looking forward to episode 2 next Sunday.

suburbophobe · 14/05/2023 23:47

I really enjoyed it cos I know nothing about Australian history (not from UK).

BBC drama is always good...

No way would Michelle Keegan's character have said "Hiya" to anyone in 1956.

Well, that's o.k. Isn't it called poetic license or something? They are catering to an audience in the 21st century..... :-)

BoreOfWhabylon · 14/05/2023 23:53

Found it pretty disappointing. I'll stick with it but it could have been so much better. I thought it was anachronistic and cliché-ridden. More soap opera than drama, sort of Coronation Street Down Under.

And Michelle Keegan is just awful, with her frozen, botoxed and filled face, heavy makeup and dreadful wig. Completely unconvincing.

And I'm sure the daughter is pregnant.

JesusMaryAndJosephAndTheWeeDon · 15/05/2023 00:00

We enjoyed the first episode so will continue watching, we have watched ahead half an episode though and don't want to give spoilers so won't say much.

Years ago I read a book about the child migration scheme and some of this is sadly consistent. If I can remember the name of the book I will post it as it was very interesting.

MadinMarch · 15/05/2023 00:09

&JesusMaryAndJosephAndTheWeeDon

Was the book 'Oranges and Sunshine? by Margaret Humphreys .

MadinMarch · 15/05/2023 00:10

last message was supposed to be to @JesusMaryAndJosephAndTheWeeDon

Wingedharpy · 15/05/2023 00:17

I think the book was called "Empty Cradles" @MadinMarch and the film (based on the book) was "Oranges and Sunshine".
Heartbreaking.😢

AnyFucker · 15/05/2023 00:26

That was crap

Nat6999 · 15/05/2023 00:28

I hope the whole series is on iplayer now, I want to binge watch it all at once. One of my mum's friend's sisters went on an emigration programme in 1960, she stayed but her husband came back leaving her with 3 young children to bring up. She married an Australian & took Australian citizenship, one of her sons served in the Australian Navy for 42 years. I can remember her coming home to visit her sister who lived in the same yard as us, when I met her, she had a fur coat on, I was only 6 & thought she was the Queen, she gave me a brand new 50 cent piece which still lives in my jewellery box 50 years later.

Pieceofpurplesky · 15/05/2023 00:37

My dad and his brother were
going to be sent as kids but his dad couldn't part with them (he was child number 7 and they were dirt poor).

As an aside can we please stop criticising women for how they look. This is probably why women have treatment - chasing perfection.
I'll get off my soapbox now