Ten Pound Poms [Contains spoilers]

I liked it, easy viewing but not as twee as call the midwife, interesting. Hope they have 2nd series so we can find out what actually happened, I think Michelle keegan character shows traits of mental illness or a darker past as to why child was in care and shows odd n creepy unacceptable behaviours like pretending to be social worker. Drugging boyfriend, breaking into office etc we should find out she had undiagnosed bi polar or similar or a breakdown or whatever and she is pretending to want to be with boyfriend as he is actually controlling, what is she going to do with her son kidnap him? It's all really about mental illness with ptsd, attempted suicide, etc. Could do without the singing though

At that time an unmarried mother could easily lose her child. Some children were left in children's homes temporarily, eg while mother was ill or sorting out housing, then taken to Australia. There were some really sad real life stories.

Also I think 'bipolar' is a very recent diagnosis. A person would be diagnosed with schizophrenia and probably put away in an institution.

I agree it would be good to learn more of her back story.

It's all really about mental illness with ptsd, attempted suicide, etc.

That's a really good point.

I hope we do get a second series to either round off or keep following the main characters' stories.

I think she might possibly have been a single mum, and perhaps her mum was helping out, got ill and then Kate couldn't do her job but couldn't afford to stay at home with Michael so put him temporarily in a care situation until she could afford to have someone look after him when she was at work/on shifts etc.

The rest of her behaviour, although far-fetched, I think is trying to show the desperate lengths she would go to, to get her child back rather than mental illness. I doubt she'd normally pretend to be a social worker just to be creepy. She did it all with the specific reason of getting Michael back.

I agree @HeartStarRose

A possible backstory, but unlikely and badly done and acted. Though the dad for me, followed by the daughter, was the worst actor from the wooden tops cast.

Really dumbed down light TV viewing.

Yes but be better if there is a back story! I thought the dad was quite good, mother not so much

I forgot about the mother. The unnecessary lies in the department store and telling people, more than one, she'd just met about problems with her husband.

Think bi polar was called manic depression in those days

Yes. I think you are right.

I think that was because her husband didn't want her to work and she didn't want him to find out. It was not unusual in those days and a matter of pride that a man could support his wife.

Before there was Mumsnet or social media people did talk about things like that person to person, at least among women. I can remember in the 70s being among older women who moaned all the time about their husband's. I used to wonder why they were still with them.

I've only watched three episodes so far and finding it a real slog. I know this is a spoiler thread btw!
Can anyone tell me if Terry's daughter is pregnant or not ?
What happens with Kate too.
I probably will watch the others, but I don't care what happens to any of them really apart from the nice aboriginal man who I assumed beat up Dean in episode three.

Can anyone tell me if Terry's daughter is pregnant or not? Yes

What happens with Kate too?
I can't remember what happens up to the end of episode 3, but Kate takes JJ's car one night and drives back to the immigration entry place where she had her photo taken, seduces the photographer, nicks his keys and then breaks into the filing cabinet containing all the photographs of emigrants to look for her son's entry card so she can find where he went. She finds it and discovers which Catholic children's home he was sent to. It's quite far away. The photographer catches her in the act, but feels sorry for her and agrees to help her.

Kate's ex (who we're led to believe is abusive, but actually isn't), then shows up in Australia and tries to persuade her to leave it and that Michael is better off now, but she won't. The photographer lends her his car and she and Annie drive up to the children's home. She tells the priest in charge that she's a married woman looking to adopt, but he sees she isn't wearing a wedding ring and tells her to leave. She is distraught and causes a scene.

A little while later, she at work when she sees Michael coming for a routine injection with his adoptive parents. She chases after them, but they get in their car and drive away. She then breaks into matron's office to find his patient information and address. She again gets caught and is fired, but her boss hands her the card with the info on it. She then goes to the house where Michael is living, no one is home, so she breaks in and then falls asleep on his bed, then sneaks out of the house when they come back.

She then returns to the house, pretending to be a social worker, questions the adoptive mother and Michael and behaves suspiciously, hugging him and telling him she'll see him very soon. Then she turns up at his school gate and persuades him to get in her car, tells him she's his real mother (he hasn't recognised her) and says they're going for a little drive. The end.

Bonkers isn't it 🤣. And given that she'd injected her fiancé before she left alone for Australia.

Even when she was pretending to phone the consulate from work, with someone in the same small room within earshot, she wasn't even trying to conceal that she was talking to her mother. There was even a 'love you' at one point.

I hope she did decide to leave him with his new parents, quite honestly!

Yes @aqiarious it's like a bad soap opera!

Michelle Keegan's orange skin was also ridiculous for something set in 1956 as I'm pretty sure fake tan hadn't been invented.

Thank you !
I looked up the other episodes on I player , but episode four had the tag line that Terry shows up his wife at a party and it sounds very cringing and I cba to sit through that especially as she seems to like it there now and he doesn't ( for obvious reasons )
I might just watch the last episode and fill in the gaps myself ! It's been disappointing up to now.

😅The orange skin was funny and really stood out.

Her eyebrows and lips were annoying me too can these programme makers get appearances historically correct please.

It was OK as an easy watch but overall I was disappointed. I've read a few books about the child migrations and they're fascinating and horrific in equal measure. It had such great potential to be really poignant and thought provoking and it just missed every opportunity to hit the mark.

Not showing any of the boat journey was a huge miss. The good school girl not only having a baby from the 'coloured boy' back home but also everyone around her fairly quickly being fine and accepting of that - highly unlikely for the time.

Michelle Keegan was the worst part about it imo. I actually think she's a great actress but she jarred badly with the character. The tan, her fillers (or whatever she's had done to her face that makes her expressions look a bit odd at times) and the perfect 2023-esque brows ruined any possibility of credibility which was a shame. I imagine she got the job based on having a well known name in it rather than being the right actress.

Yes

Michelle Keegan was out of place with her sculpted eyebrows etc . The rest of the cast were believable.

Michelle Keegan was out of place with her sculpted brows etc. The rest of the cast were believable.

Just finished episode 6 - I’d sum it up by saying that the series started off promisingly and then got more and more disappointing as it went on. It was so disjointed and far fetched - no proper character development. And how weedy JJ managed to get the rucksack of rocks off Shelia and haul her up from the depths in that short time is beyond me.

Just watched this in 2 chunks going to and from holiday. I so wanted to like it, but it was just odd.

I even love a musical but I was cringing behind my hands at the singing bit, and the final abduction of the kid (who was, thankfully a terrible actor) was just creepy. I've read a lot about the scandal of the child migration scheme, and they could have done so much more with that storyline.

The best acting was the Dean psychopath (reminded me of Begbie in Trainspotting) and I did laugh out loud at "you've punched the dog unconscious" but possibly I wasn't meant to? Artie was alright too.

Some nice clothes, especially round the pool at Marlene's.

How did Pattie give birth prematurely to a 2 month old baby?

Was Kate's fiancé good or bad? Did he actually tell her that her Mum was fine? Did she mean it about going to Cairns or was it all a ruse to give her time to escape? Why did the woman who adopted the boy not smell a rat when Kate knew nothing at all about the history of the adoption? How was she so good at finding exactly what she wanted within 10 seconds of rifling through a random filing cabinet?

Why were the twins so fat? Their mother should have got a job as a sign writer, she made a beautiful job of painting "I'm free!" on the window.

Why DID Warren Brown's character shoot a German who had his hands up in surrender?

The way she emerged from the water looking all glamorous and he started nuzzling her neck- eurgh. Wonder how many takes they did of that. Don't know how they managed to keep straight faces.