Tenko (TV series)

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Tenko
Title caption that was seen throughout the series.
Created by	Lavinia Warner
Written by	Jill Hyem Anne Valery Paul Wheeler Ed Reardon
Directed by	Pennant Roberts David Askey David Tucker Jeremy Summers Michael Owen Morris
Starring	Ann Bell Stephanie Cole Stephanie Beacham Louise Jameson Patricia Lawrence Veronica Roberts Emily Bolton Jeananne Crowley Elizabeth Chambers Claire Oberman Jean Anderson Burt Kwouk Rosemary Martin Elizabeth Mickery
Theme music composer	James Harpham
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of series	3, plus 1 two part reunion special
No. of episodes	31
Production
Producers	Ken Riddington Vere Lorrimer
Running time	50 minutes
Release
Original network	BBC1
Original release	22 October 1981 (1981-10-22) – 16 December 1984, 26 December 1985

Tenko is a television drama series co-produced by the BBC and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), which was broadcast between 1981 and 1985.

The series dealt with the experiences of British, Australian and Dutch women who were captured after the Fall of Singapore in February 1942, after the Japanese invasion, and held in a fictional Japanese internment camp on a Japanese-occupied island between Singapore and Australia. Having been separated from their husbands, herded into makeshift holding camps and largely forgotten by the British War Office, the women had to learn to cope with appalling living conditions, malnutrition, disease, violence and death.

Background[]

Tenko was created by Lavinia Warner after she had conducted research into the internment of nursing corps officer Margot Turner (1910–1993) for an edition of This Is Your Life and was convinced of the dramatic potential of the stories of women prisoners of the Japanese.^[1] Aside from the first two episodes, set in Singapore, which were written by Paul Wheeler, the series was written by Jill Hyem and Anne Valery. War hero and prisoner of war Dr Margaret Thomson was consulted about the series but she did not like to talk about her experiences and never watched the programmes.^[2]

Owing to high production costs, only the first two episodes of the first series were filmed on location in Singapore, together with the post series reunion extended episode. For the majority of series 1 and 2, set in the camp, the programme was filmed in a specially constructed set in Dorset. Hankley Common was also used.^[3]

The series takes its name from the Japanese word "tenko" (点呼/てんこ) which means "roll-call". POWs and internees in Japanese-run camps had regular roll-calls, where they had to line up and number off or were counted in Japanese.^[4]

A total of thirty episodes were produced over three series between 1981 and 1984, followed by a one-off special (which was twice the length of the other episodes), Tenko Reunion, in 1985. Only Ann Bell, Stephanie Cole and Claire Oberman appeared in all thirty episodes plus the reunion.

Series One (1981)[]

Ten fifty-minute episodes broadcast between 22 October-24 December 1981.

The first series depicts the fall of Singapore to the invading Japanese forces in 1942, and the abortive evacuation of civilians from the city. A group of British and Dutch women find themselves forced to cope with captivity in a Japanese internment camp. They also must find a way to live together as a community, breaking down the barriers of class and race between them, if they are to survive.

Series Two (1982)[]

Ten fifty-minute episodes broadcast between 21 October-23 December 1982.

The second series sees the women being marched through the jungle to a new camp, an old mission school. They arrive on New Year's Day 1943, and instantly find the new regime a major culture shock after their first year in captivity. As new friends – and enemies – are made, the women realise that they must make the adjustment to internment all over again.

Series Three (1984)[]

Ten fifty-minute episodes broadcast between 7 October-16 December 1984.

The third series is set during 1945. The Second World War is over – the Japanese have surrendered. The survivors of the camps are liberated by Allied troops and travel to Singapore. Billeted at Raffles, the women are free. However, peacetime only brings further dilemmas for the women as they struggle to forge new futures in an uncertain new world.

Tenko Reunion (1985)[]

A double-length special was broadcast on 26 December 1985.

Set in 1950, the women reunite in Singapore five years after their liberation from the camp.

Main cast list[]

DVD release and books[]

All three series plus the Reunion Special were released in one DVD box-set in 2011 through Acorn Media UK.

Three paperback books were published in the 1980s. One covering the first series, titled Tenko, while a second called Last Tenko, covered the second and final series. The third book, written by Anne Valery, covered the Reunion.

A book about the making of Tenko called Remembering Tenko by Andy Priestner was published in October 2012.

References[]

External links[]

• Tenko a website authorised by creator Lavinia Warner
• Tenko at the BFI's Screenonline
• Tenko at BBC Online
• Tenko at IMDb
• Complete cast list and episode guide
• Lavinia Warner's page on Tenko
• RealPlayer version of the opening titles, at the BBC Cult homepage
• A brief essay on the series, and an episode guide