Released by Acorn Media UK

One of the best BBC series to emerge from the somewhat fallow period of the early 1980’s Tenko follows the misfortunes of a group of English women held in various POW camps by the Japanese in 1940’s Malaya.

Series 2 picks up on the story in 1942 with the women led by the stalwart Marion Jefferson (played by Ann Bell) having to face a wearying hazardous march to a new camp, when the arrive at the their new camp they are surprised by how good the conditions are but are not pleased when they learn that the vile Verna Johnson (who is in charge of the women at the new camp) is overly nice to the Japs in order to maintain conditions.

The women have to now try and adjust to their new surroundings, no longer intent on escape but more concerned with plain survival, with one of the women, Dorothy, turning to prostitution with the guards.

This is a very good series, dealing with a subject that hadn’t been covered in any depth before, with a uniformly excellent cast that includes the likes of Stephanie Beacham, Stephanie Cole, Claire Oberman, Elizabeth Chambers, Louise Jameson, Elizabeth Mickery (who has since become a top TV scriptwriter), the much missed Jean Anderson and the wonderful Burt Kwouk as camp commandant Major Yamauchi.