Distributor:
Acorn Media UK 2 X 2 DISC SETS
Available to buy separately or in a special box set. Certificate: 12 &
15 | 620 minutes | Region 2 Available to buy | 4 disc set Extras:
Yes Creator:
Lavinia Warner
ANYONE
IN IT WE KNOW?
Ann
Bell, Stephanie Cole, Jean Anderson, Claire Oberman, Emily Roberts,
Elizabeth Mickery, Cindy Shelley, Burt Kwouk, Jonathan Newth, Preston
Lockwood
WHAT’S
IT ABOUT THEN?
The
third and final series of this
world war II drama series about
a group of women interned in a
Japanese Prisoner of War Camp
sees the war coming to a close
and the women having to come to
terms with the effects of the
war and being reunited with
their husbands and families and
trying to pick up the threads of
a now shattered lifestyle.
SO
IS IT ANY GOOD?
This
third series of Tenko saw a major change in style as the war ended and
the women regained their freedom, of course their world has changed so
much that they cannot be the same people they were before and they all
have trouble adapting to “real life” again.
By the end of episode
two of this ten part series the camp has been liberated by the
Australians and the girls are all but ready to lynch the Japanese
(however the steadfast Marion Jefferson {Ann Bell} manages to restore
some kind of English decency), later the women are ensconced in luxury
at the famous
Raffles hotel getting
used to being able to have baths with hot water and trying to discover
the whereabouts of their families. The elderly Joss gets heavily
involved in setting up a health centre with the equally aged Stephen
Wentworth (the legendary Preston Lockwood) Marion
meanwhile is finding it hard to settle back into life as a wife (her
husband Clifford is in charge of the hunt for war criminals) after
having been the leader of the women at the camp. By series end the women
are all going their separate ways but agree to meet five years later for
a reunion at Raffles. Luckily for us the 90 minute Reunion
special which takes place in 1950 is included on disc four of this set,
obviously five years is a long time and many changes have happened in
the lives of the women and not all of them make it, but a number of
things come to light about certain events in the camp.
Series
creator Lavinia Warner had hit upon the idea for Tenko whilst
researching a This Is Your Life on real life internee Margo Turner and
it’s easy to see why it became such a success, strong scripts
featuring strong women, no wonder the cast loved working on it, there
are so few outlets for female actresses at the best of times, Tenko of
course provided a whole multitude of quality roles, in fact it would be
fair to say that the series was the highlight of the careers of much of
those involved in the series. This third series, despite moving away
(which had to happen of course) from the initial premise of the series,
easily maintains the quality of series one and two, Tenko is one of the
best series made during the 1980’s and it is great to see that Acorn
have made the whole series available. Superb stuff.
ANY
SPECIAL FEATURES?
Extras
are mostly text based and include cast filmographies and production
notes.
