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EP1  Go Down Fighting
Oct. 07,1984
Go Down Fighting

1 JULY 1945: Two years have passed and the women are in another camp, this one in the site of a former prison. Times have been hard and many have died - including Blanche, Verna, Daisy and even little Suzy. New faces include brassy, tough Maggie Thorpe and 16 year old Alice Courtenay, who lost her mother in the camp. The war has turned and the Allies are finally defeating the Japanese. Christina sees a document in Yamauchi's office, giving orders for the women to be executed, so they all gather weapons to defend themselves with should the guards try it. When a surprise Tenko is called, the women fear the worst and prepare to fight: to their shock, Yamauchi announces that the war is over and that they are now free women. He says that they will, however, remain under Japanese control until the allies get there. Meanwhile, Maggie and a mob prepare to attack Sato.

EP2  Wealth of Stores
Oct. 14,1984
Wealth of Stores

20 AUGUST 1945: Marion stops Maggie and her mob from attacking Sato and stops Kate taking down the Japanese flag. She explains to the women how things will work now. Yamauchi reveals the wealth of stores hidden away from the women, to their horror. Kate, with Maggie in tow, goes AWOL for a few hours to see Tom at the men's camp but they are stopped en route and warned not to continue by a male POW, who tells them it is too dangerous just yet. Maggie and the POW have sex in a truck. But next day, Yamauchi arranges for the women to visit the men's camp. 19 SEPTEMBER 1945: A bunch of Australian soldiers finally arrive at the camp and are horrified by what they find. The women are told they will be leaving for Singapore next day. Alice is mistaken for a boy by the soldiers. Sato kills himself, watched by Dorothy and Joss. The next morning, Yamauchi bids Marion farewell and apologises for everything. Watched by Yamauchi, the women leave the camp for freedom.

EP3  Acclimatization
Oct. 21,1984
Acclimatization

The women are met in Singapore by RAPWI officer Phyllis Bristow, who take their details, She wants to transfer Kate and Mrs Van Meyer to other groups, but they refuse and are left where they are. Alice learns that her father is still alive. They are all taken to their new quarters, at Raffles. The luxury of the hotel and the richness of the food stuns the women, as it has been some years since they have had it so good. Marion is approached by a colonel who is gathering evidence on war criminals and Kate hands Dr Trier's notes over to the medical corps. A party is held at Raffles to welcome them all back to the land of the living, where Mrs Van Meyer flirts with a colonel. Marion awaits news about Clifford and Bea runs out of the party in tears, unable to cope with everything.

EP4  Marion is Wanted
Oct. 28,1984
Marion is Wanted

Still looking for Clifford, Marion is asked to give evidence against Yamauchi. Joss meets up with Stephen Wentworth, an old friend of Monica's (the women she spent most of the series looking for), who has opened a center to help the natives. Kate learns Tom is in hospital and has TB. Marion returns home to her house, and finds it in perfect order, having been taken over by the Japs for most of the war. Dorothy's house, meanwhile, has been trashed by the locals. Stephen wants Joss to help him at the center. Dorothy and Maggie are befriended by Jake Haulter, who seems to have an uncanny (and probably black-market) knack for procuring things. Marion gets an urgent message to go back to the hotel, and fears the worst about Clifford.

EP5  Scars
Nov. 05,1984
Scars

Marion is reunited with Clifford, who is at the hotel waiting for her, and tells her Ben is okay. Clifford reveals he is in charge of leading the hunt for war criminals, and intends to start by tracking down and hanging Yamauchi. Bea, still furious about Yamauchi withholding medicines, agrees to testify against him. She also learns that she is slowly going blind. Meanwhile, Marion is annoyed as Clifford tries to wrap her up in cotton wool and keep her away from the others. More internees arrive at Raffles and reveal that Nellie died just a few months from the end of the war. Mrs Van Meyer gossips about Dorothy's involvement with Shinya. Some of the new arrivals at Raffles bully Dorothy for being a collaborator; they chase her down a corridor and she runs right into Sister Ulrica.

EP6  Diary
Nov. 12,1984
Diary

Sister Ulrica catches up with the other women and counsels Dorothy, who finds out her mother is dead and leaves to go back to England. Clifford and Marion have drifted apart badly: he doesn't want to hear about the camps, which is all she wants to talk about. Mrs Van Meyer learns Mr Van Meyer is presumed dead and she cannot get to any of his money, leaving her penniless. Marion is furious at Clifford for reading her diary and he realises the other internees know her better now than he ever could. Jake offers Maggie a place to stay. Bea tells Marion that she is going blind and is conned into helping out at the center by Joss. Jake gets Joss free medicine for the center.

EP7  Evidence
Nov. 19,1984
Evidence

The women start being questioned by the military to give evidence against Yamauchi and co for war crimes: Bea flips out, Mrs Van Meyer tells lots of lies and Maggie gives emotional testimony about Blanche's death. Joss is arrested by the police for being with Christina's uncle. Clifford tells Marion that Yamauchi is in Singapore. Stephen announces he is staying in Singapore to run a center; he wants Joss to come back and help him run it. Marion refuses to testify against Yamauchi; so do Christina, who goes to visit him, and Sister Ulrica. Everyone begins doubting things they said and did in the camps, including Sister Ulrica and Mrs Van Meyer.

EP8  The Visit
Nov. 26,1984
The Visit

Kate is distraught when Tom dies and seeks comfort from Sister Ulrica, who comes to the funeral even though Tom was a protestant. Kate also decides she definitely wants to become a doctor. Marion visits Yamauci in prison, with Jake's help in pulling strings. He tells her he knew about her diary and let Christina steal the paper for it. She apologises that it will be used to prosecute him. He tells her that he would rather die than go to prison - it is the more honourable way out. Bea has to explain the facts of life to Alice after a boy gets a little too friendly with her. Maggie realises that she is pregnant. Clifford and Marion fight over her visiting Yamauchi and she says she doesn't know if they have a future together.

EP9  On the Rocks
Dec. 03,1984
On the Rocks

The women all prepare to go home, and say goodbye to Alice as she sets sail for England. The Jeffersons' marriage is clearly in trouble as Clifford sees how much Marion has changed since she has been in the camps. Jake tells Maggie that he knows she is pregnant and she is torn over what to do about the baby. She eventually decides to go back to England as well. Christina decides to stay in Singapore and become a teacher. Mrs Van Meyer learns, to her horror, that Mr Van Meyer is still alive and tells Marion she doesn't know what to do now, that she never loved him. Joss feels under the weather and is admitted to hospital after being mugged.

EP10  Sayonara
Dec. 10,1984
Sayonara

The women all prepare to leave Singapore to go back home, agreeing to have a reunion at Raffles in 1950, exactly five years after they separate. Joss dies in hospital. Bea agrees to stay on in Singapore and help Stephen run the centre. Sister Ulrica goes to visit Yamauchi, who tells her he knows he will be hanged. Maggie agrees to go and stay with Dorothy in London. Everyone reminisces about absent friends: Joss, Rose, Blanche and all the others who died, and then say their goodbyes as they all go their separate ways. Marion realises the experience is finally over as she sails for home.

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Tenko Trailers

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Based on real-life experiences, Tenko remains one of the most fondly remembered and acclaimed BBC dramas of the early 1980s. It follows a group of women, formerly comfortably well-off ex-pats living in Singapore, as they are captured by the Japanese during World War II.

Tenko Audience Reviews

WasAnnon Slow pace in the most part of the movie.
Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable
Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
Staci Frederick Blistering performances.
Briskie-636-44642 Have just started watching AGAIN the well worn VHS tapes of Tenko. We first watched it in early 1980s on TV and became capitvated by the strength of these women.........you become wrapped up in the lives of each one of them. Unlike that concentration movie with the women's orchestra, think a Redgrave was in it..........that was "fluff" compared to this. Do so wish it would be copied on DVD that is compatible with USA TVs. We enjoy movies of WWI and WWII giving us some feeling for what people "over there" went thru. This series will draw you into it, believe me. Even friends who we have loaned the tapes to, that had no interest in the time frame.......returned the tapes with gratitude for the loan and highest praise for the series. And many of the wonderful actors are still at it today.....nice to follow their careers. If you never watch another concentration camp film, watch this one! yes, the British accent takes a bit of listening to catch on to, worth the effort!
kimbutton56 I saw this series on the A&E channel when high quality films were the norm for this cable network. This series follows the lives of women captured in Malaysia during the Japanese invasion and the difficulty they endured. It is 10 episodes long but each is riveting and excellent source of the history of WWII in this arena. These were plum roles for each actress and I am sure the series affected each of them as well. This is not front line fighting but what happens to people surrounded by war and how they cope to survive and keep their spirit intact. Another excellent source of the plight of women captured in Malaysia during WWII is the film "A town like Alice" based on a novel by Nevil Shute. Bryan Brown was in this film and takes you from the Malaysia arena and hardships, to Australia in the years after the war. Excellent film and actors as well.
koenen-1 Tenko is the single most memorable series I have ever watched on television. Layered, engaging, challenging, compelling, it has stayed with me for years and I often think about the characters as real people...wondering how their lives continued, wondering what I would do in their company. In these times of war and prison camps, again, and as history is rewritten, forgotten, or ignored, I wish that Tenko would be replayed for a new generation to experience. The characters are unique and nuanced, the story lines complex and resolutions often unexpected yet always genuine. The actors seem to embody their roles. It is gripping and addicting. The followup documentary reuniting some of the survivors is an exquisitely touching finale, though wouldn't it be lovely to continue the series, chronicling the gap between then and now.
audible This and The Winds of War/War and Remembrance are outstanding examples of movies that get to the heart of the topic they portray. By all standards TENKO is actually superior due to the raw, less over produced, values.I watched the original series by happenchance, just flicking through the channels to see what was on (yes, a very male thing to do) when I came across this series. As a lover of anything to do with this time period I stuck around for a few minutes... a fateful few minutes, because I got stuck into what I now consider to be the best drama television has produced.I credit the superb cast, standouts all. Unlike most American movies, there are no major names so each actor stands equally in the spotlight and makes you believe the awful events are actually happening. I don't know that I could endure what these ladies went through, I would suspect not. I do have the epilogue movie, TENKO Reunion on tape (lousy copy), so at least I can revisit these characters when I want to, even if only through a lot of video noise.So why is this series not available on DVD or tape in North America? I can only think that someone somewhere is deciding, even as I write this, that it is high time that a release date is set. Wishful thinking? I hope not!