Tenko

So very convincing and very convincing sets for the camp were built in Dorset of all places.

So convincing, in fact, that a former internee called Molly Smith, this is from the, Tenko's got its own wiki and fan page, and Molly Smith visited the set and was so overwhelmed by the memories it brought back that she was instinctively bowing to extras dressed as Japanese prisoner guards because it was so authentic, it instinctively triggered her learned behavioural reactions, which is pretty incredible, really.

But it'd be tempting to think that a BBC TV series from 1981 showing the experience of the war and subsequent events captivity at the hands of the Japanese through a female lens, because it was female writers.

Might shy away from some of the content that Smith here uses purely for exploitative purposes.

What happens to, you know, women who actually have to confront these issues and experience these issues.

This was like seven o'clock on a Sunday evening on the Beeb or whatever it was at the time.

So Anne Valerie, who wrote it, wartime servicewoman, actress, model, bohemian, and feminist television writer who was in her middle age by the time she wrote Tenko.

And she wrote Angels, too.

I love her talking heads.

Love her in Tenko.

Oh, I knew you were going to mention Bloomin' Tenko.

Can we go five minutes without you talking about Tenko? Should we

go and watch it real quick? No!

Ten, no! I want Ariadne to be quirkier and scattier.

Keep both hands on the keyboard map because Fairlight already asks for enough keys without you conducting from the driver's seat.

On the box that Wednesday, uh, BBC One had Tenko at, uh, five past eight, a series three repeat, uh, with Dorothy forced into a decision after hostility from the other internees.

Uh, prisoner of war drama, women held after Singapore fell, and it still hit hard in '85, even on a repeat.

Here's the Tenko theme.

[instrumental music] Those titles still mean evening telly with the curtains shut and nobody joking through the first scene.

James Harpham's theme does half the work before anyone speaks, and the camp stories never felt light even when you'd seen the episode before.

Over on the kids' dial that same week, the Tripods was midway through series two, Friday tea time on BBC One, Will learning more about the masters and the Hall of Beauty, caps on skulls, white mountains, and a proper sci-fi itch after school.

Tripods and Tenko in the same week is peak '85 scheduling.

Veronica Roberts was thieving cook Mary Cooper.

She's appeared in Tenko, Peak Practice, Emma, and she does a voice on the podcast Gallifrey, which also features Beth Chalmers.

Patrick Barlow played comic relief Boris Morrison.

Barlow is a comedian known for playing Desmond Olivier Dingle, the founder and artistic director of the National Theatre of Brent, which is actually a comedic double act he does with various actors, including Jim Broadbent.