Tenko

First broadcast: Sunday 9 December 1984

The women learn that they will be going home soon. Mrs Van Meyer is concerned that she will soon be left on her own as a result. Jake guesses that Maggie is pregnant but she tells him that she doesn’t want ‘fixing up’. Mrs Van Meyer complains to Phyllis over the lack of information about her husband. Sister Ulrica joins Joss and Beatrice at the Centre where Stephen, who has a cold, is sent to bed. Clifford confides in Phyllis about his marital troubles. Phyllis learns from Dutch RAPWI that Mr Van Meyer is alive and informs Dominica. Maggie tells Jake about her miscarriage years earlier and that she wants to keep her new baby. He offers to marry her. The women come together to celebrate Mrs Van Meyer’s news. Despite putting on a brave face, she is desperately unhappy and soon retires to the bedroom to cry.  Marion and Clifford continue to discuss their future, with the former believing that starting from scratch is the only way forward. Maggie turns Jake’s offer of marriage down and tells him that she has decided to go back to England. Mrs Van Meyer tries to find Ulrica but she is escorting a child to the leper colony. Beatrice coerces Stephen to take Joss, who now has his cold, to go out for the day while she runs the Centre. Marion and Clifford take a walk together and have an honest conversation about how their marriage could work. While they are out, Joss tells Stephen that she will be coming back to Singapore and that she plans to invest in a new Centre. On the way back from their walk, Marion spots Dominica at a café. Clifford reluctantly agrees to wait while she speaks to her. Dominica tells Marion about her unhappy marriage and how she dreads to go back home. Maggie tells Beatrice she will be getting the same boat back to England and that she has decided to move back into Raffles for the last week in Singapore. She reveals that as a girl she had a ‘kind of marriage’ with her father and that when he was put into prison, she miscarried. Joss is attacked by a thief in the street and falls badly. Marion has decided she will return to the East and give her marriage to Clifford another go. They are interrupted by a phone call from Phyllis for Marion in which she tells her of Joss’s fall and the fact that she is in hospital. Without prompting, Clifford immediately offers to drive Marion over there.

First broadcast: Sunday 2 December 1984

Beatrice turns down Joss’s request that she returns to the Centre and Alice’s plea for tango lessons. Kate goes to visit Tom and learns from another patient called Jim that Tom passed away in the night. RAPWI arrange for the funeral to take place that afternoon. Jim tells Kate how back in the camp Tom used to talk about her constantly. Jake gives Marion a lift to Changi so that she can visit Yamauchi. As she is unable to find Marion, Kate seeks out Ulrica at the convent. Marion sees Yamauchi and they discuss whether his relatives are alive and her second diary that will be used in evidence against him. Phyllis tells Beatrice and Mrs Van Meyer about Tom. Kate confesses to Ulrica that she felt some relief when she heard that Tom was dead, partly because she could never have given up medicine. Stephen and Joss discuss how they need Beatrice’s medical know-how at the Centre. Marion comforts Kate and they get ready for the funeral. Beatrice volunteers to attend and is hurt when she is turned down. Mrs Van Meyer does not go as she is chaperoning Alice at a Raffles tea dance. Ulrica turns up at Tom’s funeral despite the fact that she is Roman Catholic rather than Protestant. Alice and Harry give Van Meyer leave the tea dance to go outside. Maggie lets slip to Clifford that Marion went to Changi, before asking Beatrice for her professional advice. They are interrupted by Alice who has been attacked by Harry and fears she may become pregnant as a result. After hearing that he only touched her stomach, Beatrice allays her fears. After Tom’s burial the women go back to Marion’s house for tea. Maggie criticises Van Meyer’s chaperoning of Alice. Beatrice reveals to Alice that something similar happened to her when she was a girl. At the wake Kate tells Joss her plans, Ulrica complains about her duties at the convent and Christina connects with May. Beatrice catches up with Maggie but this time they are interrupted by Stephen who has come to ask Beatrice to apologise and ask her to help at the Centre. Maggie tells Beatrice that she thinks she is pregnant and at Jake’s flat this is confirmed. Maggie reveals she has been pregnant before. The doctor confirms this. Clifford returns home and argues with Marion about her visit to Yamauchi. Marion tells Clifford that she doesn’t think that they have a future together.

First broadcast: Sunday 18 November 1984

Christina witnesses Joss and her uncle being bundled on to a police lorry and runs to the Centre to tell Stephen. Joss is interrogated. Beatrice is furious when she learns that Phyllis doesn’t consider her ready to give evidence. She elects to immediately present the facts to Smithers, but finds herself unable to control herself as she does so. When Mrs Van Meyer discovers she has drawn up to her limit from the bank she pawns her wedding ring. Joss recovers from her ordeal at the abbey. Sister Ulrica confides that she is still struggling  with the vow of obedience. Joss decides to demand an article of the Straits Times. Beatrice tells Ulrica about her outburst. Marion and Clifford cross swords over Ben and their marriage. Clifford tells her that Yamauchi is in Singapore. Joss tells Beatrice about a Dutch newspaper interview with Mrs Van Meyer which is full of lies about her interment. Phyllis learns of Joss’s run in with the police and asks her if she will go home. A furious Beatrice confronts Van Meyer about the truth of her time with them in the camps. Maggie tells Smithers about Blanche’s death in the punishment hut. Marion arrives at Raffles and tells everyone that Yamauchi is in Singapore. Christina defends him and angrily talks about her uncle and the lot of the Chinese people. Marion and Clifford argue over the fact that she has elected not to give evidence. Christina’s request to visit Yamauchi is granted and she visits him in Changi. Mrs Van Meyer tells Joss that she has pawned her wedding ring. Maggie and Jake go to bed together and afterwards share details of their respective pasts.  Beatrice decides to call a halt to giving Van Meyer the silent treatment. Sister Ulrica ventures out to Raffles and meets the other women in the bar. They discuss Yamauchi’s presence in Singapore and Christina reveals she has visited him. The conversation turns to her uncle who has been imprisoned for collaboration. When asked about her cousin, Christina reveals that he was executed by the Japanese at just seventeen for smuggling rice into Changi for British prisoners of war.

First broadcast: Sunday 11 November 1984

The women are overjoyed to be reunited with Sister Ulrica, however, she is distressed to hear of the deaths of so many of their friends. Smithers complains to Phyllis about the women’s reluctance to give evidence and Clifford’s desperation to see Yamauchi brought to justice. Ulrica meets with her Reverend Mother to request time to minister to Dorothy. This is granted but the Reverend Mother is concerned that this is not all that troubles her. Marion’s home life with Clifford continues to be a trial. Joss persuades Beatrice to come with her to the Centre where Stephen has received news about Christina’s uncle. Beatrice is left to reluctantly hold the fort and tidies it up. Joss gives Christina the news. On Joss and Stephen’s return they wreck Bea’s hard work and, in some distress, she announces she is going blind before running off. Dorothy is thrilled to be with Ulrica again but dismayed to hear that she cannot stay long. Beatrice lashes out at Kate at the hospital. Clifford finds and reads Marion’s diary. Phyllis tells Dorothy that an internee called Agnes has lodged a complaint about her and suggests that she returns home to England. Dorothy refuses. The women receive letters from home and Dorothy learns that her mother is dead but is unmoved. Clifford tells a distraught Marion that he intends to use her diary as evidence against Yamauchi. Marion visits Raffles and learns about Ulrica’s return. At the bungalow Dorothy remembers her mother and finally sheds some tears over her. Joss tells Stephen she has obtained the medicines they need for the Centre. Marion visits Ulrica and then Beatrice who still refuses to share her news. On returning home she and Clifford have words about the diary. The next morning Marion tells Dorothy about Clifford’s intention to use the diary, just before Jake arrives to tell her that the lorry has come for her prized Regency chairs. Dorothy visits Ulrica and explains that she has decided to return to England. The bungalow has been refurbished and is the venue for Dorothy’s goodbye party. Jake offers Maggie his spare room and she gladly accepts. Beatrice tells Marion the news about her eyesight, while Joss advises Clifford that he should be proud of his wife given what she did in the camps. With Dorothy’s imminent departure, Kate is concerned that their group is breaking up.

First broadcast: Sunday 04 November 1984

Marion returns to Raffles and is reunited with Clifford who, to her surprise, has spent the war in England. He, Ben and her mother are all well. Phyllis has arranged for them to have a private room at Raffles for the night. Mrs Van Meyer gossips about Dorothy and Maggie’s relations with the guards. Beatrice says a tearful goodbye to Marion. Christina is dismayed when she learns from Clifford that Simon Treves married a nurse. While Jake gives Dorothy and Maggie a lift to the bungalow, Marion and Clifford return to their pre-war home together. En route he tells a concerned Marion that his new role will be to co-ordinate the bringing to justice of war criminals such as Yamauchi. They discover that their old maid May has been keeping the house in order. Marion wants to do some of the household chores herself but Clifford will hear none of it. Another new group of internees arrives including Madge Pritchard from the first camp, who asks after Dorothy. Dorothy and Maggie discuss staying in Singapore and possible jobs they could take before Jake arrives with a pair of bicycles for them. While Cherry gossips to Alice, Beatrice tells Joss that she has learnt that Nellie died a few months ago. Clifford quizzes Marion about collaboration in the camps. At Raffles, a newly arrived internee spits in Dorothy’s face. Beatrice enquires about getting her old job back at the hospital but is shocked to learn from an administrator that this could only be for a very short period as she is going blind. Marion struggles to rest and do nothing at home and is thrilled when Jake visits and offers her a lift back to Raffles. Marion consoles Christina about Treves. Clifford comes across Beatrice in the city streets and asks her about Yamauchi. After passionately filling him in, he asks her if she will witness against him.  Back at Raffles Beatrice argues with Christina over Yamauchi and tells her that she hopes her evidence helps to hang him. Marion and Clifford argue over Jake and the possibility of an early passage home which she refuses to take. Dorothy and Maggie are attacked by a group of internees. Dorothy flees from Raffles and runs straight into Sister Ulrica.

First broadcast: Sunday 28 October 1984

The women are preparing to go to a thanksgiving service. Marion returns to the hotel and asks Smithers if there is any news of Clifford, but he just wants to question her about Yamauchi. After the service Mrs Van Meyer and Maggie have a spat in the market. An elderly man arrives at Raffles looking for Joss’s late friend Monica Radcliffe. Joss gives him the bad news, before they head off to Stephen’s digs in the Chinese Quarter to say farewell to Monica over a bottle of brandy. Kate’s Tom has TB and she is distressed that he shows no interest in their future together. Christina reveals to Beatrice that she is being discriminated against because of the colour of her skin. Phyllis succeeds in diverting Alice from spending time with Maggie. That evening Stephen returns a very drunken Joss to Raffles. Dorothy is rattled when she witnesses a procession of ‘Jap whores’ under armed guard and later elects to see if her bungalow is still there and habitable. The suave Jake Haulter who helped Joss and Stephen back to Raffles is introduced to Dorothy and Maggie. He offers to give them a lift to the bungalow and also picks up Marion who also wants to visit her old house to see if the servants might know anything about Clifford’s whereabouts. While Marion meets Dolah again, Dorothy and Maggie discover that the bungalow has been wrecked. Jake returns and suggests they just sign for the items they need to furnish it. Joss turns down Stephen’s invitation to help him in his work with the poor. While out with Jake looking for furniture, Maggie and Dorothy are horrified to see Japanese soldiers drive past who have been recruited by the enemy. However, their spirits are raised when Maggie is gifted a dress and Dorothy locates a set of Hepplewhite chairs. They invite the other women out for drinks to celebrate their move to the bungalow. At the bar they visit the pair receive a further reminder of their collaboration in the camps. Mrs Van Meyer arrives in a state with a message for Marion who is wanted urgently back at Raffles.

First broadcast: Sunday 21 October 1984

The women are nervous passengers on a plane bound for Singapore. On arrival they are met by Phyllis Bristow of RAPWI, their welfare officer, and are escorted to a welcome reception presided over by a Colonel Jackson. Phyllis tells Alice that her father is alive and arranges for Kate and Mrs Van Meyer to remain with their friends. The women are driven to Raffles where they are to be billeted. After a welcome meal of bangers and mash, Phyllis shows them to the suite of rooms where they will be staying. The women are overwhelmed by the comparative luxury and enjoy baths and their first night in years in real beds. The women have medical examinations and list the possessions they have lost. Beatrice is incensed when she discovers that Kate has passed on their case notes to the doctor who is examining them. Dorothy is finding it particularly difficult to adjust and wants to be left alone. Beatrice, Joss and Kate visit a hospital. Kate is unable to find Tom, while Beatrice does not want to talk about her eye appointment. Mrs Van Meyer is escorted to her bank by Colonel Jackson. The doctor reassures a worried Alice that her periods will return. That evening the women attend a Raffles dinner dance. Finding their host – Colonel Jackson – to be exhausting, Marion and Dorothy take themselves off to another table. Beatrice surprises her friends when she dances rather expertly with Colonel Smithers. On her way up to bed Marion thinks she sees Clifford in the lobby and calls out to him. Marion is distressed  by her mistake and taken upstairs by Dorothy. An immaculately coiffured Mrs Van Meyer arrives at the dance and announces that she has bought presents for all of her friends. Beatrice has a bad turn on the rapidly filling dance floor and is escorted out of the room by a concerned Kate.  Beatrice runs to her bed. On the next bed Marion is sat clutching her bag while intoning Clifford’s name.

First broadcast: Sunday 14 October 1984

20 August 1945. Marion prevents Maggie and the others from harming Sato and explains to all the women that they will remain under Japanese protection until the Allies arrive, asking them to exercise restraint in the meantime. Yamauchi allows the women access to the storeroom where there are many supplies which they can use to barter with native traders for food. Kate and Beatrice are horrified to discover medical supplies in there that they have been crying out for. Due to the danger posed by violent natives, Yamauchi temporarily denies requests to visit the nearby men’s camp. However, Maggie persuades Kate that they should go anyway and they commandeer a lorry and head for the men’s camp. En route they meet a male POW who, to Kate’s disgust, Maggie has sex with in the back of the lorry. After he leaves, the pair spot some machete-carrying natives and head back to camp in a hurry. By September all of the women, bar Dorothy, are becoming increasingly impatient for their release. On the 16^th, two Allied soldiers finally find the camp – Captain Brooks and Lieutenant Curtis – and take over command from Yamauchi. That evening the women ask them questions about all that has happened in the outside world since they were interned. Alice is upset when she is mistaken for a boy but Maggie and Christina win her round. Kate returns from a depressing visit to the men’s camp where they had to point Tom out to her. Beatrice offers to provide her with a good reference if she decides to continue with her medical training. Captain Brooks receives confirmation that the women will leave the camp for Singapore in the morning and the women have a final night of songs and dancing to mark the occasion. While taking a break from the party, Maggie and Joss witness Sato commit hara-kiri. Before they go to bed Marion leads the women in a prayer. The next morning Edna dies. As the women get on the trucks to leave Marion says goodbye to Yamauchi who tells her he is sorry so many prisoners died. The women leave the camp for Singapore.

First broadcast: Sunday 7 October 1984

1 July 1945. The women’s third camp. While Blanche, Daisy, Verna and Suzy are all dead, new friends include Maggie and Alice. At tenko, Christina translates more Japanese propaganda about the war from Sato who is still their commandant. News from the natives suggests that the Allies are doing much better than their captors would have them believe. Sato tries to force Beatrice to change a death certificate on which she has written malnutrition. Dorothy wonders if the Japanese might shoot them before the Allies arrive. Yamauchi discovers he has a grandson and, when asked, gives Christina some biscuits for Alice’s 17th birthday. Sato puts a stop to Alice’s simple celebrations. The following month, Joss finds a leaflet outside the camp that has been air-dropped by the Allies and the women speculate further about their advance. Yamauchi informs Christina that she will no longer work at Headquarters. Before Christina  returns to the camp she reads an order stating that when the Allies attack South East Asia all prisoners are to be massacred. Marion and Joss inform a prisoners’ committee that they plan to make a fight of it using stones they have been gathering and to take Yamauchi hostage.  The committee agrees to the plan but they chose not to tell Dorothy fearing that she cannot be trusted, but Maggie tells her anyway. The committee divvy out ammunition. When Yamauchi visits for a tenko the women prepare for the worst, but it transpires that he has instead come to tell them that the war is over. The stunned women begin to celebrate. Marion takes charge and asks to speak to Yamauchi who tells her about the Japanese surrender following the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, that they must remain under Japanese protection until the Allies arrive and that there must be no acts of revenge against them. Elsewhere in the camp, Maggie is gathering a group of women together to pay back Sato for the suffering he has put them through.

Tenko is without a doubt one of the best-loved and most fondly remembered television drama series of all time. Created by Lavinia Warner and written by Jill Hyem and Anne Valery, Tenko told the forgotten story of women prisoners of the Japanese during World War II. Amongst the series memorable characters were reluctant leader of the British prisoners Marion Jefferson (Ann Bell); Doctor Beatrice Mason (Stephanie Cole) who had to practice medicine under appalling conditions; cockney loudmouth Blanche Simmons (Louise Jameson) who tries to escape; spoilt former socialite Rose Millar (Stephanie Beacham); disaffected Dorothy Bennett (Veronica Roberts) who has to cope with losing her husband and child; and Sister Ulrica (Patricia Lawrence) who comes to question her faith.

This website is a celebration of Tenko and offers episode synopses, character profiles and images from the classic television series.