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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.
1981
SINGAPORE, 5 DECEMBER 1941: Due to lack of information from the Army and the media, most of the inhabitants of Singapore remain blissfully unaware of any danger in their lives. Then the Japanese land 400 miles north of the city and head south. Most of the women who will end up imprisoned are introduced: Marion Jefferson, Sister Ulrica, Christina Campbell, Nurses Kate Norris and Nellie Keene, Rose Millar, and Dr Beatrice Mason.
SINGAPORE, 10 DECEMBER 1941: The aftermath of the Japanese bombing of Singapore causes the evacuation of many of the British civilians in Singapore. Marion, Christina, Kate, Nellie, Rose, Tom (Kate's boyfriend) and Bernard (Rose's boyfriend) are evacuated, but the ship is torpedoed. Surviving the wreck, the group is taken prisoner by the Japanese.
KAMPONG GETAH, FEBRUARY 1942: Joined by others, including Beatrice, the women are taken to their internment camp, where a contingent of Dutch internees join them, including Sister Ulrica. Everyone makes adjustments to their new way of life, and Marion is made leader of the British internees.
Ulrica is made leader of the Dutch internees. The older women worry when the younger women are unexpectedly removed from the camp, but it turns out they're being used for labor crews. Dorothy smuggles milk into the camp for her baby, but is caught, and everyone is punished
Some time having passed, social structure in the camp is breaking down, and more women are becoming sick. Some groups refuse to help other groups. Malaria makes its first appearance, and requests for quinine are denied. Marion organizes education and entertainment committees, and arranges for the women to rebuild one of the huts into a sickbay. Morale improves, at least until two Japanese secret policemen arrive at the camp.
Marion is questioned about British organization in Singapore prior to the fall of the city. The new sickbay is completed. Blanche and Dorothy become friendly with the guards in exchange for cigarettes and tea. Blanche, Dorothy and Rose are cornered by three guards; when all six are caught, the Japanese commander accuses the women of lying about the almost-rape. Dorothy agrees with the him, causing Blanche and Rose to be punished, until their story is corroborated by other sources.
Sally, pregnant before her capture, is coming into her seventh month of pregnancy, and one of the nurses, Nellie, becomes very supportive of her. When the baby is stillborn, their friendship becomes closer, until they hear unwarranted rumors that their friendship is 'unnatural'. Judith Bowen has another attack of malaria, making Blanche wonder about all of their eventual fates.
Just before Judith Bowen dies, Marion promises her that she'll take care of Debbie. Blanche becomes determined to escape from the camp. Debbie discovers Blanche's escape plans and barges her way into the escape attempt. Rose covers the escape until she realises that Debbie is also leaving; she tells Marion, who tells the commandant in hopes that he will be lenient with Debbie. Blanche and Debbie are recaptured.
Punishment details are imposed on the camp in general and the escapees in particular. The commandant yields to Marion's plea for mercy for Debbie, and agrees to be release Blanche if the internees will make 500 work hats in the next seven days. The Dutch, angry that they are again being punished for British misbehaviour, insist that both groups should now be treated separately, until they discover that making hats will release Blanche. The commandant releases the internees from punishment details on the last day, allowing the women to meet the deadline.
Christmas is approaching. The work party reports seeing a group of men in the distance. When Marion asks the commandant for names of the men, the list causes both joy and disappointment. The women are told they will be going to another camp. The commandant reveals his long-time knowledge and support of the women's subterfuge to steal paper from his office. The women leave the camp, uncertain of their future.
1982
DECEMBER 1942: The women have been split up as they march to their new camp and Marion's group later learns that the second group, including Blanche, Nellie and Sylvia, are being sent to another camp and won't be rejoining them. On the way, they pick up elderly Joss Holbrook during an overnight stay at an abandoned house, left behind by another party for being too ill but who has now recovered fine. Debbie dies when she is bitten by something on the journey and the women insist on giving her a proper burial, at which point Marion learns the Bowens were Jewish. The bedraggled, depleted party arrive at their new camp on January 1st 1943.
1 JANUARY 1943: The internees adjust to life in their new camp, where things are radically different and seemingly much more luxurious than the last one, but soon realise that luxury always has its price. The leader of the women there is Verna Johnson, who's a scheming collaborator in league with Miss Hasan, interpreter to the Commandant, Lt Nakamura. No sooner have they arrived at the camp than Christina is taken away from her friends and sent to another camp on a lorry. Marion is reunited with an old school friend, Lillian Cartland, and her little boy Bobby. Bea finds she must defer to the camp's medic, Dr Natalie Trier. Kate conceals the fact she is a nurse and Sally's attitude to life deteriorates rapidly.
2 JANUARY 1943: The ridiculous restrictions of the new camp, such as no swearing, leave the women restless, especially Dorothy and Joss. Dorothy agrees to teach Shinya how to speak English. Marion clashes with Verna over responsibility for ""her women"" but Miss Hasan insists that Verna is the one and only leader and they must obey her. Kate and Rose try to get news on their men from the male camp and Dr Trier tries to get Bea better and back in the infirmary with her. Meanwhile, the women are dressed up in fancy clothes and make-up for a propoganda photo, but the day is ruined when the depressed Sally commits suicide by slashing her wrists with a broken mirror. The Japs come down heavy on everyone as the ladies reel from the shock of Sally's sudden death.
15 JANUARY 1943: Punishment continues to be severe following Sally's death. Rations are cut and workloads increased. Mrs Van Meyer finds out that Joss is in fact a lady, and starts sucking up to her with no shame. Sister Ulrica goes to the priest for confession and confesses to helping with Sally's funeral, even though since she killed herself it is regarded as a terrible sin. As penance, she has to keep away from the other women and not speak to them at all. The priest says they have led her away from God. Dorothy reveals she is pregnant to one of the guards and wants to abort the baby, which prompts a shocked Sister Ulrica to break her silence.
Sister Ulrica tries to talk Dorothy out of aborting the baby: she says that its either that or she will kill herself. Verna and Miss Hasan arrange for her to have an abortion next day, but then they find out that the new district commander is coming to visit and shove them all in a storeroom for the procedure. The new commander turns out to be the newly promoted Major Yamauchi, who expresses displeasure at the camp hierarchy and replaces Nakamura with Sato, now a lieutenant. When the priest visits again and Sister Ulrica tells him she helped Dorothy get rid of her baby, he arranges for her to leave the camp and continue her imprisonment at a convent. Leaving, she tells Bea that she knew how to be a nun but she didn't know how to be a woman until she met them all.
31 MARCH 1943: Marion asks Yamauchi about Christina and the other women from the first camp; next day, Christina and Blanche are returned to join their friends. Bea is crestfallen that they have sent Blanche back and not Nellie. Blanche finds out about Debbie's death and blames Rose for telling the guards about their escape. She teams up with the irrepressible Joss to put one over on the guards. The women learn that some of them are to be repatriated (ie sent home) and Lillian gets her hopes up that she and Bobby will be on the list. When the list comes in, they aren't on it but Dr Trier is. Christina is contacted by the underground, and passes on the news that Rose's boyfriend Bernard and Kate's fiance Tom are both alive and at the nearby men's camp.
22 APRIL 1943: With Christina's help, Rose and Bernard arrange to sneak out of their camps and meet up in the jungle on the night of the Emperor's Birthday, when the guards will be busy at a party. Blanche goes with Rose to act as escort to the meeting place. Rose and Bernard meet and decide to get married when the war is over and they are free. Back at the camp, Kate and Marion learn of the meeting just as the guards do too. Sato orders them all into the jungle to find Rose and Bernard: the women watch them leave and are horrified when shots ring out into the night... Meanwhile, Christina decides she doesn't want to be courier for the underground any more. Joss and Blanche make plans against the guards and Lillian continues to obsess about Bobby's health. Dr Trier is repatriated, leaving Bea in charge of the infirmary. Kate considers becoming a doctor after the war.
30 APRIL 1943: The internees suffer severe punishments following Rose's escape. She is brought back to the camp alive, but shot in the back; Bernard was killed at the scene. Bea and Kate operate on Rose to remove the bullet and all of the women provide items for them to use in the surgery, even Verna. When Rose wakes up, she is paralysed from the waist down. Yamauchi and Miss Hasan try to find out how she kept in contact with Bernard. Blanche finds it hard to visit Rose after the shooting. Shinya tells Dorothy that one of the women informed on Rose and everyone suspects Christina of being responsible. She is put before the disciplinary committee and gets back a Not Proven verdict. Marion catches Lillian giving Bobby unusual food items and realises she was the informer, to get extra food for Bobby.
12 MAY 1943: Lillian and Bobby are transferred to another camp by Yamauchi following Marion's request, when the other women and children bully them both and refuse to have anything else to do with them. The effects of Rose's shooting still reverberate around the camp: Dorothy cuts all ties with Shinya when she learns it was him who shot Rose. Two months pass and Rose is still hanging on to life, but has lost the will to live. She tries to go on a hunger strike, earning the wrath of Miss Hasan, and later asks Bea to put her out of her misery. Next morning, Bea announces that Rose has died in her sleep but whether she helped her die or not is never revealed.
3 SEPTEMBER 1943: Conditions continue to worsen inside the camp, not helped any by a drought and an increased work load. Marion's diary is burned by the guards. The prisoners discover that Red Cross Parcels have been sent to the camp but not given to the women - Verna tells them they were kept from them in the aftermath of Rose's escape but Marion works out that was a lie and realises the contents of the parcels have been sold on to them by Verna. Dorothy forgives Shinya for shooting Rose as he prepares to leave for the front. Next day, an allied plane bombs the camp while trying to bomb Yamauchi's headquarters, killing Miss Hasan and Shinya and seriously wounding Daisy and Sato. Led by Blanche, the women takes advantage of the incident to raid the storerooms and steal the Red Cross parcels. Yamauchi shows up in the middle of it all and orders them to stop.
Stephanie Cole
Beatrice Mason
Jean Anderson
Lady Jocelyn 'Joss' Holbrook
Ann Bell
Marion Jefferson
Emily Bolton
Christina Campbell
Claire Oberman
Kate Norris
Elizabeth Chambers
Mrs. Domenica Van Meyer
1984
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Tale of the Bookworm
2014
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