Ten Pound Poms is the new original drama series created by BAFTA-winning Danny Brocklehurst (Brassic, Ordinary Lies). The six-part series follows a group of Brits as they leave dreary post-war Britain in 1956 to embark on a life-altering adventure on the other side of the world. For only a tenner, they have been promised a better house, better job prospects and a better quality of life by the sea in sun-soaked Australia. But life down under isn鈥檛 exactly the idyllic dream the new arrivals have been promised. Struggling with their new identity as immigrants, we follow their triumphs and pitfalls as they adapt to a new life in a new country far from Britain and familiarity.
Danny Brocklehurst introduces the drama below.
Watch Ten Pound Poms on 大象传媒 One and 大象传媒 iPlayer from Sunday 14th May 2023 at 9pm
After World War II, more than a million Brits were enticed to . In return they were promised a better house, better job prospects and a better quality of life by the sea in sun-soaked Australia.
When first approached me with the idea of a series about the Ten Pound Poms and asked if it was something I would be interested in writing about, my interest was piqued. You get this sort of thing a lot as a writer and quite often you think 鈥淵ou know, it鈥檚 not for me.鈥� But there was something about this that really appealed. I鈥檝e not written a period drama before, for good reason, because they鈥檙e generally quite tricky to make good. But I was drawn to the themes of escape, of no matter where we go, we take our problems with us 鈥� something which is ever present in my work 鈥� and the fact that this was a piece of our history that I didn鈥檛 know much about. It鈥檚 a period piece that isn鈥檛 all bonnets and frocks - and the more I looked into it, the more I thought: 鈥淵eah, there鈥檚 definitely a TV series here. I鈥檓 in.鈥�
Once I was on board, Eleven decided to hire a full-time researcher who dug around quite intensively for a few weeks and produced a detailed 50 page document and when I started to watch documentaries and read books, it opened up a whole river of imagination and knowledge which I found fascinating. The research offered up so many ideas that it was almost overwhelming; there were so many fascinating and heart-breaking potential stories, so many directions I could go in. I had to choose who was going to come over to Australia, who was already there, what year do we begin, there were lots of important decisions to make early on.
Britain in the fifties was a fairly grim place and many people were tempted by the adverts for Australia as 鈥渁 great place for families.鈥� The technicolour promo films of the time showed golden beaches, beautiful houses with picket fences and big gardens, attractive, suntanned people water-skiing and playing volleyball. But in reality, many immigrants arrived to gross disappointment. They were housed in post-war steel Nissen huts with outdoor showers, no flush toilets and terrible food. The accommodation was cramped, insects rife, the heat stifling and walls paper-thin.
I decided I wanted to bring over a loving couple with two children. They are trying to change their life because Terry the father is haunted by memories of what he saw in the war and is drinking too much in an effort to blot them out. Bright and ambitious, his wife Annie has always put herself second to the needs of her family. Then there鈥檚 Kate, a lone traveller who leaves her fianc茅 at the port and has a deeply emotional motivation for coming to Australia. At the hostel in Australia, we meet an English family, Bill, Sheila and their twin daughters who have been there for some time. She is desperately homesick and longing to return home.
So that was the core of my series. And they obviously collide with various Australian characters on the compound and in the town, funny, friendly, abusive and embracing. There was a real sense of 鈥淲ho are these poms, coming here, taking our jobs.鈥�
Australia, like many places in the fifties had issues with racism, sexism and masculine culture. Women weren鈥檛 allowed in pubs, indigenous Australians were sent to the back of the queue in shops, children roamed free all day long despite the very real danger of snakes, spiders and dingoes. But there were no class hang-ups and women were encouraged to work whilst families spent time on the beach - and of course the landscapes are stunning.
I鈥檇 worked with Michelle Keegan before on the series Ordinary Lies and . Early on there was a discussion with the 大象传媒 and I asked Michelle if she鈥檇 be interested. She loved the idea of Kate鈥檚 journey, because she appears to be in a relationship when we first meet her at the port in England, but she arrives in Australia on her own and tells the port official that her fianc茅 didn鈥檛 want to come after all and you immediately think: 鈥淗ang on, that doesn鈥檛 sit right.鈥� Throughout the series you realise Kate鈥檚 on a very personal, heart-wrenching mission, which goes back to the research and some of the things that were happening to single women in the UK at the time. Michelle was perfect for the role 鈥� it鈥檚 the first time she鈥檚 done a period drama and we adapted the script to accommodate some of the things that came out of rehearsals.
Faye Marsay is fantastic as Annie and in many ways she鈥檚 the emotional heart of the series as the mother of our lead family. She鈥檚 the one who drives the decision to go to Australia when she sees an advert in the paper. Terry is blind drunk and he鈥檚 lost all of his money and she announces: 鈥淲e are going to change our life.鈥� When she arrives, she鈥檚 the stereotypical 1950s housewife, like lots of women at that time. She鈥檚 brought up the kids, she looks after the home, she鈥檚 very much catering for her family. But what she discovers in Australia is an unexpectedly massive opportunity to become something different alongside all of that, which could be a whole new exciting life for her, which isn鈥檛 really why they went. So it immediately creates a conflict in the family because everybody鈥檚 dynamic is changing quite unexpectedly. Faye, who鈥檚 from the north of England, is such a natural actor - she can do so much with an expression, and she looks so believable and real. It鈥檚 sometimes difficult to find actors who feel of the period, so you鈥檙e looking for actors who are chameleon like. Faye鈥檚 really inhabited Annie鈥檚 character and takes us on that journey throughout season one.
As for Warren Brown, Terry was one of the first characters who came into my mind when I was creating the series. Our story opens in 1956, eleven years after the end of the Second World War but lots of people in the UK were still processing what had happened and many people who鈥檇 fought were struggling. I watched a very good documentary with some first-hand accounts of real Ten Pound Poms and one character stuck in my mind. He was talking about how his experiences of the horror of the war had stayed with him and he was unravelling in the UK. He had PTSD and was finding life very hard. Going to Australia was a way of trying to deal with that. The theme of the show is told through his story which is that you can go and start a new life, but you essentially take your baggage with you; you can never leave yourself behind. He鈥檚 still got all this bad stuff in his head, problems with drink and gambling. How can he try and lessen some of that through starting afresh in this new country?
Warren and I had worked together briefly many years ago on Shameless and had talked about doing something together. Terry is a hard role to cast because he鈥檚 got to be masculine and physical as a working man and labourer, but he鈥檚 also got to be troubled, with a sensitive side, we鈥檝e got to have some humour and it鈥檚 difficult finding all that in one actor. Warren looks very good for the period, but he also has that vulnerability whilst being tough. He kind of ticked all of the boxes.
I didn鈥檛 really know any Australian actors before we started this process. I was brought up to speed by our brilliant casting director and it became pretty clear to me how much amazing acting talent there is over there. It was a nerve-wracking decision to cast only a small percentage of English actors whilst some would be played by Australians doing an English, Northern accent. The kids, Finn and Hattie, are absolutely brilliant 鈥� you wouldn鈥檛 know they鈥檙e not from Manchester. They鈥檙e an amazing find and I鈥檓 very pleased. As for the other cast, like Rob (Collins) and Stephen (Curry), they鈥檙e just exceptional and we鈥檙e very lucky to have them on board.
For much of the production I was in the UK and the time difference is hellish meaning you do most Zoom conversations pretty early in the morning UK time. 8 or 9 in the morning is 5 or 6 o鈥檆lock in Australia, so you have a very small communication window which can be challenging. But once we were up and running and the director and executive producer moved to Australia, it became a bit easier on the ground. We have one Scottish director and one from Australia, so we add those different voices into the mix. They鈥檙e both superb.
I hope it鈥檚 an entertaining story that shines a light on something viewers didn鈥檛 know much about. I think Ten Pound Poms is a kind of rare beast these days. It鈥檚 unashamedly a character drama. I mean it鈥檚 got thriller moments and emotional high stakes but it鈥檚 essentially about ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, their lives and their families and trying to make things work. In a TV landscape awash with cops and crime and high concept whizz bang, it鈥檚 a privilege to have the time to do a character piece that feels very rich and emotional. We鈥檝e created a period drama with dirt under its fingernails, a show that doesn鈥檛 glamorise the past. It鈥檚 about love and hope and following your dreams.
Watch Ten Pound Poms on 大象传媒 One and 大象传媒 iPlayer from Sunday 14th May 2023
Watch interviews with Danny Brocklehurst on the 大象传媒 Writersroom website
Read scripts by Danny Brocklehurst: