User reviews

I was a member of the family of £10 poms at around the same time as this drama is set and, although I was around 5, I have many vivid memories of that time as well as overhearing stories when my parents and their friends got together. Granted we only stayed on the hostel for around six months but I got the impression it was an exciting time for adults as well as kids. Maybe we were lucky being so close to the beach and the relatively big urban area of Wollongong. Our hostel was Balgownie, not to be confused with the fictitious 'Galgownie' which seemed to be simultaneously in the Outback and near the beach! Most hostels, in NSW at least, were near major urban centres and were nothing like depicted in the show. Jobs were plentiful and we were given a house in pretty short order. Most of the streets in the equivalent of UK council housing areas were 50/50 Aussie and mainly British immigrant families. There was never a hint of xenophobia from the Aussies and everyone just got on...probably down to the shared experience of WW2. Diggers and Tommies sharing war stories. Southern European immigrants probably weren't so lucky. Not exactly a premise for riveting drama, so can't really blame the makers for ratcheting up the tensions and concentrating them in a short time frame. Just don't watch it as a documentary!

Considering this is supposed to be 1956 I'm pretty sure designer stubble wasn't a thing then it's just not correct it just tries to appeal to modern life .

The two main women characters look more like 1940s with hairstyles from that period and Oxford bags weren't worn by women in mid 50s they would be in capri pants or narrow trousers . When the women are dressed up they are wearing just below the knee sun dresses this length didn't become fashionable until late 1950s.

This reminds me of heartbeat maybe that's the style setting somewhere loosely between 1940and 1965.apart from that it's very watchable.

Not an unforgettable drama or a terrible one, somewhere in the middle. One of those shows where you should probably bail if the characters and storyline in the first episode don't grab you.

It had decent production values, with a few sound and lighting wobbles and a solid ensemble cast. Michelle Keegan's character felt a bit far-fetched in some of her endeavours, but fans will no doubt forgive her. One of its strengths was the number of strong female characters.

If you get on board with the first episode stay with it, if you don't jump ship as it continues along the same path.

On the downside there was a lot of heavy-handed messaging that didn't need to be there.

With a British family setting off to start a new life in Australia in the mid-1950s at the centre of the story, the audience is soon introduced to more characters whose lives intersect at the camp where the family are settled on arrival ("like a prisoner of war camp", says Terry, father of the family and a man haunted by his experiences as a soldier during the Second World War). In no time there are half a dozen story strands to follow.

This sense of urgency to have us galloping along with the narrative is presaged by having no scenes taking place on the three-week journey to Australia and with the voyage mentioned only for expositionary purposes. There is a jolting sensation as we see the family embarking upon the ship in the UK and in the next scene they are setting foot on Australian soil, where we are given a rather heavy-handed introduction to ideas central to the narrative.

Our family are soon experiencing culture clashes - British and Australian, white Australian and Aboriginal - while they try to find their feet, with themes of self-identity and self-discovery thrown in. However, none of these themes are explored in any depth and the story lines are no more than you might expect in a soap opera.

Fay Marsay wins our sympathies as the mother trying to be strong for her family, especially when her husband, played with sensitivity by Warren Brown, is weakened by the demons that plague him. But elsewhere, characters are too two-dimensional to evoke any real interest.

It's clear from the final scene that creator, Daniel Brocklehurst, has an eye to a second series, but while I was reasonably entertained by Ten Pound Poms, I don't think I was entertained enough to be going back for more.

Everyone seems to be complaining that is not accurate, It's highly entertaining it deserves at least an 8 out of 10, It's an extremely interesting, good period drama that really draws you in, Lots of different stories, all going on at once, but they tie it in beautifully, The acting is good and lots of sub plots as well. , it does have a comedy side as well And it really captures 1950s, Australia in a way that I haven't seen in other period dramas or movies People think about going to Australia in the 1950s as this amazing dream, but inside every dream, there's always a nightmare and this period drama shows all the pitfalls of going to a new land.

This is a very uneven season (not sure if it's a series) because far too much is thrown into 6 episodes. This would have benefited from 8 episodes or less story. A bit like when someone says look in a mirror before you leave and take off one accessory. I feel like we didn't get to know the characters as well as we should have done the more promising or interesting ones were left with little story development or left high and dry mid way thru. There's good performances from the leads with what they have to work with but overall the show won't leave you wanting a second season. I can't comment on the historical accuracy but as this is a drama entertainment show I'll presume it's loosely based on history so I'll lean heavily on the entertainment side of things. It's passes the time but is easily missable.

Good show well acted story was good . I think people may find it interesting especially if they had parents from Britain that immigrated after ww2 . No jobs in Britain after ww2 many people immigrated to Australia the advertisements made it seem like a dream . But not so much the reality .

Poverty and discrimination face the the new arrivals . The brochure didn't say they be faced with the harsh realities .

In the end it's about community and making friends and talking everyone wants to work and have job and get along .

I would recommend this to anyone who likes good writing , interesting characters , and Australia .

I've often wondered why the Aussies call us whinging poms. After watching this six part BBC drama it would seem they had a lot to whinge about. Placed in cockroach infested one bedroom huts on some multi national camp in the middle of nowhere.

Whilst the show has some high quality production, with some impressive CGI and great attention to detail from the period. It's unfortunately let down with some just plane daft storylines like Michele Keegans character travelling the other side of the world in search of her son, after drugging her fiancé who seamed a perfectly decent bloke to go after her son.

Our Australian friends don't come out of the series to well with most being stereotyped as hard drinking wife beating foul mouthed Aborigines hater's.

Overall it feels like a wasted opportunity as the story itself is a fascinating one about a forgotten part of Anglo Australian history.

6/10.

I was really looking forward to this show as I was a "Ten Pound Pom". I came out to Australia as a member of a large family who emigrated from North Wales. I was hoping it would be a semi accurate reflection of how life was at that time. It's not.

It's a cliched, overblown, melodramatic soap. It's entertaining but completely over the top. I've only watched two episodes and I'll persist but so far we've had a robbery, a break in to steal documents, an aboriginal child killed in a hit and run. Etc.

What next, a bomb scare or a terrorist attack?

I really like the cast, especially Warren Brown who is good in everything but they needed to limit the number of things happening in each episode and rely on character development. It's as if it was a competition to see how many things can happen in each episode. We saw nothing of the journey out here, one of my most vivid memories.

Anyone hoping for anything like an accurate portrayal of life as a Ten Pound Pom will be disappointed. This is more like a series of Coronation Street episodes with better production values. I hope it gets better.

As much as this was a depiction of what happened when Ten Pound Poms came to Australia, I think the important thing to remember is that this is a drama show, not history. Having said that, an old ex of mine was a 6 year old when his family came to Australia on a boat, landing in Perth and then Sydney, before being transported to Ipswich, Queensland. They were also under the impression that they would have somewhere to live and jobs would be plentiful. The accommodation was very much what was shown here, and the attitude towards the "Poms" was very much the case in this show. I really hope that there is a season 2, it was a little slow to start but it got better as it went along. Loved the style of the era and the depiction of Australia at the time. Although I have to say that I found the racism awful and I was bubbling with anger as I watched. Sad to think that the Australian "spirit" was severely lacking.

I figured this would be one of those nice Sunday evening dramas that provide a warm Nostalgic glow and a stream of drama, but always a happy l, or at least moving ending.

Not so, this 'woke' drama let's us know that pretty much everyone in 'those days' was a nasty piece of work, racist, wife beater, bully, snob, etc... oh, except of course for the individual person, who floats around on a cloud of handsome integrity and restrained physical power.

The leading characters may not be wholly nasty, but they are nonetheless deeply flawed, even if apparently justifiably (alcoholism, grief leading to mental illness) etc It's a decent show and we'll acted, and a special shout must go to the cinematography, the colours are rich and sun drenched, but the constant diet of misery is hard to take without anyone but the alcoholic to root for.

If I had to summarize my experience of watching 'Ten Pound Poms' so far I would have to say that Danny Brocklehurst was determined to work his story around xenophobia and racism, and chose the Labour Camp outside Sydney as his best way to integrate those themes, as it brought many races closer together. Unfortunately, it makes the story flat as every day we see Terry going off to do his bit in a hole in the ground, and in the evening he gets together with the other immigrants for a drink or party. It's a generalization of course, but many members of the Maltese side of my family went to Australia at this time and they ended up in the big cities. I think this makes the whole story seem untrue. There may have been one of two places that were like the camp, but they were probably the exception rather than the rule and this is where this story falls flat for me.

The production values, acting, scoring, cinematography are all world class. It's just that the story falls flat, it is too crowded, and the characters are not three dimensional enough. I will make an exception for the Terry character, and I think the Michelle Keegan character could have been worked better. The orphanage scene was embarrassing and unconvincing.

I think the subject material needed a more sensitive approach and probably should have come from someone with more first jhand experience of the process of emigration.

I felt it was an interesting story although in the second episode, I know it's only setting up characters, but, there was a scene I found very difficult to watch. I'd like to say the racism and different attitudes are better and dramatic change has changed Australia but I can't fully back that. The acting is quite good and nice to see some interesting plot twists.

Seeing Australian period drama is always interesting. Being set about 10 pist World War 2, it takes a look at the British citizens who were shown a picturesque life in Australia only to find, what they referred to as, concentration camp style. Having to find employment and with their passports confiscated for two years, they desperately try to make a nice life for themselves but it's an uphill battle.

This drama plays to negative stereotypes of Oz almost 70 years ago and overlays much 2023 liberal acceptance from the Poms who appear incredibly enlightened for a working class Lancashire group.

Geography is impossible with surf, the outback, country towns and deserted beaches all within a few minutes walk or short drive in a Holden!

The talented Pom/Ozzie cast struggle with the multiple superficial characters and a wooden script. Cut the multiple subplots and concentration on the central family would have been a good move.

Oh, the immigration program was a screaming success, not an antipodean hell!

I wasn't sure about watching this but then enjoyed this series - particularly as my own family considered being ten pound poms !

I have to say was not absolutely perfect in every detail ( especially the ability to call international and the quality of phone calls from Australia to England in the 1950s) but it's still a very watchable show with characters you either love or hate and also very interesting story lines

If you like dramas such as Call the Midwife then you'll like this - it is just classic Sunday night viewing and I am really looking forward to the next season .

It was easy watching and very enjoyable .

My family were one of the 10 pound poms in 1959 although I was only 2 years old, so was interested in this story. We settled in Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains and dad built a house there. It was wonderful. As far as I'm aware we didn't experience the prejudice depicted in this series although I certainly don't doubt it existed.

I did enjoy the series- and it got better as it progressed. Quite tragic in a lot of ways.

Michelle Keoghan is yet another fabulous actress from the ex- Coro St stock. I rate her along Sarah Lancaster, Suzanne Jones and Katherine Kelly so worth watching just for her excellent acting.

It seems the ending left it so that a second season could happen. I will certainly watch it if it does.

Can't go wrong with Danny Brocklehurst!

When it started I had high hopes but story line is all over the place but Filming and actors great... it had so much potential I think I was disappointed so much that I couldn't see the wood for the trees... the Roberta family are good and have potential.. Kate character is ok but find her all over the place writing wise... it has potential with the right writing team in to Be on level with call the midwife... I would like a season two to see how the characters develop and continue on their journey. The last episode is worth the wait I think ... this is just 6 episodes so don't expect miracles. On the whole I thought it was ok.

After the shambles that was the hotly promoted and then promptly denounced 'Great Expectations', the BBC obviously have lost faith and gone back into 'cosy Sunday night drama' mode with this outing, which actually is no better or worse that the aforementioned programme.

It's just not very good, that's the top and bottom of it. It's not memorable enough, it's not well-written enough, or even performed. It's them hoping upon hope that people will tune in because it's vaguely engaging and they desperately want to make use of Michelle Keegan.

There's nothing wrong with it, it's like vanilla ice-cream - perfectly good if there's nothing else available.

But shouldn't the BBC be aiming for better than this?

I thought this series was going to be like other period dramas, however I was pleasantly surprised!

It features a great set of characters all cast perfectly, & each character seems to have their own plot, which drives the series forward in a fast paced way.

Props to Michelle Keegan who plays Kate, she has an incredibly emotional story to play out which she does remarkablly well. I have to say she was probably my favourite character.

It does have some stereotypical storylines which you'd expect, however due to the character's circumstances managed to make them feel interesting & new.

I honestly couldn't help myself & had to binge watch the whole series!

I had high hopes for this. It looked like being a reasonably true to life dramatisation of the journey many Brits made to Australia in the 1950s and 60s in search of a new life. Instead we were rushed through the build up and within 10 minutes everyone was already safely ensconced in Aussie Butlins waiting for the drama to begin. But rather than a few interlinked storylines we are immediately beaten over the head with the ever present message stick. Look, we know racism.is bad, we know women in history have had a bad time, we know a lot of men in the past weren't all they should have been, but does every single show have to keep ramming that down our throats over and over again? It genuinely sucks so much joy out of watching a programme. I gave up after 2 episodes..

The series is quite good. But for the life of me I can't understand why Michelle Keagan is in this show. Her storie doesn't really have that much to do with the programme, in fact she just plainly annoys me when she comes on screen.

I watched the programme in one sitting. And the acting is not too bad to be fair.

It delves into a bit of what went on in the 'good ole days.' When racism was rife, and the 'whites' ran Australia with an iron sword so to speak.

The programme mainly focuses on the Roberts family whom have travelled to Australia, who have left various struggles back in the UK. For better or worse they must strife forward with their new life, and create a better one.

Would I recommend this show to watch on the iPlayer, yes, yes I would. But it would have been even better without the storyline of Katie's (Michelle), as I think this let's it down.

I've watched the first two episodes of Ten Pound Poms and I'm sitting here cringing at some of the content. Racism at its worst portrayed by a stereotypical 'white man' who is a bully and abusive for no reason except that the new man is a 'Pom' and deserves his vitriol and then gets paralytic drunk and hits an indigenous boy on the road, physically hurts the family dog and ticks all the boxes for why we as viewers should be mortified for our past misdemeanours and the pathetic people who proudly call themselves Australians. I'll attempt to watch episode 3 in the hope that goodness prevails ugliness..,

I'd heard about this television programme, and I'm just getting around to watching it, it's got a particular interest to me because, of my brother Murray emigrating to Australia.

£10 Poms works well enough as a drama series, with various character situations of immigrant families, and the local Australians within the settlement area. It was easy enough to get into the differing stories, which were well and engagingly told, the actors certainly took their parts well.

I won't give anything away about the ending, but the way it appeared to me there, would have to be another series, though not all of the possible loose ends, were satisfactorily addressed.

I had heard about the Australian government immigration policy, but I didn't know any of the details, especially of how long it lasted.

Murray joined the merchant navy with a mate in 1967, luckily for him he was a skilled toolmaker, which made him a junior officer, it also enabled him to make, the most of a golden opportunity. The company Blue Funnel Line had a cargo vessel, travelling out to Savannah in the USA, which was stopping off in Australia on route, the vessel was short of one crew member. Normally Murray would have to work up to it, before he could take advantage of the opportunity, but it was the case of the right time and place, and too much of a good chance to turn it down.

He obviously enjoyed the experience, so much that we had no sooner, got used to him being in the merchant navy, that we had to acclimatise ourselves, to him emigrating to Australia.

The strange thing for me about the £10 Pom, was what Murray told us about the Embassy Australia House, I understood from what he said, about his experience that the scheme had ended, before he chose to emigrate. He was informed that the Australian government, was seeking skilled tradesmen and he was, vetted about what skills or trade he could bring, when he replied about being a toolmaker, that appeared to clinch it.

I only know what actually happened, when he got to Australia from what little I can remember, him saying about his experiences there. It sounded as if it was a matter of having to jump through official hoops, in a process of getting settled in Australia.

From what Murray said he had, to live in some form of camp, which operated as a form of settlement area, where he was supposed to stay for a period. Before he was able to apply for citizenship status, as well as to get a chance to look for work, and find out if there were any local families, with available accommodation.