Ten Pound Poms

Ten Pound Poms – trailer and start date

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The Aussie emigration drama stars Michelle Keegan, Faye Marsay and Warren Brown. 

With its impressive ensemble cast and period setting, Ten Pound Poms has been on our radar for a while. The 1950s set show, from writer Danny Brocklehurst (Shameless), follows a group of Brits who leave the UK for a new life “down under”.

Now, ahead of a 14th May start, the BBC have released an attractive new promo image (above) and a short series trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jym783rP57Q

However, the show is a co-production with Stan Australia and, thankfully, they are in a more generous mood! In the longer trailer, we get a wider idea of the challenges the new arrivals face.

Here’s the synopsis for Ten Pound Poms:

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’t 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.

Ten Pound Poms - Finn Treacy as Peter, Hattie Hook as Pattie, Faye Marsay as Annie and Warren Brown as Terry

At the heart of the drama are Annie (Faye Marsay) and Terry Roberts (Warren Brown). They try to make the best of the situation for their family, but the poor living conditions at the migrant hostel and local attitudes towards immigrants test them in ways they couldn’t have imagined.

Ten Pound Poms - Michelle Keegan as Kate

They aren’t the only people at the hostel avoiding the truth. Kate (Michelle Keegan) is a young nurse who arrives without her fiancé and will do whatever it takes to try and rewrite her devastating past. Bill (Leon Ford) has lost his family business back home and is so desperate to prove he’s living the Australian dream that he’ll stop at nothing in order to get a lifestyle he can’t sustain. Teenager Stevie (Declan Coyle) comes from a troubled background and hopes to use this new adventure to escape his oppressive father. Meanwhile, Ron (Rob Collins), an Indigenous Australian war veteran, struggles with feeling like an outsider in his own country.

Produced by Eleven (Sex Education), Ten Pound Poms lands on Sunday 14th May at 9pm on BBC One.

Episodes air weekly, with the whole series available to stream immediately on BBC iPlayer.