Writing for television
For the six months after the axing of the radio series "Waggoners' Walk", things were desperate. My husband and I had recently separated. I had a son and a mortgage to worry about. I wrote a 90-minute radio play and had a stage version of another play, "Post Mortems" produced at the Soho Poly Theatre.
But these were not going to pay all the bills.
Then my agent put me up for a new BBC TV series to be set in a Japanese prison camp for women internees. "Tenko". They were looking for two women writers.
The subject interested me immediately but with so few television credits (one 30-minute play and a few episodes of “Angels”) I had little hope of landing the job.
However, when the producer read some of my radio plays for women I found myself commissioned to work on the series that would change my life in so many ways.
But these were not going to pay all the bills.
Then my agent put me up for a new BBC TV series to be set in a Japanese prison camp for women internees. "Tenko". They were looking for two women writers.
The subject interested me immediately but with so few television credits (one 30-minute play and a few episodes of “Angels”) I had little hope of landing the job.
However, when the producer read some of my radio plays for women I found myself commissioned to work on the series that would change my life in so many ways.
Tenko was not expected to be the huge success that it became. It fell between two regimes at the BBC and the subject was considered “depressing” by most of the male decision-makers. It was only because of the overwhelming audience response that it went to three series and a Christmas special– "Tenko Reunion".
The series is now referred to as “ground-breaking”. Theses have been written about it, and a new generation have discovered it through DVD.
As writers, Anne Valery and I could not have had a better opportunity, not only to develop the characters over their three years in the camps, but also to examine in depth some of the taboo subjects of the time as well as the feminist aspects of the series.
It was always the intention of the creative team (led by producer Ken Riddington) that Tenko should be as authentic as possible. The creator, Lavinia Warner, had fully researched the subject and was able to arrange for us to meet some of the survivors of the camps, many of whom had never before spoken of their ordeal. We spent hours watching material at the Imperial War Museum, poring over books about the period and, most valuably, reading the secret diaries and letters written by the women themselves.
We were blessed with a cast of brilliant actresses, then virtually unknown, all prepared to lose weight and look their worst, and with the same desire to present a fitting tribute to to those neglected women who had never received the compensation or recognition given to the male prisoners of war. They also united with the writers to resist some of the male prejudices we encountered along the way.
It says something about the series that many of us are still in touch, meet
regularly and support each other through life’s crises.
The success of Tenko catapulted me into the forefront of television and for the next decade I was working solidly in the medium, though I always continued to keep my radio links alive.
Some content on this page first appeared in the chapter “Entering the Arena – Writing for Television” in “Boxed In : Women and Television". Edited by Helen Baehr and Gillian Dyer. Published by Pandora.
The series is now referred to as “ground-breaking”. Theses have been written about it, and a new generation have discovered it through DVD.
As writers, Anne Valery and I could not have had a better opportunity, not only to develop the characters over their three years in the camps, but also to examine in depth some of the taboo subjects of the time as well as the feminist aspects of the series.
It was always the intention of the creative team (led by producer Ken Riddington) that Tenko should be as authentic as possible. The creator, Lavinia Warner, had fully researched the subject and was able to arrange for us to meet some of the survivors of the camps, many of whom had never before spoken of their ordeal. We spent hours watching material at the Imperial War Museum, poring over books about the period and, most valuably, reading the secret diaries and letters written by the women themselves.
We were blessed with a cast of brilliant actresses, then virtually unknown, all prepared to lose weight and look their worst, and with the same desire to present a fitting tribute to to those neglected women who had never received the compensation or recognition given to the male prisoners of war. They also united with the writers to resist some of the male prejudices we encountered along the way.
It says something about the series that many of us are still in touch, meet
regularly and support each other through life’s crises.
The success of Tenko catapulted me into the forefront of television and for the next decade I was working solidly in the medium, though I always continued to keep my radio links alive.
Some content on this page first appeared in the chapter “Entering the Arena – Writing for Television” in “Boxed In : Women and Television". Edited by Helen Baehr and Gillian Dyer. Published by Pandora.
Television writing credits
Equal Terms (BBC Thirty Minute Theatre) - (1973)
Angels (BBC, one of the original writers) - (1975)
Tenko (BBC) co-writer (with Anne Valery) of all 3 series (1980-84)
Nanny (BBC) 2 episodes in final series - (1983)
Tenko Reunion (BBC) Christmas special - (1985)
Guilt on the Gingerbread (BBC) - comedy play (with Julia Mackenzie and
Alan Armstrong)
High Hopes (BBC) - comedy play (written half in Esperanto) with Virginia McKenna, Dandy Nichols and Lesley Manville.
At Bertram’s Hotel (BBC, Miss Marple series with Joan Hickson) - (1985)
Howards Way (BBC, original writer) - (1986)
Wish Me Luck (London Weekend) - co-creator (with Lavinia Warner) and original writer - (1987)
Case of the Late Pig (BBC, Campion series 1) - (1988)
Sweet Danger (BBC, Campion series 2) - (1989)
Act of Will (Anglia) – Barbara Taylor Bradford mini-series (1989)
Body and Soul (Carlton serial) - original writer (1990)
House of Eliott (BBC) – original writer (1992)
