original serial 1981; TENKO REUNION 1985
posted by Judy Harris
please visit my homepage at http://judyharris.net/index.htm
Visit my other Tenko webpage at http://judyharris.net/bbctenko.htm
or E-mail me at foosie@bestweb.net
Marion Jefferson Ann BellJoss Holbrook Jean Anderson Dr. Beatrice Mason Stepahnie Cole
Rose Millar Stephanie BeachamMajor Yamauchi Burt Kwouk Mrs. van Meyer Elizabeth Chambers Christina Campbell Emily Bolton
Dorothy Bennett Veronica Roberts Maggie Thorpe Elizabeth Mickery Kate Norris Claire Oberman Sister Ulrica Patricia Lawrence Philis Bristow Elspet Gray Jake Haulter Damien Thomas Stephen Wentworth Preston Lockwood Sylvia Ashburton Renee Asherson Blanche Simmons Louise Jameson Sally Markham Joanna Hole Alice Courtenay Cindy Shelley Lt. Sato Eiji Kusuhara Kasaki/Shigawo Takahiro Oba Clifford Jefferson Jonathan Newth Bernard Webster Edmund Pegge Vicky Armstrong Wendy Williams Jack Armstrong Ivor Danvers Tom Redburn Daniel Hill Simon Treves Jeffrey Hardy Nellie Keene Jeananne Crowley Father Lim Rick Young Johnny Saunders Gregory DePolnay Harry Milne Andrew Sharp Major Sims David Gooderson Corporal Jackson Colin Dunn Studio Manager Michael Dyerball Nun Betsan Jones Dolah Ronald Eng Minah Pauline Peters Brian Thomas Jeremy Gittins Mrs. Fraser Anne Ridler Mrs. Johnson Isobil Nisbet Shipping Clerk Mike Elle Hotel Manager Roy Herrick Mr. Wilson Charles Morgan Mrs. Wilson Sylvia Marriott Japanese Officer Michael Hua Ship's Captain David Henry First Petty Officer Edward Langdon Second Petty Officer Stuart Blake Judith Bowen Ann Queensberry Debbie Bowen Karin Foley Shinya Takashi Kawahara Tanaka Sabu Kimura Jo Chua Kah Joo Lia Susie Leong Gerda Maya Woolfe Polly Huntley Pamela Merrick Lily Jenkins Jennifer Hiill Cynthia James Lindsay Ingram Madge Fairchild Athene Fielding Edna Edna Dore Joan Dawn Keeler Yukio Peter Silverleaf Timmy Nigel Harman P.O.W. Paul Copley Captian Brooks John Williamson Lieutenant Curtis Stephen Oxley Colonel Jackson Michael Lees Colonel Smithers Stephen Gordon Doctor Mona Bruce Mrs. Harris Eliza Buckingham Journalist Michael Loney Bank Clerk Mellan Mitchell Soldier Kim Kay Tong Mrs. Briggs Helen Blatch Dr. Singh Albert Moses Hospital Administrator John Graham Cherry Johanna Hargreaves Enid Jane Hayward May Barbara Yu-Ling Reverand Mother Julia McCarthy Policeman John Rowe Harry Alderston-Bennett Nigel Greaves Corporal Kenneith MacDonald Chinese Policeman Lim Kay Tong Bank Teller Rangit Nakara Jim Peter Benson Vicar James Walker Nun Zienia Merton Mr. Ling Robert Lee Sister Pickering Sonia Wolley Jane Octavia Taten Sailor Shep Wolley Sailor Alan Mock Tedd Foster-Brown Robert Lang Lau Peng Swee Joe Lim Mr. Courtenay Bernard Gallagher Duncan Fraser Christian Rodska Bandit Leader Lim Kay Tong Bandit Lim Kay Siu Policeman Jamaluddin Jalil Chinese Shopkeeper Lee Keok Hun Raffles Receptionist P. Silvakumar
Episode Guide
(c) Jean Curley and Judith Chien. Contact Jean Curley at JEANCURLEY@delphi.com
Series 1: 1941-1942
1. Singapore, 5 December 1941.
Marion Jefferson wakes in bed, and begins her normal routine: a snack, meet her old friend Victoria Armstrong for shopping and breakfast at Raffles (one of the poshest hotels in Singapore) and more shopping, then home for a nap, and then get dressed for the dinner dance. Marion, feeling that she can't contribute anything to war effort where she is and missing her son, is planning to return to Britain. Her husband, Colonel Clifford Jefferson, continues his inspections of British defences in the area, and gives a bolluxing to a Major for being entirely too complacent that any Japanese attack will be by sea and will be repulsed, warning of the possibility of an overland attack and the overall weak British defences.
Sister Ulrica arrives at the Singapore Archbishopic to ask why the monies for her mission haven't been sent on for several months. Christina Campbell shows several friends around the Indian section of Singapore, and is approached by Simon Treves, one of Clifford Jefferson's men), who finds her fascinating. Nurse Kate Norris arranges an afternoon off from her work at the hospital, so she can meet her boyfriend, Tom Redburn. Tom proposes to Kate. During the course of the day, it becomes apparent that most of the populace is blissfully unaware of any danger. Rose Millar and her boyfriend Bernard Webster (a radio journalist) go to Raffles for breakfast, and argue over whether and how the public should be informed about the possibility of a Japanese advance. Bernard goes on the air live to warn people, but his broadcast is cut off in the middle, and he is fired.
Two days later, Colonel Jefferson is notified that the Japanese have landed four hundred miles north of the city and are headed south. Moments later, Singapore is bombed. Sister Ulrica gathers a group of nuns and leads them over to the hospital, which is overwhelmed with casualties. Her help is gratefully accepted by Dr Beatrice Mason, who runs the casualty ward. Colonel Jefferson pleads with Marion to leave the city, but Marion feels that she can now help out, and refuses to leave.
2. Singapore, 10 December 1941.
The hospital continues to try to cope with casualties. Kate is sent home, almost exhausted. Colonel Jefferson and his wife Marion go to the casualty wards, where Marion is horrified by the injuries and offers her help. Colonel Jefferson also offers whatever help the army can supply to Dr Mason. Dr Mason says that she thinks they'll manage, if that's the end of it. Colonel Jefferson informs her that it's just the start: the Japanese are advancing towards the city.
Colonel Jefferson and Jack Armstrong (also in the Army, but I missed his rank) talk between themselves about the Japanese advance south, and discuss evacuating the British civilians in the city. Bernard Webster confronts them over the Japanese attack, the lack of defences, and the Army's failure to warn the city. Beatrice asks Marion to organize relief centers for refugees, and Marion agrees. Marion opens her home and gets other women to open their homes to the refugees.
On New Year's Eve, there is a big party at Raffles, where many of the civilians remain willfully ignorant of the Japanese advance. Colonel Jefferson urges Marion to leave the city: the Japanese are just a few days out. Marion reluctantly agrees. Christina Campbell, half-Scots and half-Chinese, attempts to join the evacuation, but is denied passage because she looks Chinese and the passage officer demands to see her father's birth certificate before he'll issue her a ticket. Simon Treves, who has been spending more and more time with Christina, `reasons' with the officer, and Christina is given a ticket. Dr Mason dismisses the nurses and tells them to evacuate, but stays herself to tend the wounded.
The evacuation ship arrives and is loaded: Marion, Vicky, Christina, Kate, Nellie, Rose, Tom and Bernard board the ship for the several-day voyage to Australia. During the voyage, the ship is torpedoed. Marion loses Vicky in the confusion. The survivors (Marion, Christina, Kate, Nellie, Rose, Tom and Bernard) wash ashore on the island of Kampong Getah, and take shelter in an abandoned house, where they are discovered by a group of Japanese soldiers. Taken prisoner, the men and women are separated and marched into the forest.
3. Kampong Getah, February 1942.
The women (Marion, Christina, Kate, Nellie, Rose) have left a transit camp where they were joined by Dr Bea Mason, Dorothy and her baby Violet, Sylvia Ashburton (a spirited older woman), Sally Markham, Judith Bowen and her daughter Debbie, and Blanche Simmons, a cheerful Cockney. The women are marched to a abandoned plantation where the coolie quarters are being fenced in for a prison camp. Dorothy, having lost her husband, is listless and uninterested in life, even not caring for her baby. Captain Yamauchi greets them, and lays down the ground rules of the camp. Blanche, desperate to go to the bathroom, discovers that the facilities are extremely worse than they could have imagined.
The group settles into two of the three huts, the third being set aside by the Japanese for a future contingent of internees. Bea takes charge of the hut she's in, gathering all the group's medicines into one place and starting to treat their injuries. In the other hut, Sylvia Ashburton displays her prejudices and refuses to sleep next to Christina whereupon Rose makes Sylvia switch places with her. Bea, expecting Marion to be a sort of leader in the other hut, tells Marion to make sure that the women don't drink until the water has been boiled and to gather the medicines together. Marion tells Bea that she has a crystal set that she was bringing back to her son, but she hasn't had time since the shipwreck to see if it still works. In the washhouse, the women are very proper and modest about cleaning themselves until Blanche walks in and strips off, declaring that they're all girls together. The others follow her example. Returning to their huts, the women settle in for their first night in the camp. Marion decides to keep a diary of life in camp.
In the morning, the women are wakened for their first Tenko (Japanese for rollcall). They are taught how to stand and how to bow. Sylvia refuses to bow, but eventually does so when the others are threatened with punishment. Sally Markham discovers that she's pregnant, and worries about her missing husband and the unborn baby. Sylvia ransacks Marion's pack for the crystal set. Caught by the Japanese, she is put in the punishment hut.
The women decide that they need an `official' spokesperson to talk with the Japanese. Bea turns down the job and nominates Marion, who is elected. The women scrub down the huts and clean out the latrines. The third hut is filled with a group of Dutch women, including Sister Ulrica and Dominica Van Meyer, a vocal complainer. The Dutch women, having been brought in from their homes, have brought a number of possessions with them, which makes several of the British prisoners jealous. The Dutch bring word of the fall of Singapore.
4.
Sylvia is used as an example to teach the Dutch women how to bow. Sister Ulrica, in the absence of any one else, becomes the leader of the Dutch prisoners. Captain Yamauchi announces that a trader will be coming to the camp, and speculation and hopes run high over the anticipated goods. Dorothy, taking more interest in life, obsesses about her baby Violet's health. Most of the younger women are removed from the camp, and the older women worry about them until their return, when Blanche explains that they've been out cutting down trees. Bea asks Marion to enforce discipline in Marion's hut, but she is reluctant.
The trader arrives. The trader's wife offers to smuggle milk to Dorothy, but Dorothy has no money to pay for it. Van Meyer resents being forced by the Japanese to work, so Dorothy offers to do her work if she'll pay for it, so that Dorothy can supply Violet with milk. Sneaking out of camp to get the milk, Dorothy is deeply scratched by barbed wire. When Dorothy's untreated wound becomes infected and then discovered, Dorothy's smuggling becomes known to the other internees. Sister Ulrica wants to tell the commandant so that Dorothy's trespass won't cause punishment for all the prisoners. Violet develops diarrhea.
The smuggling is discovered by the Japanese. All traders are forbidden to come to the camp anymore, night rollcalls are started, and meals are available only twice a day. This causes a schism between the British and Dutch internees, but Marion and Ulrica manage to bring the groups together. In the blistering heat, the trader's wife is tied to a pole in the compound for punishment; Dorothy smuggles water to her at night, but the trader's wife dies.
5.
Some time has passed since the smuggling incident, and social structure in the camp is breaking down. Violet has died and is being buried, and the Japanese inform the internees of the invasion of Burma. Bea is worried about the increasing number of sick in the camp, and is rationing medicines to make them last longer. Blanche, a sore on her leg from the first woodcutting having become infected, becomes convinced that Bea is withholding iodine from her deliberately. Some of the women without children in the camp are annoyed at the noise the children create. When Marion tries to organise relief for the mothers, by education and group games, several of the non-mothers turn her down. Ulrica is upset that the British aren't attending her religious services. Rose refuses to turn in the mosquito netting around her bed for the sick. Blanche, proud of her hair, refuses to get it cut despite lice problems. Sally worries about giving birth in a few month. Sylvia is reluctant to treat Christina, who has fallen ill.
Blanche, Marion, and Sylvia all make various attempts to raise morale, but have minimal effect. Bea warns Judith to keep Debbie away from Blanche because Blanche is common, and Judith agrees; however, Debbie is determined to be friends with Blanche because Blanche is fun. Judith comes down with malaria, and Marion's request to Captain Yamauchi for quinine is denied. She asks for permission to set up a sick hut, but there is no free hut inside the wire and the Japanese won't let them outside the wire. Captain Yamauchi suggests re-organizing the prisoners among the existing huts, which is done, but upsets the prisoners.
Marion hears Kate and Nellie discussing her leadership abilities, and wants to resign. Marion calls a meeting of the British internees. She proposes some changes -- creating education and entertainment committees, and rebuilding a burnt-out hut for a sickbay -- and asks for a vote of confidence. She is re-elected leader of the British.
Rebuilding the burnt-out hut into a sickbay increases camp morale. Blanche eventually decides to get her hair cut. And two Japanese secret policemen arrive at the camp.
6.
The secret police interrogate Marion about British organization in Singapore prior to the fall. During interrogation, the Japanese tell her that the British have withdrawn to India.
The other prisoners notice Blanche is smoking a lot of cigarettes; she also supplies a round of tea to the prisoners in her hut. The internees speculate that she may have become too friendly with the guards. Work on the new sickbay continues. Ulrica is now among the malaria patients; during her illness, she and Bea find they have much in common.
Blanche fills in as Debbie's mother while Judith remains sick. When one of the malaria patients die, Bea asks Blanche if there is any possibility of getting quinine, but Blanche has already tried and can't. Blanche sees Dorothy going off with a guard, and asks Dorothy if there's any chance of quinine from that quarter, but Dorothy refuses to ask.
The sick hut is completed, and the internees hold a party to celebrate; the British dress up in their best clothes. One of the guards tells Blanche that Red Cross parcels have arrived. Still in their party clothes, Blanche, Rose and Dorothy slip over to the supply hut to count them. The trio is caught by three guards, who take them into the hut to `view the parcels'. Blanche and Dorothy are willing to trade themselves for quinine, but Rose balks and all six are caught by Lieutenant Sato. Blanche palms some quinine during the ensuing confusion.
Captain Yamauchi strongly wants the rape story to be a lie, saying that the women tried to seduce the men. Dorothy agrees; Rose and Blanche deny the story, and are tied to the punishment poles in the compound. Sylvia overhears Dorothy with one of the guards, and Marion reports her to Yamauchi, who warns her to keep the women away from the guards. Rose and Blanche are released from the poles and Dorothy is assigned to extra work details. Blanche is determined to be revenged on Dorothy, but Yamauchi forbids reprisals.
The quinine having worked on the remaining malaria patients, Judith thanks Blanche.
7.
The internees start to notice the de-feminizing aspects of their imprisonment: almost no one is having periods anymore, skin is becoming rougher, and some don't feel they look like women anymore. Yamauchi and Marion stroll around the camp, discussing conditions, morale, army discipline, Sally's pregnancy, and the future of the camp internees.
Sally insists on playing part of a game of rounders, and her friendship with Nellie becomes closer as her pregnancy continues. The rounders game increases Sylvia's respect for Christina, and the two work together to make dinner. Sally gives birth to a stillborn baby; she and Nellie become closer as Nellie tries to console her for the loss. Dorothy, who is still visiting soldiers, starts rumors about Nellie and Sally, and the prisoners' opinion run high over whether the friendship is `unnatural'. After discovering the rumors, Sally and Nellie distance their relationship.
Judith Bowen has another attack of malaria, making Blanche wonder about all of their eventual fates.
8.
One of the boys turns 13 and is sent to the men's camp. The mother breaks down at the gate, and the guard's unsympathetic treatment almost brings rebellion from the prisoners before Marion calms things down. In the aftermath, Yamauchi gives permission for everyone to send one postcard home -- 25 words, and one compulsory sentence from a selection. Nellie and Sally try to cope with the distance between them; the friendship between Sylvia and Christina starts to gel. Kate, Christina, and Dorothy think they should start a newsletter, The Tenko Times.
Bea is forced to ask Blanche to try for morphia for one of the Dutch patients, but Blanche refuses. Blanche, Rose, and Kate propose the formation of an escape committee, but the idea is rejected: the jungle isn't safe enough to live in, and the island and the surrounding area is all Japanese-held. Everyone agrees except for Blanche, who tells Rose she is determined to escape. Rose considers joining her, but decides to remain in camp in case Bernard is still alive.
Just before Judith Bowen dies, Marion promises Judith that she'll take care of Debbie. Debbie's friendship with Blanche increases, and she tells Blanche that her family name is actually Cohen, and they're Jewish. Blanche advises her to keep it secret. Van Meyer accuses the British children of theft, but Debbie discovers that it's actually Blanche preparing for escape and tries to blackmail her into allowing Debbie to join in. Blanche refuses, but Debbie gatecrashes the night of the escape. Dorothy finds them making preparations, but promises not to turn them in. When Rose finds out from Dorothy that Blanche is taking Debbie, she tells Marion, who tells Yamauchi in hopes that he will be lenient with Debbie. Blanche and Debbie are re-captured.
9. Drought season.
Yamauchi imposes punishment details on the camp: the sick must parade with the others, Blanche and Debbie are tied to the punishment poles, and personal possessions are burnt, including the postcards home. The prisoners are angry that Marion and Rose turned Blanche and Debbie in, and their life is miserable enough from their own guilt. The Dutch, angry that they are again being punished for British misbehaviour, insist that both groups should now be treated separately.
Yamauchi learns of Christina's gift for languages and makes her his secretary. Nellie wonders about the men's camp.
Marian pleads with Yamauchi for mercy for Debbie, and he agrees. When she asks for mercy for Blanche as well, he agrees -- if the internees will make 500 work hats in the next seven days, and the punishment details will not be lifted. Marion agrees, and the British prisoners organize themselves. The British, stung by the Dutch separation, decide not to ask the Dutch for help. When individual craftsmanship proves too slow, the British switch to assembly-line production, but they are still making hats too slow.
Ulrica visits Yamauchi to complain about the guards making fun of Sunday services, and learns of the agreement. She brings the Dutch, and hat production increases. Tied daily to the pole, the prisoners can only offer Blanche verbal encouragement without offering any details. The day before the deadline, Christina and Yamauchi discover that the deadline was misunderstood, and that there is no possibility of enough hats being completed in time. Yamauchi orders the punishment details cancelled for the final day, and supplies spring water to the internees. The women barely manage to make enough hats, and Blanche is released from 10 days in the sun.
10. Rainy season.
Bea is worried about the diet of the sick, and announces an outbreak of beri-beri. Yamauchi gives them ten bean plants to grow, which may help in case of outbreak -- once the plants grow. Ulrica trades the end pages from her bible (suitable for rolling cigarettes) to the guards for yeast tablets.
Christmas is approaching, and Ulrica and Rose argue over who should run the Christmas concert and carols. When Yamauchi announces that the internees will be transferred to another camp, the concert is moved up. The work party reports seeing a group of men working in the distance. Yamauchi gives the internees the day before the move off from work details and agrees to try to get word of relatives in the men's camp. When it arrives, there is both joy and disappointment among the internees.
Christina has been stealing paper from Yamauchi's office for The Tenko Times and Marion's diary. As she leaves his office on the last day, he reveals his knowledge of her subterfuge by reminding her to take some paper with her. The women leave the camp, uncertain of their future.
Series 2: 1942-1943
11. December 1942
The women have been split into two groups for the march, with Sylvia, Blanche and Nellie in the second group. Bea has become demoralised and listless after her continual effort over the prior months, and also by the slow degradation in her eyesight. Speculation about the new camp is rife, but the instead of going to the camp, the guards march the women down for a surprise day on the beach, which is richly enjoyed by all.
The march continues on, for several days. There continues to be elation and despair from the list of names from the men's camp. The guards get lost, and the group is forced to backtrack. At one overnight stay, the group picks up Joss Holbrook and Edie, both sick elderly women who have been left by a previous party of guards for the current group to pick up. Joss immediately asks if anyone knows anything about her friend Monica Radcliffe.
Debbie, bitten by a spider on the beach, dies. The guards try to move on without burial, but the women refuse to move until it's done, insisting that it's only right that she be given a Christian burial. Marion, cleaning up Debbie's possessions afterwards, finds a Star of David and realises that the Bowens were really Jewish.
Others die as the journey continues before they finally arrive at the new camp on New Year's Day, 1943.
12. 1 January 1943.
The women arrive at the new camp and are processed in. Joss continues to look for news of her friend Monica. Kate, having enjoyed the trek to the new camp, finds herself more resentful of the confinement, and decides to hide the fact that she's a nurse until she knows what things will be like. Marion is in despair from the aftermath of Debbie's death and the continued weight of responsibility. Ulrica discovers that she is the only nun in the camp, which causes her consternation. Sally is deeply depressed, and Christina tries to get her more interested in living.
Dr Natalie Trier comes and inspects the new internees, and they are released from their new hut to be greeted. Lieutenant Nakamura is the commandant, but he speaks no English and the camp is really controlled by the official interpreter, Miss Hasan. Miss Hasan has a reputation for tantrums, but generally leaves the internees alone if the work is done. After being greeted by Lieutenant Nakamura and Miss Hasan, the group is met by Verna Johnson, who is in charge of distribution, and meet Daisy, a British orphan who works as Verna's servant.
The new camp has mattresses, running water, a choir, gardens, traders (when the prisoners are good), and a cat that belongs to Verna. The women are given temporary clothes, and the old ones taken out for boiling and disinfection, but the women are later informed by Verna that the old clothes have disintegrated, and that they will have to repay her for the `temporary' clothes that they have. The loss of their clothes (practically the only thing most of them have to call their own) infuriates the women. They are also informed that they are expected to repay the camp funds for the food rations consumed on the first day as the Japanese didn't issue any for them, and also for the mattresses, and that there's a swearbox for people caught swearing. The women realise that Verna runs the internees and takes her cut on everything that happens in the camp.
They are also informed that the women in the new camp work off-site at a factory, making headgear for Japanese soldiers, and they will be expected to join the work crews soon. Christina is put on a truck to another camp to act as that camp's interpreter. Marion is reunited with her old school chum, Lillian Cartland, and Lillian's son Bobby. Lillian obsesses about Bobby's health and diet. Bea, hospitalized, resents Dr Trier's detached treatment of all the patients, including herself, and is even more upset when no visitors are allowed for the first day, and for only half-an-hour on all following days. Bea is also upset with the continued deterioration of her eyesight. All of the women are confronted with the realization that they must start over in this new camp.
13. 2 January 1943.
The women continue to chafe at conditions in the new camp: the loss of their clothes continues to infuriate them, and the camp rules, the swearbox, the discipline committee all seem unnecessarily restrictive.
Lillian explains to the new camp internees that the rich will pay them to do their chores for them. When Verna announces that the committee has decided to use Red Cross monies to pay for the mattresses and that the new internees won't have to pay for them, Bea, Rose, Marion and Joss decide to ask for their group's monies to be kept aside: Verna may be the camp leader and representative, but she is not the leader of the group from the old camp. However, Miss Hasan rejects Ulrica's and Marion's petition for separate leaders: all contact should come from Verna, and only Verna.
The women start to settle into their new life and make some plans: Ulrica discovers that a priest comes over from the men's camp to hear confessions, and Kate and Rose decide to try to get news from Bernard and Tom. Dr Trier arranges a special diet for Bea, so that Bea will become and stay well enough to treat the ill. Bea discovers that Dr Trier is keeping data on all the prisoners, and that she hopes to use the data to publish a study after the war. Marion asks Lillian if Lillian can get her some paper for her diary. With Christina gone, Daisy tries to get Sally to focus more on life. Joss and Kate set up in the shoe making/mending business. And Dorothy approaches the guards, offering to trade herself for cigarettes and other small luxuries.
Verna warns the group that there's going to be a search. Bea warns Marion to hide her diary. When Verna overhears this, she offers to hide it for Marion, but takes the opportunity to read it before returning it. Verna offers Marion a position on the disciplinary committee; during their discussion, Marion realises that the committee members are not elected, but appointed by Verna.
Dorothy, having established contact with a guard called Shinya, is distressed that he keeps giving her cigarettes but refusing her offers of repayment. They finally agree on English lessons as an acceptable trade. Lillian is appalled when she realises that Dorothy sleeps with the guards.
All of the prisoners are ordered to make themselves pretty for a propaganda photo, and are loaned new clothes and a touch of makeup for the occasion. Sally, still out of sorts and angry at the Japanese, fakes illness, slips into the commandant's office, and commits suicide. This ruins the Japanese plans for the day. Kate, wanting to help prepare Sally's body for burial, reveals that she is a nurse.
14. 15 January 1943.
Having agreed that Sally was insane at the time of her death, the internees bury her in Christian ground. Punishment details are announced, with only Ulrica and the ill being excused, but Ulrica insists on working too. The first shift at the factory leaves the women exhausted, but Rose thinks that some men from the men's camp may be working in another part of the factory and schemes to contact them. Rations are cut for the first time at the new camp, so that the troops at the front may have more; this makes Lillian even more obsessed with Bobby's diet and health.
Lillian arranges for Marion to teach the children; Dorothy continues to teach Shinya English. Bea continues to be angry that visiting hours, even for the dying, are limited to half-an-hour a day, and decides that she really doesn't like the limitation imposed on patients' rights by modern medicine. Verna and Van Meyer sound each other out and spend some time together, and Van Meyer becomes Verna's hairdresser. Van Meyer finds out from Verna that Joss is actually Lady Jocelyn Holbrook, which makes Van Meyer fawn over Joss; Van Meyer also tells Daisy that Joss is a Lady.
Ulrica looks forward to the priest's visit the next day; although concerned over the condition of her gown, she is too tired to clean it. Joss slips it out while Ulrica is sleeping, and washes it for her. In confession, Ulrica confesses that she helped with Sally's burial service because her love for Sally was greater than her horror at Sally's sin. Her penance is to not speak to the others (other than items related to work), and to restrict her contact with them, as they have led her away from God.
Josh suspects that Dorothy may be pregnant. Dorothy later confirms this to some of the women, and the women are concerned over possible reprisals against them for Dorothy's indiscretions. Ulrica is the only one who tries to comfort Dorothy. Dorothy is convinced of the hopelessness of trying bring the child to term, even if she wanted to, especially considering Violet's fate. She tells Ulrica that she wants to terminate the pregnancy, causing Ulrica to break her silence.
15.
Shinya becomes concerned over Dorothy's behaviour. Bea tells Kate about the pregnancy, and the women discuss what to do. Van Meyer is horrifed that the baby was fathered by one of the guards, but the rest of the women accept it. What causes division is the argument over whether abortion is acceptable or not, especially considering the medical conditions in the camp. When Daisy becomes ill with dysentery, Van Meyer agrees to act as Verna's maid.
All prisoners are given extra duties; Dorothy's involuntary protest gets her heavy duties.
Ulrica, convinced that Dorothy and her potential sin are more important than her penance, tries to convince Dorothy that abortion is wrong. Dorothy says that it's either abortion or suicide. Dr Trier notices the concern over Dorothy, and mentions it to Verna, who pries it out of Van Meyer. Verna offers Dorothy an abortion; Dorothy accepts. Verna gets the money from Miss Hasan (who wants it repaid), and makes the arrangements. The decision made, Ulrica tells the other women to support Dorothy, whatever their personal opinions. The abortion is started the next day, but the announcement of a visit by the new district commander causes Miss Hasan to send the women from Marion's hut to the factory, and hide the abortion proceedings in a storeroom.
The new district commander turns out to be Major Yamauchi, promoted from his position as their previous commandant. Miss Hasan comments that the women from the old camp are undisciplined, but realises her error when one of the children recognise him. Yamauchi is unhappy with the command structure of the camp, and replaces Lieutenant Nakamura with Captain Sato, also promoted from their last camp. Captain Sato conducts a surprise rollcall when the group from the factory returns. Bea plans to cover for Dorothy's absence and take her chance with punishment for `forgetting to include her on the sick rolls'. Dorothy, not wanting Bea to run the risk, insists on attending the rollcall, but collapses partway through. After her abortion, she becomes depressed, but eventually recovers.
The priest visits again, and Ulrica confesses that she broke her previous penance and also that there was an abortion. The priest, concerned that Ulrica is making decisions without the guidance of the church, arranges for Ulrica to continue her internment at a convent. As she leaves, Ulrica tells Bea that, while she knew how to be a nun, the women in the camp had been teaching her how to be a woman.
16. 31 March 1943
Shinya tells Dorothy that some of the soldiers from the camp are being transferred to the front.
Lillian hopes that she and Bobby will be included on a repatriation list, and asks Marion to check with Yamauchi during his visit the next day. Marion's request for an interview with Yamauchi is denied by Verna, however he notices her during his inspection and agrees to see her. Marion asks for information on the other prisoners from the first camp, information about Christina's whereabouts, and information on the repatriation list. Yamauchi replies that he is too busy to concern himself with the fate of the prisoners from the first camp, that he will look into the matter of Christina, and that the repatriation list should be handled through Verna. Verna punishes Marion and her hut by refusing them dinner that night and breakfast the next morning.
The next day, Verna tells Marion that two new internees will be added to her hut. At the end of the factory shift, Christina is brought back to rejoin the group, although she must report to Yamauchi's office down the road from the camp every day. And Blanche is transferred from her current camp to their new camp, bringing news of their old friends (Sylvia died from cholera the first month in the new camp, but Nellie is alive and well and running the sickbay).
Christina and Blanche have to make some adjustments to living in the new camp, but it's made easier by the support of their friends. Blanche discovers that Debbie has died, and blames Rose for telling about their escape attempt, but later discovers that Rose misses her friendship. Blanche meets Joss and, determined to defy the Japanese, they team up.
Rose is still trying to figure out a way to contact the men's camp. This becomes unnecessary when, working at Yamauchi's office, Christina is approached by a member of the underground, who contacts the men's camp and brings back word that Bernard and Tom are both alive and at the camp.
Lillian has been giving part of her rations to Bobby. Bobby gives some of his food to one of the other children. When Lillian finds out, she has a fit. The repatriation list comes through and Lillian and Bobby aren't on it; Dr Trier is.
17. 22 April 1943.
Christina brings a note from Bernard to Rose, arranging a rendezvous the night of the Emperor's birthday, when the guards will be distracted by a large party the Japanese are planning. Christina is nervous about the risk both she and the man in the underground are running, and wants to stop acting as a courier. Joss asks Christina to contact the underground for resistance purposes, and Christina refuses. Yamauchi, suffering from stomach problems and unable to eat much, gives his uneaten food rations to Christina. Verna puts Van Meyer on the discipline committee. Marion objects, and gets the committee to agree that future selections will be held by vote. Lillian continues to give part of her ration to Bobby and to obsess about his condition. Lillian asks Dorothy to ask Shinya for extra food for Bobby. After Joss is punished for trying to steal guards' underwear, Joss and Blanche make plans to disrupt the birthday celebration. Rose, discovering the plans, asks Blanche to delay their execution, so she and Bernard can meet with less risk.
On the Emperor's birthday, the repatriates leave the camp. Dr Trier has asked for her repatriation to be cancelled, but it is too late and she must leave. The Japanese forbid the repatriates to bring any notes with them. Dr Trier decides to try, but asks Bea to keep a copy just in case, and asks her to add to them as needed. Bea worries about coping with Dr Trier leaving, especially with her bad eyesight, and feels overwhelmed by the responsibility. Kate thinks about becoming a doctor when they're released. The internees are given soap and extra rice rations. Shinya sits out the Japanese party, and Dorothy keeps him company, talking about life in their different cultures.
Rose tries to make herself up for her rendezvous. Blanche slips in, gives her some lipstick she stole from Van Meyer, and offers to escort her through the forest to the rendezvous. Rose and Blanche slip out of the camp. When Bernard meets them at the hut, Blanche slips back to camp. Bernard gives Rose a bottle of Vitamin B, and tells her to tell Kate that Tom sends his love -- he's been unable to reply to her notes because he's been in solitary. He's also seen a newspaper clipping: the Allies are gaining ground. He also reports that Sally Markham's husband Peter died a while back from diphtheria. Bernard and Rose agree to get married.
Josh accidentally reveals the rendezvous to Kate, who hasn't heard replies from her notes to Tom and is distressed at not knowing of the plans. Marion discovers Blanche sneaking into camp and deduces the rendezvous. Later, Sato breaks up the soldiers' party and sends them to search for Rose and Bernard. The camp watches the soldiers leave, and shots are heard from the forest.
18. 30 April 1943.
Due to the ill-fated rendezvous, Sato decrees the following punishment: rations are cut until the Japanese know how things were arranged and who helped. Emotions in the camp run very high. Lillian still obsesses about Bobby and has taken him out of classes. She gives him most of her rations, and works extra hours for food for him.
Rose is brought back, shot in the back; Bernard is dead. The entire camp chips in items for the surgery needed for Rose, even Verna miraculously producing a bottle of disinfectant. Bea and Kate operate on Rose; when Bea realises she can't focus enough to operate, she turns the operation over to Kate and assists her. Afterwards, Bea feels old, used up. Rose recovers consciousness, but is paralyzed and without feeling from the waist down. Yamauchi arrives and questions Rose. When she refuses to answer, Miss Hasan tries to hurt her, but unintentionally chooses points where Rose has no feeling. Rose confesses that she passed notes back and forth through the latrine walls at the factory. Satisfied, Yamauchi leaves. Rose tells Kate that Tom is alive, and rations are restored to normal, thanks to Rose's confession.
Dorothy teams up with Joss and Blanche and distracts Shinya while Joss and Blanche plant rats in Verna's hut. Shinya tells Dorothy that the guards at headquarters said that Rose and Bernard were informed on. Blanche, who blames herself for not staying on lookout, speculates that Christina is getting extra food from the Japanese. Speculation runs rife over who the informant is, and camp suspicion falls on Christina. Joss and Marion prevent physical retaliation against Christina, but she is to be brought before the discipline committee.
Daisy having fallen ill again, Lillian is acting as Verna's maid. Verna spreads word about Christina's supposed guilt. Christina is worried about the hearing before the disciplinary committee. Yamauchi is still having stomach problems and continues to give Christina his rations. He notices that she is worried about something, but thinks it is about Rose and tries to offer her comfort, speaking of honor. Honor becomes Christina's defense at the hearing, which delivers a verdict of Not Proved.
Blanche visits Rose, but it's terribly awkward, and she leaves quickly. Afterwards, her taste for pranks -- and for life -- are gone. Joss finds out from one of the children that Verna is giving fish to her cat, and tells Marion. Marion is furious, and joins Joss in her pranks.
Lillian gives Bobby an egg. Marion later discovers Lillian giving Bobby yeast and a banana, and has it out with Lillian, discovering that she is the one who betrayed Rose and Bernard.
19. 12 May 1943.
The other children refuse to play with Bobby. Dorothy and Blanche trap Lillian and cut her hair. The others are rough on Lillian, tripping her in the mess. In an attempt to make amends, Blanche asks Christina to the dance, but is turned down.
One of the children tells Dorothy that Shinya is the one who shot Rose. She confronts him, and it's true. Shinya tries to rebuild his friendship with Dorothy, but she rejects him, and sleeps with the other guards to get cigarettes.
Marion approaches Verna about getting Lillian and Bobby transferred out of the camp, and finds that Verna's already spoken to Miss Hasan about it. Yamauchi and Marion talk. He agrees to the transfer plan, and confirms Bernard's death. Lillian and Bobby are transferred out before morning rollcall. Lillian sends for Marion to say goodbye, and wants to tell her where the extra food came from, but runs out of time when Verna comes in. When Blanche discovers that Lillian is gone, her anger and her spirit return.
Two months pass. Joss is still looking for word on her friend Monica. Christina finds out that Monica is dead, having died of heart problems early in her captivity. Marion realises she misses being the camp leader. Bea wonders where the disinfectant for Rose's operation came from. Van Meyer cuts open her mattress and makes a pillow for Rose. Rose asks Van Meyer to cut her hair, but is refused. Joss and Marion spot a native outside the wire, who arranges a `postbox' to pass messages between Kate and Tom.
Joss still wants to contact the underground, but Blanche refuses, saying that she doesn't want to end up like Rose. Blanche goes to Rose and cuts her hair for her. Rose's urine becomes infected. Blanche asks Bea to euthanise Rose, arguing that they did it for Dorothy's baby. Rose, wanting to die quickly, refuses food. When Miss Hasan finds out, she gets very mad and says that no one will eat if Rose doesn't: they don't want another suicide. Rose capitulates and eats. Later, the evening of her birthday, Rose asks Bea to kill her. Bea still resists it. In the morning, Bea tells the hut that Rose died peacefully in her sleep.
20. 3 September 1943.
The drought affects the internees in their camp: tap water is for drinking only, everything else must be hauled from a water hole. The work load is increases, with even Verna ordered to do manual labor, especially since she still owes Miss Hasan for Dorothy's abortion. Daisy's hands blister from the work at the factory, complicated by the extra work she still does for Verna. Bea's eyes are still worse. Joss resists going to her for a tooth extraction, and Blanche has a hurt leg, but tries to get medicines from the guards instead of going to Bea.
Blanche turns Joss down when Joss proposes a new prank. The guards search the camp again and burn miscellaneous personal possessions, including (unknowingly) Marion's diary. Angry, Marion agrees to help Joss sabotage the truck that takes the internees to and from the factory. Yamauchi's stomach is worse, and he collapses in his office. After he is taken out, Christina straightens the office and finds a letter from the Red Cross. She returns to camp and tells Marion about the letter. Marion sends her back to learn more. Christina finds out that the parcels should have arrived at the camp on 12 April. Marion confronts Verna, who says that the parcels were sent to a convent on Japanese orders, due to Rose's night with Bernard.
Letters from the resistance state that the Allies have landed in New Guinea. Blanche tries to seduce one of the guards, but fails. As a consolation for herself, she arranges for some bootleg liquor to be smuggled in for her hut, and has a party.
Marion finds the disinfectant bottle from Rose's operation. She realises that the parcels should have arrived on 12 April, and the Emperor's birthday was 29 April. Christina returns to the office, and Major Yamauchi is back at work. Marion is delighted, because she wants to arrange a confrontation over the Red Cross parcels.
Shinya tells Dorothy that he is being transferred to the front, and asks her forgiveness for shooting Rose. She forgives him. Shinya tells Dorothy that Verna is the one who arranges for the guards to search the camp. Angry, Blanche and Kate bring Verna to the hut for questioning, where Marion charges Verna with charging the internees for the contents of Red Cross parcels that belong to them by right; Daisy confirms that she's seen Red Cross parcels in a locked storeroom. The women nearly riot, but order is restored when Verna agrees to tell Marion the truth: she says she did it, but under Miss Hasan's orders.
The next day, Christina heads to work with orders to ask for Yamauchi's intervention. While she is gone, an Allied plane, attempting to bomb Yamauchi's headquarters, also bombs the camp. Shinya and the cat die; Sato is injured. Some of the women break into the storeroom and use the Red Cross parcels to treat the wounded. Yamauchi arrives in the middle of the chaos and forcibly stops it.
Series 3.
21. 1 July 1945.
The women have been in their new camp, a former prison, for close to two years. The episode starts with a shot of the graveyard in the new camp, displaying the grave markers for Verna and for Blanche.
The women are called for rollcall. After the rollcall, the women discover that it is Alice's birthday. Alice is a 17-year-old who's mother died during the previous few months.
Sato is still the commandant of the women. He announces many British, Australian, and American losses on Okinawa and Borneo. Sato forces Bea to falsify death certificates, to say that deaths are not being caused by malnutrition. Marion is still keeping her diary, and Bea is still keeping Dr Trier's case notes up to date.
The camp is buzzed by Allied planes. The underground brings word of Allied advances in Borneo. Marion and Joss start to make plans in case the Japanese decide to kill the internees when the Allies arrive.
Christina is still working for Major Yamauchi. He shows her a picture of his 6-month-old grandson. He is still ill. Christina asks Yamauchi for something for Alice; she gets some paper and the women make Alice a card. At the party, Sato storms in to break up the singing, and rips the cards to pieces.
Van Meyer reminisces about her house, worried that it will have been looted when she returns. Joss gathers stones for resisting the Japanese, and finds a leaflet in Japanese, which the guards confiscate. Kate still wants to be a doctor.
Yamauchi tells Christina it's her last day in the office. Christina sees an order ordering the execution of all prisoners when the Allies' final push comes. The committee plans resistance -- they have nothing left to lose. Fighting teams are armed with stones, and the women are nervous about their future.
Tenko is called. The women are lined up, with all the soldiers in front of them instead of scattered about as normal. The women are ready to fight. The initial part of Yamauchi's announcement makes them think they are about to be shot, but he announces Japan's surrender instead. Joss points out to Marion that she's in charge now; Marion and Yamauchi go to talk privately.
Alice runs and tells the people in sickbay. Yamauchi, in the office, tells Marion of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. While they talk, Maggie gets a group together to take revenge on Sato. Yamauchi tells Marion that the internees are to remain under Japanese control, orders from Montbatten, for their own safety. Yamauchi will protect them, but there must be no reprisals against the guards. Outside, Maggie leads her group towards Sato.
22. 20 August 1945.
Maggie's group is intent on attacking Sato. Kate goes to take down the Japanese flag; Marion stops her and then stops Maggie. Marion explains things to the group: they remain under Japanese control. Natives will do the heavy work, the women will maintain order and sanitation, extra rice will be given, and they can trade with the locals using the contents of the storeroom -- blankets, sheets, towels, butter, vitamins, medicines. Yamauchi explains that they weren't sure how long things would need to last, which is why the contents of the storeroom were withheld.
Christina returns voluntarily to help Yamauchi in the office, with Marion's approval. While the vitamins and medicines help some of the sick, some still remain ill or die.
Kate wants to go to the men's camp and see Tom. Maggie, not believing that the natives are restless (the Japanese promised them their independence from the Europeans), encourages her to abscond to see him. Joss hears from the underground that the natives are indeed restless. Kate and Maggie, en route to the men's camp, meet a man coming over from the men's camp. He warns them not to continue. Maggie and the man go into the back of the truck to have celebratory sex. Afterwards, they see hostile natives and flee back to their own camps.
Van Meyer overeats and makes herself ill. Alice sees Maggie's bruises and thinks one of the guards has attacked her. Alice and Maggie talk and realise that they couldn't have killed Sato.
Yamauchi arranges a visit to the men's camp for those with relatives there. Australian soldiers arrive in the women's camp and find the women's history appalling. The Japanese records are somewhat confusing, due to the moves and number of deaths. The other women come back from the men's camp, where twice as many have died. Marion is told that the women will go to Singapore the next day.
Alice is disgusted when one of the soldiers mistakes her for a boy, and worries about her femininity: she's only had one period ever, and has no breasts. Christina remembers Simon Treves' promise to meet her at the Ritz when the war ends. Bea apologises to Kate for being rough and offers whatever she can do to help Kate become a doctor. Joss feels tired now that there's nothing left to fight. Dorothy and Joss witness Sato commit hari kari.
The night of 19 September, their last night in the camp, the woman pray: thanks for their survival, forgiveness for their enemies, and in memory of those who died. In the morning, one of the ill has died. Joss and Bea watch Marion go to say goodbye to Yamauchi. Bea says she can forgive him much, but not withholding the vitamins and medicines. Yamauchi says goodbye to Marion, apologizes for the deaths, wishes for peace, and bows. Marion bows back. Christina, last to load up, sees Yamauchi. He bows to her, and she bows back. The trucks roll out of the camp.
23.
The women are on the plane to Singapore. The plane lands and the women are greeted by Phyllis Bristow, the RAPWI representative, and a newspaper photographer. Phyllis wants them to go through some formalities -- name, next of kin, etc. The women are served tea, given soap and some other necessities. Phyllis tells Alice her father is still alive, Van Meyer that she'll be transferred to a group of Dutch women, and Kate that she'll join the nurses' group. Van Meyer and Kate balk, and Phyllis leaves them with Marion's group.
Marion and Joss are interviewed by an army reporter. After tea, the group is moved to their quarters -- at Raffles. The rooms aren't ready, so they eat dinner in the hotel restaurant. Marion asks Phyllis to track down Clifford. Bea is approached by a woman looking for news of her daughter. The real table, silverware, dishes, all impress the women. The group is brought sandwiches and bangers, which they love. Marion is approached by Colonel Smithers who is collecting information for war crimes trials. Alice, without thinking, starts to pack her plate in her pack. The group is given a suite at the hotel, with their own bath. Kate joins Maggie in the tub, and they have a wonderful time getting clean. Bea marvels at the clean clear water, Van Meyer the curtains, Joss the bed. Marion admires the paper, and tried to write to Ben. Joss is tired and unwilling to leave the bed. Marion brings in a gin sling from the Colonel. Marion ends up sleeping on the floor - the bed is too soft. Phyllis leads the group through medical exams, loss lists, spending money, postcards home, news from Britain. Bea feels de-powered: she's not in charge, has no authority, and her eyes are poor. Dorothy sees captured Japanese soldiers mending the road, and sneaks them cigarettes. Kate turns over Dr Trier's notes to one of the medical people, which pisses Bea off. The group tries to readjust to the idea of freedom.
Groups of youths run wild in the streets, killing collaborators in daylight, stealing tires from trucks and cars. Van Meyer finds comfort in the thought of being a rich widow. Kate visits the hospital: the group there is comfortable enough. Kate can't find Tom, and Bea gets bad news about her eyes. Van Meyer goes to the bank to check on her money. Alice wonders if she's still fertile.
At the party that evening at Raffles, Colonel Jackson is attracted to Van Meyer. Dorothy steals a saltshaker and an ashtray, because it's not a handout. Marion still worries about Clifford's fate. Marion and Dorothy cut out from the party; Bea finds it all too much, and flees.
24.
Tensions increase between the ex-internees as they try to adjust to freedom, but they continue to stick together and defend each other against outsiders. The ex-internees go to a thanksgiving prayer service. Colonel Smithers, of the War Crimes group, tries to get Marion's evidence against Yamauchi. Marion is still looking for information about her husband. Joss meets one of Monica's old friends, Stephen Wentworth. Stephen is trying to help the natives. Christina can't find any word of Simon Treves, as she's not officially his fiancee; she also re-discovers British prejudice against half-breeds and other non-whites. Jake Haulter befriends the newly returned group of women.
Phyllis tries to sort people into the boxes where they 'belong', including trying to get Alice to associate with girls her own age instead of people like Maggie. Tom is diagnosed with tuberculosis. Maggie speculates, "Know something? However different we all are, however much we row and say things, I sometimes think we'll never be so close to anyone, ever again."
Marion thinks that Clifford may have left word with the servants at their house. Female collaborators are marched through the streets. Jake helps Joss back to Raffles, then gives lifts to Marion, Dorothy, and Maggie. Dorothy and Maggie think of settling into Dorothy's old bungalow together, but it has been trashed by anti-British locals. Marion's house and contents, taken over by the Japanese for the duration, are in perfect shape. Dorothy is determined to fix up her house. Jake takes Dorothy and Maggie to get furniture, confiscated from the Japanese who confiscated it themselves.
Stephen asks Joss to help with his group of native refugees and returnees. Jake helps Dorothy select good quality furniture for the house; since it may well never be reclaimed anyway, they should get something that will increase in value. Marion is urgently called back to the hotel
25.
Marion and Clifford are reunited, and Clifford tells her that her mother and Ben are fine.
Van Meyer tells some other ex-internees about Dorothy and Shinya. Clifford wants to return to their house; Marion is reluctant to leave the women. Clifford tells Christina that Simon Treves is married, and reveals his own prejudice against non-whites. Clifford is now working in Intelligence, will be working on the War Crimes group, is determined to avenge everything that has caused changes, and puts Yamauchi at the top of his list.
Dorothy and Maggie start work on the bungalow. Clifford learns of Marion's first diary. Clifford regrets that he was unable to protect Marion, prevent her from becoming a prisoner. Clifford insists on replacing the servants who haven't returned, so that Marion won't have to work, but Marion doesn't know what she'll do with herself, with nothing to do.
A new group of ex-internees arrive at Raffles; our group has been out about a week. From the new group, they learn that Nellie Keene is dead, having died of malaria about three months before the end of the war. Bea tries to get back in harness.
Clifford asks Marion about collaborators, women sleeping with the Japanese. Marion defends the women who slept with the Japanese, and also Lillian. Clifford wants details; Marion doesn't want to talk about it. The new ex-internees shun Dorothy. Bea finds out that she's going slowly blind. Marion is forbidden by Clifford to exert herself, even arranging flowers, and it really bothers her. Jake offers Marion a lift to Raffles.
Christina decides to stay in Singapore. Christina and Marion remember Yamauchi as a good man in some ways. Clifford runs into Bea, asks about war crimes, especially Yamauchi. Bea, still upset about the withheld medicines and vitamins, tells Clifford in venomous detail and agrees to testify against Yamauchi. Clifford doesn't like Jake, revealing his prejudice again. Clifford tries to send Marion to Britain, but Marion resists and they argue over her return.
News of Dorothy's pregnancy and abortion sends a group of ex-internees hunting for her. After being attacked, Dorothy flees the hotel and runs into Ulrica.
26.
Ulrica and the girls catch up in their rooms. Colonel Smithers is pressured by Clifford about Yamauchi; Smithers says that Clifford is feeling guilty that he had the war easy. Ulrica asks if she can spend time with Dorothy to help her. Clifford catches Marion eating ... quickly. Clifford mentions an upcoming party, but doesn't want to hear Marion's description of their last party in camp for Alice's birthday.
Dorothy thinks about teaming up with Jake. Christina is contacted by her Chinese uncle, who has been hurt for helping the Japanese. Marion re-reads part of her second diary. Joss tricks Bea into helping out at Stephen's place. Joss finds out Bea is going blind, within the next few years. Mr Van Meyer can't be found, so Van Meyer is told she can't access his money.
Dorothy gets ecstatic with Ulrica's presence, but gets depressed when she realises that it's only temporary. Bea and Kate, wrapped up in their own concerns, argue; Bea apologises. Clifford finds Marion's diary and reads it. One of the new ex-internees lodges a collaboration complaint against Dorothy, who refuses to return quietly to Britain. Dorothy finds out that her mother is dead. Marion feels violated by Clifford's reading of her diary, offended by his labelling of her friends. Joss schemes to get medicines for Stephen's Center. Marion goes to Raffles. Jake gets Joss some medicines for free. Dorothy inherits her mother's house. Marion feels isolated from the others.
Marion worries about telling Maggie and Dorothy about the exposure of the diary. Dorothy feels more exposed as word begins to spread. Realizing that she *does* care about what others think of her, she decides to return to Britain.
Dorothy wonders what her "self" is inside, and asks for Ulrica's blessing. Ulrica doesn't want Dorothy to go. Jake and Maggie give Dorothy a farewell fete at her bungalow. Jake offers Maggie his spare room now that the bungalow will be sold. Dorothy plans on renting out rooms in her mother's house. Dorothy tells Clifford that not all the Japanese are bad; he promises to keep the diary as confidential as possible. Colonel Smithers reads part of the diary over the phone. The other women tell Clifford what a rock Marion was. Bea tells Marion she's going blind. Clifford starts to see that these really are Marion's people.
27.
Joss and Christina's uncle are picked up by the police. Christina sees them being picked up. Joss is questioned about the medicines Jake gave her, but denies everything -- she's been interrogated before. Bea is determined to give evidence, regardless of concerns for her health.
Jake arranges that he gets the contract to clean out the prison camps. Van Meyer is overdrawn to the bank's limit. Bea goes into hysterics over the dead and wounded and the kept-back medical supplies. Joss is released. Ulrica comforts her. Ulrica expects to be returned to Holland; it tears her apart to be sent away when so many locally need her help. The Center is searched by the police.
Colonels Jefferson and Smithers ask Maggie and Alice about Yamauchi and other war criminals. Bea visits Ulrica and confesses that she thinks she may have been too personal in giving evidence. Ulrica confesses her own doubts about re-joining her order. Kate prays for Tom's recovery. Stephen and Joss share memories of their camps. Marion accuses Clifford of seeing the Japanese every time he looks at her, that his vendetta is personal. Clifford tells her that Yamauchi is in Singapore.
Phyllis is told to speak with Joss about the Center -- the blackmarket, contacting collaborators, and not giving up their blackmarket sources. Van Meyer gives an interview telling of her selflessness and self-sacrifice in the camps. Phyllis tries to get Joss to leave; Joss refuses. Bea takes Van Meyer to task. Giving testimony, Maggie tells of Blanche's fate: caught smuggling in food, she was put in the punishment cells, except she had beri-beri and died. Marion tells the others that Yamauchi is interned in Singapore. Van Meyer regrets the interview. Stephen decides to stay in Singapore. Joss needs to take care of some matters in Britain; he asks her to return.
Marion tells Clifford that she won't testify against Yamauchi. Clifford and Marion argue about Yamauchi's good points. Clifford is told that Christina wants to visit Yamauchi; initially, he denies it, but decides to spy on her instead. Christina brings biscuits, which are broken into pieces during the guard's search for contraband. Yamauchi says he will feed the bits to the birds who come to visit. Yamauchi inquires about the women; Christina gives him paper and pencil. Yamauchi still has no word of the fate of his family.
Ulrica realises that her decisions in camp weren't always wrong. Van Meyer pawns her wedding ring for money and admits to Joss that her only comfort has always been money. Jake and Maggie go to bed. Van Meyer is very contrite after being told off. All of the girls and Stephen end up meeting in the hotel bar. Ulrica is told that Yamauchi is in Singapore. Christina tells them that she visited him and he asked after them. Ulrica, Christina, and Marion state that they won't give evidence. Ulrica offers to get extra food to Christina's uncle, still in jail for dealing with the Japanese to get extra food for his son, who was shot by the Japanese for smuggling rice into the British men's camp.
28.
Alice asks Bea to teach her to tango. Tom dies. Jake tells Maggie she can stay with him as long as she likes, and he'll arrange a job for her when she feels like it. Marion plans to sneak in to visit Yamauchi. Kate arranges Tom's funeral. One of the other internees tells Kate that Tom was absolutely wild about her, always talking of her in the camp. They ask Kate if she has someone to help her, and she immediately thinks of Marion. Jake offers to help Marion with the red tape involved in visiting Yamauchi. Kate goes to see Ulrica because Marion is out. Ulrica and Kate talk. Yamauchi tells Marion that death is more honorable than prison. Yamauchi is writing to his daughter using Christina's paper; he doesn't know if his daughter or grandson are alive: they lived in Nagasaki. Marion offers to make inquiries for him; he accepts. Marion apologises that her diary will be used against him; he reveals that he knew of the diary and let Christina take the paper from his office for it. She apologises that she has lost control of it: she knows that the truth isn't as simple as the diary appears to say.
Kate decides that she'll definitely become a doctor. Kate asks Ulrica to come to Tom's funeral. She is reluctant because he was a Protestant. Kate reminds her that the camp always grieved for their dead together. Marion brings Kate a black dress. Ulrica comes to the funeral. Bea plans on coming to the funeral to provide moral support; Kate thinks it would be against Bea's principles as an atheist and excuses her.
Clifford runs into Van Meyer and Maggie and learns of the funeral and Marion's visit to Yamauchi. Bea is depressed. Maggie bucks Bea up for a bit. Alice goes to her first grownup outside dance, and goes outside with a boy who feels her up and upsets her tremendously. Marion invites everyone back to her house for tea. Bea explains the facts of life to Alice. Ulrica confesses to Marion that at least in the camp she felt useful, and she wants to feel useful again.
Stephen asks Bea to help at his Center. Maggie tells Bea she thinks she's pregnant by the guy in the jeep from the men's camp. Marion and her housekeeper talk: she's been so long with the women and so long from Clifford that she's not certain how things will work out. Bea confirms Maggie's pregnancy, and Maggie tries to decide what to do. Clifford asks Marion about her visit to Yamauchi, as he can't believe she did that, and what will other people think? Marion defends Yamauchi's compassion to Clifford. Clifford and Marion argue: he feels that he's taking second place to the women, she wants a more responsible and involved life for herself. She says she doesn't know if they have a future together.
29.
Alice is going home tomorrow; Marion, Bea, and Joss sail in 8 days; and Kate the week after. Christina decides to stay in Singapore. Van Meyer is convinced her husband is dead and her house destroyed. Maggie also decides to stay on in Singapore. Jake knows that Maggie is pregnant. Maggie wants to keep the baby. Joss and Bea run into Ulrica en route to the Center. Ulrica is thinking that she might have been wrong to leave the women in the camp. Ulrica, Joss, and Bea send Stephen out to take care of his cold while they run the clinic.
Clifford tells Phyllis that Marion is more affected than he had realised, unwilling or unable to adjust to her old life - she resents his work, undermines him by visiting Yamauchi, and is thinking of separation - and that the other women are keeping her from him, not realising that Marion's changed. He wishes he had been the internee. Word comes from the Dutch that Van Meyer's husband is still alive.
Jake offers Maggie choices: abortion, adoption. She tells him she wants to keep the baby. He offers her a room, then marriage.
Joss thinks she may be getting Stephen's cold. Van Meyer's house is safe. Jake takes a turn dancing with each of the women. Van Meyer goes off alone to cry.
Clifford asks Marion about the seperation. She explains that she herself is different: for three and a half years, she's been a leader, a person in her own right, and she can't go back to being a decoration. She thinks he loves the person he'd like her to be. To make their marriage work, they'll have to start from scratch.
Maggie turns Jake down, and decides to go back to England. Van Meyer asks to see Ulrica, but Ulrica has gone to deliver a child to a leper colony. Joss and Stephen spend the day walking, due to their colds and Bea's insistence. Marion and Clifford discuss the new terms of their marriage - she would like a part-time job, he offers her another child. Clifford confesses that he feels guilty about her being in the camp. Marion explains Yamauchi as best she can to Clifford: he may not have been able to give her food, but he gave her dignity.
Christina helps Bea with the Center notes. Christina decides to become a teacher, to teach the Chinese and the poor and the neglected. Bea worries about her future; Christina gives her some reassurance. Joss tells Stephen she'll be back in the spring, and that she's going to put some of her inheritance into building a new Center.
Marion leaves Clifford to talk with Van Meyer, who is sitting alone and depressed. Van Meyer confesses that she never loved her husband, she married him to help her family. She thinks her husband hates her as much as she hates him, but without him she has nothing and she refuses to live without comforts. Marion points out that's what she did in camp, and Van Meyer replies that in the camp, she at least had the other women.
Maggie reveals that she was previously pregnant, by her father, who killed himself when the family was broken apart because of it, and the shock of which caused a miscarriage. Joss is mugged for her purse. Marion decides to give her marriage another shot. Joss is put into the hospital.
30.
Kate offers to help in the Center until she leaves. Phyllis tells them they're having a picnic that afternoon. Bea, Christina, and Kate are working at the Center; Ulrica shows up to help. Van Meyer tells Marion that she had had no female friends before. Van Meyer and Marion believe that Van Meyer's husband was a collaborator. Marion suggests Van Meyer use her interview to cover up his collaboration, which would both save his family honor and give her status in their marriage.
Both the girls and Jake suggest Maggie bunk in with Dorothy, but Maggie is reluctant to bring back memories of Violet. Clifford takes the day off to spend time with Marion. Marion tells Clifford that in the camps, they knew the best and the worst of each other, while she and Clifford have always sort of worn faces. Clifford apologises for not understanding her changes; Marion says they've both changed, but they both really love each other. Marion remembers the picnic later and rushes to join the others at the beach.
Christina gathers everyone's addresses so they can all stay in contact. The group agrees to meet at Raffles on 20 October 1950, five years to the day after they leave. Bea goes to visit Joss. The nurse thinks she's sleeping, but her heart has given out and she's dead. Stephen decides to go back to England; he has no heart to go on with the Center. Everyone goes to Joss' funeral. Joss' will is read: she leaves money to each of the women, and she leaves a annual stipend for Bea and Stephen, provided they run the Center together. Bea and Stephen agree. Ulrica decides to stay in the Pacific, working in the leper colony. Van Meyer breaks the news to Colonel Jackson that her husband is alive; both are upset at the news. Sister Ulrica visits Yamauchi: his trial is not yet, but he is sure he will be hanged. Yamauchi and Ulrica talk: he is mentally punishing himself for not having killed himself. But they both see the good in each other: "we must all try our very best - always, to the very end".
At the hotel, Kate brings in a small cake. Together, the group remembers some of the good times in camp, and they drink to those who aren't there -- Nellie, Sally, Sylvia, Judith Bowen, Debbie Bowen, Rose, Little Susie, Blanche, Dr Trier, Joss, and Violet.
Christina goes to the Buddhist temple. Bea leaves Stephen at the Center. Kate helps Maggie pack, but is called in by Phyllis so Clifford sees Marion into the coach. Jake gives Maggie a lift to the dock: Dorothy has opened an antiques shop and will be taking Maggie in. He gives her some occupation money to sell in London. They kiss goodbye. Marion offers to help Bea with the Center when they return. They overhear some sailors saying that the sailors could have been sent home by now if they weren't needed to repatriate the women who were too stupid to know that the Japanese were invading.
Christina, Kate, Van Meyer, Ulrica, and Phyllis wave off the ship carrying Marion, Bea, and Maggie. Van Meyer desperately *wants* Christina to come visit her. Having left shore, Marion turns from the rail, says, "Well, that's over", and walks off.
31. Tenko Reunion
Marion is shopping in London in 1950 when she bumps into Dorothy in the street. They meet for tea, and catch up on old times and old friends: Marion and Clifford have divorced, and their son is at Oxford. Dorothy now owns her own antiques shop. Maggie is married and has had another baby. Alice is living with her overprotective father. Bea and Stephen are running the Center. Christina is teaching Chinese children, and helping at the Center. Dominica Van Meyer is living at her husband's estate in Malaya, not far from Singapore. Kate is in Australia, studying to become a doctor. Sister Ulrica has left the leper colony, and neither Marion nor Dorothy are sure where she is or what she's doing at present, but believe Bea would know.
Marion remembers the group's agreement to have a five-year reunion at Raffles on 20 October 1950. The meeting with Dorothy spurs her to write to everyone, reminding them, and asking them to come. We briefly see everyone in their current lives, and we also see some of the Communist unrest in the Singapore region.
Marion, Maggie, Dorothy, and Alice arrive in Singapore, and their seaplane is met by Kate, Bea, Stephen, and Jake. Christina and her boyfriend Lau Peng are taking care of things at the Center. When the group arrives at Raffles, they are informed that one of their group has already arrived, a Mrs. Forster-Brown. This causes confusion until it's revealed that this is Dominica Van Meyer, remarried after the death of her first husband shortly after the war. Dominica has arranged good rooms for herself, Marion, and Alice, but is disconcerted when Dorothy and Maggie are shown to one of the hotel's suites. Dominica tries to console Marion about her divorce, and tells Marion all about her current happiness -- everything would be perfect for Dominica if it wasn't for the Communist unrest.
Kate brings the group to the Center, and introduces Lau Peng. The Center is busy, but not chaotic, and the group is brought into the Joss Holbrook schoolroom where Christina is teaching a group of Chinese students, and a picture of Joss hangs on the wall.
The group goes to visit Joss' grave, and they wish that everyone they knew could have a proper burial and grave. Marion says that she's tried, but none of the authorities want to know about civilian graves, especially those of women. Kate stops by Tom's grave, and meets Dr Duncan Fraser, a friend of Tom's from the men's camp.
The group returns to Raffles to get dressed for the reunion party, and Dorothy spots Ulrica driving up to the hotel in a truck, Ulrica's response to the invitation apparently lost in the post. Ulrica is working at a native hospital, and has survived three Communist raids to date.
Jake and Stephen hang out at Raffles bar, talking about Korea, the First World War, and the women. The women take a table, and pick up where they left off, talking about the people they knew and the times they had. They remember the dead from the camps, although Marion's plea to remember the Japanese causes the usual division. Marion realizes that she doesn't hate any of the Japanese anymore, not even Sato.
Dominica convinces the group to come out to her plantation for the weekend. There are concerns about the Communists, but Dominica assures everyone that the plantation has more than enough weapons and ammunition in case of a raid. The group agrees, and each follows their own pursuits for several days before leaving for the plantation.
Marion goes to look at her old house, but can't bear to get close. She visits some old neighbors with whom she was good friends, but finds that they have distanced themselves because of her divorce. With Clifford and his new wife expecting a baby, and with the reunion reminding Marion of when she was respected, Marion feels that she needs more in her life.
Bea's eyesight is much worse, and she feels somewhat useless. Kate helps out at the Center, and then meets up with Duncan Fraser again for lunch. She confesses that she's not very satisfied with medical school: she resents the distancing of the doctor/patient relationship being promoted in the school, she finds the other students young and inexperienced, and she's being taught medicine by people with half her experience. She's thought about dropping her studies and working at the Center, but doesn't want to disturb Bea's pride, so is thinking about working at Ulrica's hospital instead. Kate and Duncan get on quite well, both finding it a relief to have someone they can talk to, and they decide to get together when the group returns from Dominica's.
Dorothy runs into Jake and they go antiques shopping. Jake is working with the Singapore police in identifying probably Communist agents. Dorothy and Jake have a great time together, and Dorothy decides to skip the trip to Dominica's to spend more time in Singapore with Jake.
Alice and Maggie go shopping, Maggie taking lots of pictures with Dorothy's camera. Alice confesses that, whenever she gets close to someone, all of her emotions just shut off, and she's not sure what to do about it. Maggie suggests that she talk it out with someone, but Alice is unable to. Maggie herself is upset because Dorothy paid her way out to Singapore, and she dislikes being dependent on people; she also thinks that Dorothy has become a little bit of a snob.
When the weekend comes, Alice, Marion, Maggie, Christina, Bea and Kate head out to Dominica's; Ulrica plans to follow the next morning in her truck. The group arrives at Dominica's plantation, where the gates remind them of the camps. They are greeted by Dominica, who introduces them to her new husband, Teddy Forster-Brown. It is clear that the couple are devoted to each other. During the tour of the house, Christina notes rifles in the hallway; Teddy assures her that they have plenty of rifles and ammunition in case of attack, and that everyone is perfectly safe.
That evening, the group gathers in the living room and sings Gilbert and Sullivan songs. Bea phones the Center to check on things with Lau Peng, and then turns the phone over to Christina so she can speak with her boyfriend. Teddy takes Marion aside. He says that his roots are in Malaya now, and he doesn't want to give up the plantation to the Communists without at least some resistance. If something should happen to him, since Dominica has no one else, he would like to know that Marion would be there for her. Marion agrees, saying that even if she isn't their leader anymore, she still feels responsible for all of them.
Teddy asks Dominica to return to England, but she refuses: she loves him too much. Marion asks Bea to return to England with her: with Bea's eyesight, she can't continue much longer, and Marion has a huge empty house to share. Bea refuses: Stephen is deteriorating, and will die within the year, his time in the men's camp taking it's toll. As he loves Singapore so much, it seems only right to let him stay, and Bea will keep looking after him.
In Singapore, Dorothy and Jake end up in bed together. She tells him that he is the only man now who knows everything about her, and still accepts her as she is. Jake asks her why she isn't married; she replies that men expect women to support the man's career and not have one of their own. He says that he can support her career. She asks him to move to England, but he is somewhat resistant. She replies that she needs a partner, personally as well as in business, and that there's more room in England for misfits these days. The next morning, Dorothy and Jake pick up the prints of Maggie's pictures. Flipping through them, Jake noticing Lau Peng talking with a Communist agent in one of the pictures. Dorothy and Jake speculate that Lau Peng is a Communist agent using Christina.
At the plantation, life is sheer bliss for the women, the life they all dreamed of having when they lived in the camps. Teddy goes off to see to the plantation's needs. En route to the plantation, Ulrica stops for a spot check at a road block. Her truck is searched, and she is let go on her way. After she leaves, it becomes apparent that the roadblock was a fake. When she arrives at the plantation, she is let through the gates, and everyone comes to greet her, excluding Bea who has dropped her glasses.
The back of the truck bursts open and soldiers emerge. Servants outside and inside the house are killed, and the women are lined up. The soldiers are loud and demanding, and Marion gets Christina to interpret. The soldiers want to know who owns the house. Dominica steps forward. The soldiers want to know where the guns and ammunition are. Dominica refuses to answer, even when she is hit by the soldiers. The soldiers grab Alice and threaten her life. The threats break through Alice's emotional wall, and she goes into hysterics. Ulrica tries to go to Alice's side, and is shot by the soldiers. Dominica tells the soldiers that the guns and ammunition are hidden in the master bedroom.
The soldiers bring Dominica and Christina inside, and interrupt Bea in the hallway where she is trying to make a phone call. Bea is almost shot, but Christina intercedes, and Bea is spared. The soldiers retrieve the guns and ammunition, tell the women to leave the country to the natives, and leave.
The group runs to help Ulrica, while Alice remains in hysterics. The women load the wounded into Ulrica's truck, and Marion, Dominica, Kate, and Bea take the wounded to the hospital. The doctors say that Ulrica will be fine by Christmas. That evening, the women try to determine how the Communists knew to get into Ulrica's truck and that the plantation had weapons. When Christina isn't around, Dorothy offers up her and Jake's suspicions of Lau Peng. Marion, Bea, and some of the women take their suspicions to the police, who ransack the Center, smashing the picture of Joss in the process. In the wreckage, Marion finds the evidence the police are looking for.
Christina walks in to fetch some books and asks what's going on. Bea replies that Christina has been found out. Christina tries to bluff her way out, but Bea has put it all together: Christina heard about the guns before they left, told Lau Peng details of the plantation and Ulrica's travel plans over the phone, and Christina had ordered the soldiers not to shoot Bea. Christina looks to the others for their support and belief, but their suspicions have been raised. Faced with their disbelief, Christina confesses: she is actually the leader for the Communist cell.
Bea and Stephen are devastated by Christina's revelation. Stephen tells Bea that he wants to go home to England to die. Bea wonders who will take over the Center when they're gone, but Kate is happy to take over. Kate has to take care of some things in Australia, but Alice is happy to take over while Kate's away. Alice's father will probably disapprove, but Alice has decided that it's her life.
Maggie realizes how much she misses her husband and children. Jake has decided to come to London over Christmas, where he and Dorothy will give things a try. Dorothy visits Ulrica, who is happy for her and Jake.
Marion visits Christina in prison, over Christina's protests that she doesn't want any visitors. Christina explains that there is no equality under the British, and she doesn't believe that there will be equality after the British graciously give them their independence. She feels that democracy is wooly idealism, and that it's better to earn their independence than wait for it to be handed to them. Marion has tried to intercede on Christina's behalf with the authorities, who are willing to be lenient if Christina cooperates. Christina refuses, and asks Marion why she cares. Marion replies that Christina cared enough to stop the soldiers from shooting all of them. Christina reminds Marion about her uncle.
Later, Bea visits Ulrica. Bea is still uncertain about imposing on Marion, but Ulrica points out that Marion needs people to look after, and that that includes Bea and Stephen: that if Bea and Stephen stay with Marion, they will be doing Marion a favor. Bea tells Ulrica that, even with her eyesight so poor, she's not giving up on life or living: she'll be teaching about tropical diseases in England. They both recall how they were before their internment, and how far they've come together, and how close they are; and that none of them will ever be entirely independent of the others.
At the airport, the group splits up, more determined than ever to stay in touch. Bea and Stephen and Alice are staying on at the Center for a while, and Kate is heading back to clear things up in Australia. Dominica reveals that she and Teddy are moving back to England because of the dangers in Malaya. When it's discovered that almost everyone will be in London for Christmas, Marion insists that they all celebrate the holidays at her house. As Kate, Dominica, Alice, Jake, Stephen, and Bea wave off Marion, Maggie, and Dorothy, Bea muses, "Like we said in camp, 'We'll be home for Christmas' -- and now we will."
At Christmastime, in Singapore, Kate, Ulrica, and Duncan Fraser serve dinner to the poor. Alone in her cell, Christina sits silently. And in London, everyone gathers in Marion's house, where they toast to absent friends.
Permission is given for retention and distribution in electronic format, and in paper format for personal use; and for inclusion in net- and web-based episode guide archives, provided that no fees are charged. Please send updates or corrections to jeancurley@delphi.com. Notes: Dates listed for episodes are from the titles shown at the beginning of many of the episodes, but events of the episode may span many days. Each episode shows events in their chronological order. In the preceding guide, within each episode description, I have tried to associate events together so that developing stories are presented in a coherent manner.