Critic Reviews
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It’s a solidly enjoyable Sunday night drama, albeit one that feels slightly lacking.
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For the most part, Ten Pound Poms is a watchable drama about the difficulties Brits had in Australia during the post-WWII immigration movement. But its sudden dark turn in the first episode, plus a couple of underdeveloped stories, make us wonder just where the show is going.
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Brown is solid as a husband and father trying to be better and so is Marsay as a wife who wants more. The reason for Keegan’s glamorous nurse being in Australia is convincing, the methods she uses to achieve her aims less so.
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Halfway through, my chief concern is that it’s getting a tad oversoapy, like an Oz-based The Durrells. Let’s hope it doesn’t descend gurgling into the Sunday night primetime suds.
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Is it a joy to watch something that doesn't revolve around police stations and crime fighting? Most definitely. But when a series like this is blending rich characterisation, fiction, real life history and topical themes, sometimes a focus on a select few rather than a host of multiple over-lapping stories is for the best.
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It’s certainly very watchable, and the subject matter is excellent.
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Lightweight, superficial, and a missed opportunity to interrogate our modern immigration concerns, Ten Pound Poms is, all the same, a burst of sun-soaked schmaltz.
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It has been a bit BBC One-ed, in the sense that it takes wide aim at the “issues” then tackles them with broad brushstrokes, but this is enjoyable enough, nicely compelling, and a real education for those not familiar with the Ten Pound Poms story.