Critic Reviews

It’s a solidly enjoyable Sunday night drama, albeit one that feels slightly lacking.

Ten Pound Poms works because its characters are easy to root for as they try to make new lives for themselves in Australia. And the fact that the show is working towards a conclusion ensures that the stories will stay focused.

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.

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.

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.

It’s certainly very watchable, and the subject matter is excellent.

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.

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.

It’s frustrating because the show opens up a window on an intriguing moment of history. But it needs to invest more in its central character and lets its heart rule its head.

The serious issues Ten Pound Poms touches on are couched in a cosiness that does not always serve them best.