Ten Pound Poms

“It’s a charming series that fits into Call the Midwife’s Sunday evening slot perfectly: a well-executed, earnest period piece with committed performances and likeable characters. At the same time, the demands of broadcasting on a Sunday evening – to challenge viewers only gently, balance any darkness with jollity and embrace a dose of melodrama and schmaltz – means that the serious issues Ten Pound Poms touches on are couched in a cosiness that does not always serve them best.”
Rachel Sigee, The i

“It is an entertaining drama, if a soapy one that sometimes becomes a tad ‘messagey’. Some of the dialogue is sharp, though, especially when the characters are tending to their own domestic matters rather than bigger picture themes.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“The second series spins so many plot plates the effect is dizzying. Which is a shame because when the story remembers to focus on single mother Kate’s desperate efforts to win back the son ripped from her by a religious adoption agency, Ten Pound Poms packs a sharp emotional punch. Michelle Keegan, for all that her very 21st-century forehead looks very un-1950s, is right on the money as Kate. A scene in which she has a heart-to-heart with the woman who adopted her son Michael elevates Ten Pound Poms from workaday soap to heart-rending drama.”
Keith Watson, The Telegraph

“Faye Marsay and Warren Brown offer solid performances but the A-lister here is Michelle Keegan, who effectively stars in her own separate drama. Keegan thrives on those deeper emotions, and the comeback episode has a fine scene where she meets her son’s adoptive mother (Nikki Shiels). Empathic and nuanced, the encounter shows what writer Danny Brocklehurst and his cast are capable of, but regular viewers of Ten Pound Poms know the story is likely to revert to trashy, soapy strife before long.”
Jack Seale, The Guardian