Ten Pound Poms filming locations: Where was the BBC drama filmed?
We follow the characters as they swap their dreary lives in Great Britain for Australia, but was the drama filmed there?
New BBC drama Ten Pound Poms explores a part of British and Australian history that not many people know about, through overlapping character-driven storylines.
We follow Brits like Annie (Faye Marsay), Terry (Warren Brown) and Kate (Michelle Keegan) as they struggle to get to grips with their new lives Down Under – but more importantly, they are faced with the fact that escaping a country doesn't necessarily mean you can leave the past behind.
The six-part series shows how after World War II, more than a million Brits were enticed to emigrate to Australia for just £10. They were promised a better house, job prospects and a better quality of life, but the reality was far from it. But was the new drama actually filmed in Australia?
Read on for everything you need to know about the filming locations in Ten Pound Poms.
Where was Ten Pound Poms filmed?
The new BBC drama was filmed in Australia, and although the new series looks particularly full of sunshine and heat, the actors in the series revealed that it was far from it.
Speaking to RadioTimes.com and other press about the new drama, Michelle Keegan said that "it was actually freezing" and "the opposite" to what many viewers will see on camera.
"We were laughing because obviously, when you hear you're going to work in Australia, you pack your flip flops, your vests. As soon as we landed, I had to go shopping and buy myself a rain coat," she said.
Keegan also revealed that they were primarily in Sydney and also lived in Sydney throughout filming, which was "an amazing city". But they travelled all over for filming with locations including the Blue Mountains and Carcoar which, as Warren Brown revealed, has the tagline of "the town that time forgot".
"It's literally like stepping back into the '50s," Keegan added. "It was amazing. It was like you're walking through a museum."
Filming for the series began in May 2022 with scenes being shot in and around Sydney, as well as primarily in Scheyville National Park, a protected park located in the north-western suburbs of Sydney.
Speaking to the BBC about the challenges of filming in Australia, Brown also said: "Some of the most challenging scenes were ones we shot in a place called Carcoar in New South Wales which is about three and a half hours outside Sydney, over the Blue Mountains. This is where you get to see Terry’s struggles, his efforts to fit in with the workforce around him.
"The Roberts family have come to Australia in the heat of the summer, it’s baking hot - but it was actually p**sing it down. I mean there was snow on a couple of the days that we were filming. I was wearing very little in freezing temperatures and it was pretty hard."
He added: "But you know, going to locations like that and getting the work done is only possible because absolutely everyone, cast and crew alike, are working in pretty challenging conditions but still no one complained – well, I probably complained quite a bit – everyone pulled together.
"So it’s been one of the hardest jobs, but also one of the most rewarding and enjoyable, to be on the other side of the world doing the job that you love. It’s all about the experience, the people you meet and the connections that you make and we’re all in this weird and wonderful circus, so many people away from home."
Talking about her experience filming in Australia, Keegan also said: "I absolutely loved filming in Australia. I mean, when I first got there the weather wasn’t great, I’m not going to lie, but as a country I really enjoyed it. In fact, in a way my journey to Australia has parallels with Kate’s. It was my first time too and I didn’t know what to expect, I came on my own which was quite scary, but it’s been such an incredible experience."
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Rob Collins, who stars as Ron in the series, is one of the many Australian actors involved in the drama. In fact, Marsay, Brown and Keegan are the only British actors in Ten Pound Poms.
Speaking about his experience being on set in '50s surroundings, Collins said: "Every day on set was like being transported back to the 1950s – the art direction is incredible and so authentic. It’s going to be fascinating for people to see that side of Australia, especially for people in the UK. And the stories are really compelling.
"You have a group of characters who are trying to make a life for themselves against incredible odds, especially for our veterans, who are trying to shake off a past that’s refusing to let them go."
Ten Pound Poms premieres on BBC One and BBC iPlayer at 9pm on Sunday 14th May, airing weekly on BBC One and with all episodes available on iPlayer immediately.
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