This fairly obscure WW2 prisoner-of-war drama was a three season feast of exquisite characters and performances, if also a bit soapy for today's audience. White women in peril! Sorry, just joking. Actually that's a precursor of things to come, as human dignity sputters and dies from time to time in this extended semi-episodic story.

An Aussie & Brit co-production, it tells of the women in the Singapore internment camps throughout the war, captured by the Japanese and subjected to inhumane treatment for the war's duration. The final season deals with the survivors' recovery and immediate aftermath. There's also a reunion movie that, like the show, is equal parts sensitive and brutal.

One or two movies have been made about these camps, one about a choir starring Glenn Close which was moving, if fully different in scope & intent. The series treatment of the Japanese camp administrators and the indigenous villagers is fairly dated--1980s BBC dated. An attempt is made to treat them with respect, but it only partially succeeds, so trigger warnings there. The show still deserves a remaster and republish on some service--currently there's just an old, out of print DVD set.

Arguably Stephanie Beacham's best work as part of an amazing ensemble. Ann Bell (minus the big hair) plays the central figure, a naive upper-class British mum, wife of a general, who often leads the captees and, like them all, goes through hell and back. At least the ones who live.

Would be rated R overall for grim themes, nudity and violence, typical episode might be more PG.