Michelle Keegan has shown off her transformation into a 1950s nurse with a series of behind-the-scenes photos from a new BBC drama.
The Stockport-born actress is set to star in Ten Pound Poms, a new original series following a group of Brits leaving post-war Britain for the sunny shores of Australia.
It’s based on the historic Assisted Passage Migration Scheme, which allowed Brits to move across the world for just £10.
The six-part series has been written by BAFTA-winning Danny Brocklehurst, who also created Brassic, in which Michelle also stars.
She will play Kate, a young nurse who arrives in Australia without her fiancé, who will slowly reveal her devastating past and why she has such an emotional connection to the country.
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While we still have a week to wait for the premiere of Ten Pound Poms, Michelle has given us a little taste of things to come on her social media.
The 35-year-old beauty shared a series of photos from the set Down Under, showing off her 1950s wardrobe and a few of the filming locations.
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She wrote: “1 week to go before Ten Pound Poms takes you back to 1956.”
In the first photo, Michelle is posing in front of a row of houses wearing a midi-length purple shirt dress.
Then she posted a group photo of the cast together between takes, a snap of historic theme park Luna Park, and a photo of a sunset on set.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jym783rP57Q
Ten Pound Poms will also star Faye Marsay and Warren Brown as husband-and-wife Annie and Terry, Australian comedian Stephen Curry, David Field, Emma Hamilton and more.
Michelle said in a recent BBC interview: “Ten Pound Poms will definitely take the audience on a journey. I think for me and for the viewers, the script is like a history lesson.
“I didn’t know a lot about the Ten Pound Poms before being part of this project but I did a lot of research into it.
“Now I’ve talked to lots of people who say: “Yeah, my grandmother was a Ten Pound Pom and I have family in Australia” and that all stemmed from what happened in the 1950s.”
Ten Pound Poms premieres on BBC on Sunday 14 May at 9pm.
Featured image: Instagram, @michkeegan
TV & Showbiz
Mancs wanted to take part in a new series of the ‘hardest quiz show on TV’
Emily Sergeant
Call yourself a clever clogs? The BBC is currently looking for contestants to take part in what is widely considered the hardest quiz show on TV.
That’s right – Only Connect is back for another series on BBC Two.
Presented by Victoria Coren Mitchell and first broadcast all the way back in 2008, Only Connect takes TV quizzing to the next level, as it sees two teams compete against each other by finding connections between seemingly unrelated clues.
In this quiz show – which viewers have dubbed one of the most challenging there is – knowledge only takes you so far, as the ability to think laterally is also deemed ‘vitally important’.
A casting call for the upcoming 2027 series has been shared on the BBC website, with people from Greater Manchester encouraged to apply.
Mancs wanted to take part in a new series of the ‘hardest quiz show on TV’ / Credit: BBC
The casting call reads: “The popular BBC Two quiz show presented by Victoria Coren Mitchell returns for a new series in 2027.
“Only Connect is seeking teams of three players OR single applicants or teams of two looking for like-minded teammates to pool their combined wits to solve fiendish conundrums and vexing puzzles.
“This is the quiz series where, as in life itself, knowledge will only take you so far: patience and lateral thinking are also vital. It’s all about making connections between things which may appear, at first glance, not to be connected at all.”
Reckon you’ve got what it takes then? Applications are now open, and all applicants must be aged 18 or over and a resident in the UK or Channel Islands.
Channel 4 is looking for Mancs who think they can survive the apocalypse for a new TV series
Lydia Mastrolonardo
Have you always wanted to see how long you’d last in an apocalypse?
Well now’s your chance, as Apocalypse is potentially coming back to Channel 4 for a second series, with producers having put out a nationwide casting call for contestants willing to take part.
The casting call simply reads: “Do you think you have what it takes to survive the end of the world?”
Described as a dystopian series designed to test the creativity, resourcefulness, and resilience of our nation, Apocalypse sees players are pushed out of their comfort zones and put to the ultimate test.
In the series, ordinary people are tasked with surviving for 28 days in an abandoned city – used previously only for the military to practice urban warfare – with no food, running water, electricity or heat.
Produced by The Garden – which is part of ITV Studios – for Channel 4, the show’s creators are now calling on Mancs and people up and down the country with the ‘courage and ingenuity’ to compete, to get in touch and apply for the potential second series.
Does your mate always bang on after watching a post-apocalyptic film that they would’ve done things differently? Or is the news at the moment freaking you out and you want to give the end of the world a bit of a practice run? Either way, sign up, test that plan you’ve built in your head, and see if you’ve really got what it takes.
Applications are now open, and all you need to do is fill in a short application form and one of the production team will get back to you if they would like to proceed. Come on, let’s prove what Mancs are made of.
Daisy Jackson -
8th May 2023 
