'Tom Pound Poms' Will Migrate to BritBox in October as 'Riot Women' Shifts to 2026

Like just about everything in 2025, good news comes with bad news. First, the bad news: For everyone who has October circled for the arrival of Sally Wainwright's new series Riot Women, brace yourself for a few more weeks' wait. The series has been pushed from the end of October (where it was facing a crowded field of competition) to January 2026. BritBox hasn't disclosed why the series is being delayed; however, January has historically been a favorable time for British shows on PBS, so perhaps the goal is to have Riot Women also capture that particular viewership.

The good news is that, instead, BritBox is bringing over one of the period dramas we've been clamoring to see come to America, the BBC/Stan hit Ten Pound Poms. The series is a fictionalized drama based on the Assisted Passage Migration Scheme, which began in 1945 and ended in 1972, in which British citizens were persuaded to immigrate to Australia with the promise of a better quality of life for just £10 (equivalent to £260.58 or ~$350 in today's money). The show's title is taken from the locals' nickname for this massive wave of outsiders.

("Poms" is Australian slang for Brit, though whether the nickname originates from the acronym meaning "Prisoner of Millbank," which was how Brits sent Down Under to serve life sentences were coded, or derives from the Brits' love of pomegranates is a point of contention.)

Of course, much like Americans who went west expecting lands of milk and honey only to land in a dust bowl (or die of dysentery along the way), the promise of a new, better life forgot to mention all the work building such a thing would require, much to the shock and disappointment of those who traveled around the world to get there.

Here's BritBox's synopsis for the series' first season:

In 1956, a group of Brits respond to an emigration advertisement that promises a prosperous new life in Australia for just ten British pounds. Expecting to be exchanging rationed Britain for exotic food, white-washed houses, and sun-soaked adventures, the new migrants arrive in Sydney to find that life down under is a far cry from what they were sold.

The main cast features Michelle Keegan (Fool Me Once) as Kate Thorne, Warren Brown (Luther) as Terry Roberts, Faye Marsay (Game of Thrones) as Annie Roberts, Rob Collins (Queen of Oz) as Ron Mohoney, Hugo Johnstone-Burt (Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries) as Henry Broad, Emma Hamilton (Mr Selfridge) as Sheila Anderson, Hattie Hook (My Life is Murder) as Pattie Roberts, and Finn Treacy (The Artful Dodger) as Peter Roberts.

The supporting cast includes David Field (The Inbetweeners 2) as Dean Spender, Nikki Shiels (The Last Anniversary) as Fran Robinson, Stephen Curry (Thor: Love & Thunder) as JJ Walker, Leon Ford (Elvis) as Bill Anderson, and Nic English (Home & Away) as Robbie Carter.

Season 1 also features recurring Australian cast members Declan Coyle, Travis McMahon, Johnny Nasse, Penny Day, Toni Scanlan, Trisha Morton-Thomas, Cheree Cassidy, Berynn Schwerdt, Alastair Bradman, Paiton Kwok, Waangenga Blanco, Sarah Furnari, Rose Chachko, Libby Fleming, Alex Andreas, Tara Morice, Miah Curran, and Neve Curran. Guest stars include Bruce Spence, Jon Sivewright, and Michael Beckley.

Series creator Danny Brocklehurst is head writer, penning three episodes with Ryan Griffen, Smita Bhide, and Ava Pickett covering the other three. Directors Jamie Magnus-Stone and Ana Kokkinos split helming duties across the show's six episodes. Brocklehurst also executive produces, alongside Joel Wilson, Jamie Campbell, Olivia Trench, Tommy Bulfin, Amanda Duthie, and Cailah Scobie.

Ten Pound Poms Season 1 debuts on BritBox on Wednesday, October 29, 2025, with two episodes, followed by one a week through the end of November. Season 2 has already aired in the U.K. and will probably arrive in early 2026 along with Riot Women.