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When Anne Valery was writing Tenko, the 1980s BBC drama about the sufferings of female internees in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp, she and her co-writer, Jill Hyem, had a problem. "We were working for men, and men have strange misconceptions about women and how they behave. With complete sincerity – and a note of finality – they would tell Jill and me: 'Oh, but women do not behave that way; they do not talk that way.' "When Anne Valery was writing Tenko, the 1980s BBC drama about the sufferings of female internees in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp, she and her co-writer, Jill Hyem, had a problem. "We were working for men, and men have strange misconceptions about women and how they behave. With complete sincerity – and a note of finality – they would tell Jill and me: 'Oh, but women do not behave that way; they do not talk that way.' "
Valery, who has died aged 87, knew better, and was tough-minded enough to fight her corner. Relatively late in life, after training for war combat, working in army intelligence, being a doyenne of the Fitzrovia literary set in postwar London, modelling on Paris catwalks, working as an actor, television presenter and cabaret performer, and running a junk shop on the Portobello Road, she finally found her vocation as a scriptwriter, dramatising the lives of women forgotten in the master narrative of 20th-century conflict.Valery, who has died aged 87, knew better, and was tough-minded enough to fight her corner. Relatively late in life, after training for war combat, working in army intelligence, being a doyenne of the Fitzrovia literary set in postwar London, modelling on Paris catwalks, working as an actor, television presenter and cabaret performer, and running a junk shop on the Portobello Road, she finally found her vocation as a scriptwriter, dramatising the lives of women forgotten in the master narrative of 20th-century conflict.
The success of Tenko, which was watched regularly by 14 million viewers over three series between 1981 and 1984 (4 million more than Dynasty and half of the audience male), depended precisely on capturing the behaviour and speech of hitherto marginalised women. Valery told Andy Priestner, author of Remembering Tenko (2012): "They were in Japanese prisoner-of-war camps for three and a half years. Half of them died. Their children died. The British government put a hat on it. It was secret. As far as Britain was concerned, we had evacuated all the women. They disowned some of the bravest women in the war. What they did was wicked. I would spit on all of them."The success of Tenko, which was watched regularly by 14 million viewers over three series between 1981 and 1984 (4 million more than Dynasty and half of the audience male), depended precisely on capturing the behaviour and speech of hitherto marginalised women. Valery told Andy Priestner, author of Remembering Tenko (2012): "They were in Japanese prisoner-of-war camps for three and a half years. Half of them died. Their children died. The British government put a hat on it. It was secret. As far as Britain was concerned, we had evacuated all the women. They disowned some of the bravest women in the war. What they did was wicked. I would spit on all of them."
Valery had written about women's wartime experiences before Tenko. She plundered her own training in the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) for a drama called The Passing-out Parade. In real life, she had joined the ATS aged 17, in 1944, and there learned such commando tactics as twisting a bayonet to cause maximum injury and how to parachute behind enemy lines. She wept when she discovered that the Japanese had surrendered and her skills were not to be put into practice. "I was part of a highly trained secret force that was never actually used," she said. "You might say that the forgotten army in the last war was not the one in Burma but the one in skirts."Valery had written about women's wartime experiences before Tenko. She plundered her own training in the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) for a drama called The Passing-out Parade. In real life, she had joined the ATS aged 17, in 1944, and there learned such commando tactics as twisting a bayonet to cause maximum injury and how to parachute behind enemy lines. She wept when she discovered that the Japanese had surrendered and her skills were not to be put into practice. "I was part of a highly trained secret force that was never actually used," she said. "You might say that the forgotten army in the last war was not the one in Burma but the one in skirts."
Despite basing The Passing-out Parade on her wartime experiences, Valery was told by six directors – all men – that women didn't talk that way, and that the drama was "too difficult" for television in the early 1970s. Instead, she adapted it as a stage play for Greenwich theatre, London, where it was performed in 1979. But, on the strength of the script, she was invited to write for Angels, the BBC series about student nurses that ran from 1975 to 1983. There she met Hyem, and the pair were later asked to write for Tenko.Despite basing The Passing-out Parade on her wartime experiences, Valery was told by six directors – all men – that women didn't talk that way, and that the drama was "too difficult" for television in the early 1970s. Instead, she adapted it as a stage play for Greenwich theatre, London, where it was performed in 1979. But, on the strength of the script, she was invited to write for Angels, the BBC series about student nurses that ran from 1975 to 1983. There she met Hyem, and the pair were later asked to write for Tenko.
From the outset, the two writers were determined that Tenko, which had been created by Lavinia Warner, would be no Colditz – not a story of escapes and derring-do. "We concentrated not on the heroics but on the day-to-day minutiae of distress and survival," Valery said. "We showed how it is the petty things, like when the Japanese issued three sanitary towels to the whole camp, that demoralise, not the enormous cruelties."From the outset, the two writers were determined that Tenko, which had been created by Lavinia Warner, would be no Colditz – not a story of escapes and derring-do. "We concentrated not on the heroics but on the day-to-day minutiae of distress and survival," Valery said. "We showed how it is the petty things, like when the Japanese issued three sanitary towels to the whole camp, that demoralise, not the enormous cruelties."
The producer Ken Riddington had expected a more romantic treatment when he hired them. "I was for guts and so was Jill," Valery said. "He [Riddington] had no idea he'd taken on these two vipers!"The producer Ken Riddington had expected a more romantic treatment when he hired them. "I was for guts and so was Jill," Valery said. "He [Riddington] had no idea he'd taken on these two vipers!"
Hyem agrees with that assessment: "We were a monstrous regiment of women and needed to be so. We were always fighting with men over some storyline. I remember we wanted to write a story about lesbians in the camp and after some conflict we were allowed to – so long as we didn't use the word lesbian."Hyem agrees with that assessment: "We were a monstrous regiment of women and needed to be so. We were always fighting with men over some storyline. I remember we wanted to write a story about lesbians in the camp and after some conflict we were allowed to – so long as we didn't use the word lesbian."
Valery was born Anne Firth in Hampstead, London. In her first volume of autobiography, Baron Von Kodak, Shirley Temple and Me (1976), she wrote about how she hated schools (she attended four of them, including a finishing school), was misdiagnosed as dyslexic, and realised sadly she didn't have what it took to be the second Shirley Temple – despite wanting to emulate her mother, Dorothy, who, under the stage name Doriel Paget, was a singer and actor.Valery was born Anne Firth in Hampstead, London. In her first volume of autobiography, Baron Von Kodak, Shirley Temple and Me (1976), she wrote about how she hated schools (she attended four of them, including a finishing school), was misdiagnosed as dyslexic, and realised sadly she didn't have what it took to be the second Shirley Temple – despite wanting to emulate her mother, Dorothy, who, under the stage name Doriel Paget, was a singer and actor.
In the second volume, The Edge of a Smile (1977), Valery described becoming a "literary groupie" during and after the second world war. She became friends with Dylan Thomas, Laurie Lee, Stephen Spender, Cyril Connolly and Beryl Bainbridge. Two Fitzrovia poets vied for her affections – the Sri Lankan Meary James Thurairajah Tambimuttu proposed but the Greek Nanos Valaoritis was accepted. She and Nanos (Valery is a version of his surname) had a son who died in 1953, aged five. Their marriage was later dissolved.In the second volume, The Edge of a Smile (1977), Valery described becoming a "literary groupie" during and after the second world war. She became friends with Dylan Thomas, Laurie Lee, Stephen Spender, Cyril Connolly and Beryl Bainbridge. Two Fitzrovia poets vied for her affections – the Sri Lankan Meary James Thurairajah Tambimuttu proposed but the Greek Nanos Valaoritis was accepted. She and Nanos (Valery is a version of his surname) had a son who died in 1953, aged five. Their marriage was later dissolved.
She worked for a while as a fashion model in Paris, where Alberto Giacometti and Augustus John painted her. She tried acting, appearing in Cardboard Cavalier (1949) and in the same year in Kind Hearts and Coronets, in which she played the mistress of Alec Guinness's character Ascoyne D'Ascoyne and drowned with him in a punt. She later attended Rank's "charm school", taking minor roles in What the Butler Saw (1950) and King of the Underworld (1952). But her acting career never really took off and she turned to television presenting, working for Associated Rediffusion and on afternoon programmes for the BBC.She worked for a while as a fashion model in Paris, where Alberto Giacometti and Augustus John painted her. She tried acting, appearing in Cardboard Cavalier (1949) and in the same year in Kind Hearts and Coronets, in which she played the mistress of Alec Guinness's character Ascoyne D'Ascoyne and drowned with him in a punt. She later attended Rank's "charm school", taking minor roles in What the Butler Saw (1950) and King of the Underworld (1952). But her acting career never really took off and she turned to television presenting, working for Associated Rediffusion and on afternoon programmes for the BBC.
By the later 1960s, though, she was running a secondhand clothes and bric-a-brac shop. Her then-partner, Robin Jacques, the illustrator and brother of the actor Hattie Jacques, suggested she write her life story. By the mid-1970s she was a full-time writer, not only producing her autobiography but also writing episodes of Crossroads and Emmerdale Farm. After Tenko, she went on to write for Ladies in Charge, a 1986 drama series about a women's employment agency.By the later 1960s, though, she was running a secondhand clothes and bric-a-brac shop. Her then-partner, Robin Jacques, the illustrator and brother of the actor Hattie Jacques, suggested she write her life story. By the mid-1970s she was a full-time writer, not only producing her autobiography but also writing episodes of Crossroads and Emmerdale Farm. After Tenko, she went on to write for Ladies in Charge, a 1986 drama series about a women's employment agency.
She remained proudest of Tenko. She and Hyem sought to honour the real-life British, Australian and Dutch female internees. "There were bands and parades for the men; second-class tickets home for the women," she said once. "The perception seemed to be that while a man who has suffered in a prisoner-of-war camp has been somehow serving his country and is therefore heroic, a woman is merely a victim and a dreadful embarrassment to her menfolk." Tenko set matters straight.She remained proudest of Tenko. She and Hyem sought to honour the real-life British, Australian and Dutch female internees. "There were bands and parades for the men; second-class tickets home for the women," she said once. "The perception seemed to be that while a man who has suffered in a prisoner-of-war camp has been somehow serving his country and is therefore heroic, a woman is merely a victim and a dreadful embarrassment to her menfolk." Tenko set matters straight.
• Anne Valery, scriptwriter, born 24 February 1926; died 29 April 2013• Anne Valery, scriptwriter, born 24 February 1926; died 29 April 2013
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