Locating the Tenko Series in Canadian DVD Format

Credit: Wikipedia

The elusive Tenko series DVD

I am most anxious to view the series Tenko.  I’ve read all about in on Wikipedia and it sounds fascinating.  I’ve spent ages plowing thru the net trying to find the DVDs in a Canadian format. I did find a site called Santaflix. They say they have it, but the site kind of made me uncomfortable. – S. R., via e-mail

Tenko was an exceptional dramatic series from the BBC and the Australian Broadcasting Company that told the story of a group of women imprisoned by the Japanese in a prison camp in Singapore during World War II.

Forced into slave labour and enduring horrific living conditions, the story pulled no punches as it propelled its all-female cast through the horrors of war. It aired in 1981 in the UK and Australia, and was picked up by PBS on these shores five years later. Unfortunately, although widely available on DVD, it’s a Region 2 product only. North America is Region 1, and our DVDs don’t play on their players and vice-versa.

The Santaflix website you mention does indeed offer this series in Region 1 format, but it’s questionable as to whether or not they are legitimate copies, or “bootlegs.” It’s very possible they fall into the latter category, and that may involve some risk in trying to secure them from that site from Canada.

If counterfeit DVDs are discovered during inspection by Canada Customs, they may be confiscated, leaving the buyer out-of-pocket for the money, and without their merchandise.

The site looks perfectly legitimate, and they ship to Canada, but I have no way to validate their legitimacy. An alternative is to purchase an all-regions DVD player, and order the originals from such organizations as Amazon or Acorn Video in the UK.