Indian Summers

I am enjoying this series, because of the fabulous scenery and the historical context. It's interesting to see how the resentment is building up amongst the local people, and how racism exists not only amongst the British occupiers but amongst the Indians themselves with their appalling caste system.

However I am disappointed with the characters. The cast includes a full set of stereotypes of the late British Empire, from the drunken Scot to the frustrated missionary, the arrogant consul to the Anglophile nawab. Thank goodness for Julie Walters, she's the only one who can actually carry off her character and bring her to life. The rest are just wooden.

I went into Indian Summers out of curiosity but, with the thought that, realistically it wasn't something I'd be too into. The whole kind of 'period drama with a twist' has never worked for me. However, I quickly had a change of opinion - I think this might be the best show I've seen this year.

Everything that you would expect to be good is - the acting is superb from pretty much the whole cast - I can't think of anyone who lets it down. The story is complex, with various characters lives interweaving against the backdrop of crumbling colonial India, with endless contrasts of high society and vicious oppression being beautifully balanced to seem both natural and revealing.

The thing that stood out to me though, and it is certainly something that is harder to pinpoint, was the vibrant nature of the whole show. Despite much of the 'action' coming from character tensions rather than events, the eclectic range of character backgrounds, combined with the fierce political and cultural battles being fought brought the show to life in a way I haven't seen for some time. A beautiful colour palette with some stunning camera work makes this an absolute pleasure to watch.

I don't know how season 2 will live up to this standard, but I owe the whole team my confidence after such a brilliant show.

Love this show as my family came from India. My dad has frequently told me about the many dances he attended and the opulent lifestyle that the family led while living in India. My Great Grandfather was known as 'Car Pop' due to the amount of cars he had back in the early 1900's in India. I have so many photos of dinners, cars and camping trips, trains and military in India. The show helps me understand how life may have been for both the British and the Indians. Though it may not all be factual ,it is still a great show to watch. I thoroughly enjoy the story line, cast and settings. Cant wait to see the next series of Indian Summers. The Indian actors are all great.

We have come to expect more from Masterpiece Theater, but this is so shocking dull I can't believe it was even encouraged. Someone must have done one hell of a sales pitch in a meeting to get this project green-lighted. It moves at a nail's pace and at the end of a 2 hour episode you feel completely drained and realize you just wasted your time. A re-run of Downton Abbey in Season 1 would be a much better investment in your time. So consider this a friendly heads-up, this is not a well put together story. It lacks clear identification of the characters, their purpose and motivation of why they are there and what they expect to accomplish. At best it isn't even an interesting story or premise to hang on to. It was all I could do to stay awake because I was expecting some sense of what I was watching that never came.

Fabulous show. The acting is superb, the characters and the writing top notch, the attention to detail and historical accuracy amazing......Very sad that the show was cancelled. I think that was all about timing, and really not at all to do with the quality of the series. We needed a series like this, but all the way to the end of british rule. This period of history is not one that is well known today.