Le Joyau de la couronne

I think that this series is absolute perfection. The acting is magnificent, the story is fascinating and the characters are so real that one thinks that one is actually watching a documentary about the final days of the Raj. It is a marvelous adaptation, not a spare scene and it is beautifully directed. It is tightly woven and tells its tale with enviable clarity. I can not find one flaw in this stupendous series. Literate, complex, compelling, this series is singular and an out and out classic. I fear that we will never see anything like this again. Given the current vapid and stupid landscape of American and British television, "The Jewel in the Crown" is THE exemplar of the height of drama.

I can't understand why there are so many negative comments on 'The Jewel in the Crown'. What a well-made series with great performances. Yes, it does tend to drag during the first three or four episodes but anyone who's read 'The Raj Quartet' would realize that the book is just so - several seemingly unrelated events taking place in a larger political context. The series was definitely better than the books and effectively recreated the political milieu of the time. I could read the quartet only after having seen the mini. Kudos to Ken Taylor for his adaptation of a convoluted epic. Definitely a Herculean task. And kudos to the directors (Christopher Morahan & Jim O'Brien) who despite the mammoth task of filming a period piece did it with panache. Anyone who has worked in India (especially a foreign crew) would know just how frustrating an experience it can be. Yet, they've come out with a magnificent product. Truly a classic. Fine viewing. Definitely recommended.

Apologies but those above who have slated the series by rubbishing the acting I feel, are seriously mistaken. Those who have said that the British characters were too reserved and meandering are quite correct - it is how British people were and definitely how they were portrayed in Paul Scotts original book. The beauty of the piece lies in its tender subtlety which provides in itself enough drama without constant high adrenaline action so common to the Hollywood Blockbuster. Tim Pigott Smith was just beautiful with his sadistic menacing Ronald Merrick who definitely goes top on my list of all time favourites. The whole piece when watched one after the other definitely gives the sense of time and place which - living in modern times it is often easy to lose sight of. Thumbs up to all the cast I feel that the acting from all members was superb.As the show progresses the viewer gets gradually enveloped and involved in the lives of these people the thing to remember about this piece is that it is not necessarily the action which enhances the show but more importantly the psychological development of every single character ( maybe with the exception on Aunt Fenny - funny but was only there for convenience - to introduce Sarah to Jimmy the soldier)

There's a small scene in the first 2 hour episode of Jewel in the Crown about 80 minutes in. Susan Wooldridge, a gangly maladroit, clearly not cut out for India, is sleeping. The long awaited rain wakes her and she gets up and walks out onto the balcony. The obsessional loving care and artistry that is evident in just this single minute tell you everything you need to know about the quality of Jewel in the Crown. The set and the lighting on the sleeping figure momentarily transforms the character who will later be known, pejoratively as "that Manners girl" into the Diana-like beauty she always imagined she would become. Wooldridge is convincingly asleep and wakes naturally, and surprise, delight and relief register on her face as she revels in the feel of rain on her face. Nothing is out the book. It's all fresh, original, new. A great piece of acting by Wooldridge, never surpassed or even approached by all the other actors and actresses who have had to play this popular little scene, present in so many other movies. A great piece of directing, lighting, scene setting and costume design.

Aside from this one, there are 649 other minutes and the same care and devotion is taken with all of them. In the episode "The Mughal Room", Sara Layton and Guy Perron spend Guy's last afternoon exploring the Governor's Summer residence at Pankot. 7 minutes go by without any dialogue in this little elegy for the cobwebbed glory of the Raj before they settle down in one of the bedrooms to make love. You won't find anything else like it in mainstream television. Very hard to do but very beautiful.

But then the whole story is excellent, beautifully paced, tragic, funny, pathetic, illuminating and exciting by turns. I've watched it a number of times and I never want it to end.

It really is the best drama series ever made.

This series is captivating. The wonderful way in which strands of plot are woven throughout the series in new and interesting ways, the eternally memorable characters, the fascinating background of historical events, the series' sympathy to people of every age, social and economic background, the charm of many of the protagonists.

Even the more minor characters are just drawn so well. Thus, one of my favorite characters in all of television is that of Nigel Rowan - who is wonderfully portrayed by Nicholas LePrevost; one of my least favorite is the major to whom Sarah is introduced by her aunt and uncle.

Such historical episodes as the decision by the princely states of India whether to accede to the newly independent India - or the creation of an Axis army by Indians who had been taken captive by Germans or Japanese -- these stories are engrossing and not so well known among those of us in the United States not well versed in recent Indian history.

The series is spellbinding - one cares greatly about these people and what happens to them is very interesting indeed.

The symbolism in the series deepens one's sense of the mood of the time, of the tragedy, of the ocean in which these characters swim.

I can't imagine a better series adapted from more wonderful books.