By Lacy Baugher for Drama on August 11th, 2016

‘Indian Summers’ Season 2 to Premiere on Masterpiece This September

The cast of "Indian Summers" Season 2. (Photo: : Courtesy of New Pictures for Channel 4 and MASTERPIECE in association with All3MediaInternational)

Get excited, period drama fans: The second season of Indian Summers finally has a US airdate!

It’s official: Season 2 will kick off on PBS stations around the country on September 11 and will continue on Masterpiece on Sunday nights through November 20. Indian Summers will be airing immediately following the highly-anticipated second season of Poldark, so our Sunday nights this Fall are already looking pretty great. 

Set against the sweeping grandeur of the Himalayas and tea plantations of Northern India, Indian Summers tells the rich and explosive story of the decline of the British Empire and the birth of modern India, from both sides of the experience.

Julie Walters returns to lead the ensemble cast, along with Craig Parkinson, Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Jemima West, Nikesh Patel, Roshan Seth and more.

The story has moved forward three years since Season 1, and some new faces have joined the cast, including Outlander’s James Fleet, Homeland’s Art Malick, Brothers & Sisters’ Rachel Griffiths and Da Vinci’s Demons’ Blake Ritson.

Season 2 begins in 1935 in Simla—an Indian retreat for British colonials set in the Himalayas. An assassination attempt on the Viceroy Lord Willingdon, and the surprise arrival of Lord Hawthorne, puts Ralph’s future in the balance. Meanwhile, Cynthia’s Royal Simla Club plays host to an important royal guest, the Maharaja Maritpur and his elegant and mysterious mistress Sirene.

Watch the Channel 4 UK trailer below, which is quite beautiful to look at, and features a dramatic (but quite anachronistic) soundtrack by Florence and the Machine: 

 

Want more info about the second season? Watch this behind-the-scenes clip featuring the drama’s cast and creators, which takes a look at the “year of reckoning” coming in Season 2. 

 

Unfortunately, fans of the period drama need to make sure to enjoy every moment of its second season, as Indian Summers won’t be back for a third. Though the series was initially envisioned by its creators as a five-season endeavor, the UK network Channel 4 decided to pull the plug on the show after just two, likely due to the drama’s precipitous drop in ratings. (In the UK, the second season saw its audience drop to just 1 million viewers, after notching a consolidated audience of 5 million for the Season 1 debut.)

Will you be tuning in to Indian Summers Season 2? How do you feel about the news that the show won’t get  

By Lacy Baugher for Drama on August 11th, 2016
Lacy Baugher

Lacy's love of British TV is embarrassingly extensive, but primarily centers around evangelizing all things Doctor Who, and watching as many period dramas as possible.

Digital media type by day, she also has a fairly useless degree in British medieval literature, and dearly loves to talk about dream poetry, liminality, and the medieval religious vision. (Sadly, that opportunity presents itself very infrequently.) York apologist, Ninth Doctor enthusiast, and unabashed Ravenclaw. Say hi on Threads or Blue Sky at @LacyMB. 

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