By Lacy Baugher for Drama on November 23rd, 2015

Period Drama ‘Indian Summers’ Will Return for a Second Season

The cast of "Indian Summers" Season 1. (Photo: Channel 4)
The cast of "Indian Summers" Season 1. (Photo: Channel 4)
The cast of "Indian Summers" Season 1. (Photo: Channel 4)

Did you love the first season of period drama Indian Summers? Then you’ll be pleased to know that the show has been renewed for a second season

Season 2 will be comprised of ten episodes and will be set in 1935, three years after the events of the first season. 

“Our story moves forward three years, to a Viceroy’s last summer, a political gamble to stifle Independence and a great reckoning for Ralph, Alice and Aafrin” said Paul Rutman, creator of the series. 

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

Indian Summers tells the story of the decline of the British empire and the birth of modern India.

In addition, several new faces have also been added to the Season 2 cast. Blake Ritson (DaVinci's Demons) has been cast as Charlie Havistock, Alice’s estranged husband; Rachel Griffiths (Brothers & Sisters) as Sirene, the Maharaja’s mysterious Australian mistress who hides a surprising past; Art Malik (Homeland) as the Maharaja Maritpur; James Fleet (The Hollow Crown) as Lord Hawthorne, whose surprise arrival heralds impending change at the highest levels of the administration; and Sugandha Garg and Arjun Mathur as Kaira and Naresh, both of whom are part of the independence movement.

British network Channel 4 officially greenlit the second season back in March, when the show’s first season was still airing in the UK.  Indian Summers was a ratings success for Channel 4, ranking as the network’s highest-rated original drama in more than two decades.

“It’s a joy to reunite our wonderful cast and I’m beyond thrilled that viewers have responded so warmly to what they’ve seen so far”, said Rutman. “I am so grateful to Channel 4 for trusting us to continue our journey through the last years of the British Raj. I feel like the luckiest writer in the world.”

Indian Summers is set to premiere in both the UK and the US in 2016.

Thoughts? Are you looking forward to seeing this story continue? 

By Lacy Baugher for Drama on November 23rd, 2015
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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