Prepare yourselves, Anglophiles, your next sumptuous period drama fix is here. Or it will be, in the not too distant future.
Titled Indian Summers, this forthcoming drama from Channel 4 and PBS stars iconic actress Julie Walters in a ten-part series focused on the final years of British colonial rule in India. Basically, it seems as though this series is meant to be a sort of Indian Empire Downton Abbey, telling the story of the decline of the British Empire and the rise of modern India, from all sides. (Or, that’s what I’d like it to be, so that’s how I’m choosing to interpret the initial plot synopsis at any rate.)
Walters, who is a two-time Academy Award nominee and played Molly Weasley in the Harry Potter movies, will be joined by an all-star cast that includes fellow Potter alum Henry-Lloyd Hughes, The Borgias Jemima West, Bedlam’s Nikesh Patel, Lilette Dubey, Mr. Selfridge’s Alexander Cobb, Craig Parkinson, Fiona Glascott and many more. Indian Summers marks Walters’ first role since her appearance in Shakespeare miniseries The Hollow Crown a few years ago.
Read on for a more detailed breakdown: