‘Indian Summers’ creator Paul Rutman still looking to revive epic drama

June 1 2016

Not yet end for programme that remains popular and sparked protests…

By Sailesh Ram

MAJOR SPOILER ALERTS!

“INDIAN SUMMERS” TV series’ creator and lead writer Paul Rutman has told www.asianculturevulture.com it’s still too early to say whether the curtain has come down for good on the popular colonial drama.

He told us: “It’s still too early, these things can take six months. We’re still actively out there and looking.”

In April, he revealed that he and the programme makers, New Pictures, were exploring other platforms for the drama series, and hoping still to go the full intended distance – four series and right through to Independence and Partition in 1947 – despite Channel 4 announcing that it was not recommissioning the drama for 2017.

“Series 2 (just completed in the UK) is still to broadcast in the US, it will go out there in September and we have to see how it does there, it’s such an important market. There are also lots of possibilities in Asia, it’s really opening up there,” Rutman (pictured below) reported. “We’re still looking, we haven’t given up.”

He didn’t elaborate, but wanted fans to know that he and others have far from given up on bringing “Indian Summers” back to our screens.

Since the programme was axed, two online petitions, demanding Channel 4 rethink its decision, have been created.

Rutman told www.asianculturevulture.com he was not aware of these particular initiatives.

He said he was touched by the reaction to the final episode with many expressing their disappointment and anger with Channel 4 for axing the series.

Rutman admitted he had kept some plot lines inconclusive, while others he was glad to close.

At the time of writing, he did not know whether a third series would be commissioned. The drama was filmed in Penang, Malaysia – which unlike the real Simla (Shimla now) in India – has preserved its colonial buildings and still has a British character to it.

“Some things were still open at the end, at least there was a sense of closure for Charlie. I think everybody liked his comeuppance,” Rutman chuckled.

Charlie (played by Blake Ritson) was the abusive husband of Alice (Jemima West). Her torrid affair with local Parsi boy and compromised double agent civil servant Aafrin (Nikesh Patel) set pulses racing and was a popular point of reference for many viewers.

In the penultimate episode, Alice’s and Aafrin’s plans to elope to Australia were foiled and both were left to Charlie’s mercy.

He showed little – and subjected both to his cruel and punishing ways – but in the very final instalment, he meets a grisly fate when he runs into a vengeful mob, already incensed by a local sectarian murder.

The next series would have jumped forward to 1942 – with increasing sectarian divisions, World War 2, and the hard realisation that the Raj era was drawing to a close after more than a hundred years.

Since the middle of the first series back in 2015, www.asianculturevulture.com’s has been live tweeting and engaging with other viewers on the micro blogging platform, and picking up on plot twists, large and small, as they unfurled weekly at 9pm on UK TV.

Unsurprisingly this loyal and very dedicated following built up by www.asianculturevulture.com’s Tasha Mathur (pictured with Nikesh Patel) reacted badly to the programme’s axing and called for a rethink. Many have backed the petitions and continue to lament the programme’s demise.

However there was some cheer when Nikesh Patel was presented with the best actor award (TV) at the recent inaugural Eastern Eye Arts, Theatre and Culture Awards (ACTA).

The 10-part primetime Channel 4 series ended last month. Channel 4 said the ratings had not been good enough (at about 1.2 million), while others claimed the broadcaster’s most expensive drama to date (estimated to cost about £15m) was let down by scheduling and a lack of foresight as to how it might fare against dramas such as the BBC’s “Night Manager” and “Poldark” on the Sunday, 9pm slot.

Tasha Mathur’s final review of episode 10 (May 15) and the final selected live tweets…

It might not quite be THE END 😉 , follow us…TWITTER or FACEBOOK

Confusingly, there are two petitions on the same website…

#IndianSummers