Season 50 - Beecham House (2020)
Tom Batemen just can't catch a break, my sexy man from Da Vinci's Demons. I know at the moment things are looking up because of The Love Hypothesis and how he's basically starring in Reylo fanfic which is really funny if you know he's married to Daisy Ridley, but he has starred in so many wonderful shows that were cancelled before their time that I can't help but call out the injustice of it all. Jekyll and Hyde, damn, that one hurt. It was such a fresh interpretation of the story and yet deliciously retro and deco. But nothing hurt me more than Beecham House. I've been a Beecham House stan since day one. It's a unique period piece that covers a time in India that isn't much discussed and was a frothy soap opera as well. I mean, where else but in a soap opera would Mrs. Patmore be a drug addict, Henri Leclair be in an entirely inappropriate and regal bed, and someone actually trust Marc Warren? And unlike another show of this time, Beecham House was actually filmed in India. Yes, I'm looking at you Indian Summers. More like Malaysian Summers amiright! Rewatching this show I was actually more angry than sad followed by more sad once the anger had passed. Some of the best shows I've loved over the years have just unceremoniously ended. Am I drawn to that which is so unique it can't thrive? Do I have such odd taste that only a niche fandom supports the shows I love? Well, probably. But that's because I crave originality and despise the predictable. Which means I usually fall for that which is doomed. Though I would rather have one season of Beecham House than none. I would rather have my hopes dashed, once again, than never to have had hope in the first place. What struck me most this time wasn't just that this was another show cancelled before it's time starring Tom Bateman, it was another show cancelled before it's time starring Amar Chadha-Patel. Amar Chadha-Patel is a very talented actor who really came into his own as Boorman on Willow. Now Willow is a whole different kettle of fish. Not only was it cancelled by Disney after a certain fangirl had waited basically her whole life for the story to continue, but then they scrubbed it's existence. You can't legally watch the show anywhere. The sheer rage I feel at this is beyond anything I can express. But mainly it just makes me sad. See, sad again. Amar Chadha-Patel was stellar as Ram Lal in Beecham House, which was cancelled. Then in Year of the Rabbit as Detective Sergeant Keith he was fabulous, which was renewed and then retroactively cancelled. And then the aforementioned Willow. Could someone cut this guy a break!?! Because this is breaking my heart. Much as the fact that I will never see John and Margaret marry or John be reunited with his son August or if Violet will ever find a suitable match. So many things to regret. Oh well, onto the next show I'll fall for too hard that will then be cancelled.
I have always loved epic stories set in India. Indian Summers tapped into that on many levels. Set during the waning days of the British Raj, there's a sense that the party was winding down and these characters were grasping for whatever they could get, leading them to, more often than not, make disastrous choices. The show has very little in the way of plot other than lots of romantic obstacles, but the stellar cast makes up for any plot defects. Come one people, Julia Walters! Not to mention Patrick Malahide, Nikesh Patel, Art Malik, Blake Ritson, and Craig Parkinson. I could just watch them wander the lanes between their precious club and their homes for hours on end. The insufferable heat they were trying to escape by summering in Simla, in the foothills of the Himalayas, is palpable onscreen and made me feel like I was there. I know there are a lot of people who took issue with the show, primarily due to the fact that instead of actually filming in India they filmed in Penang, Malaysia, and, well, you can tell, but it still succeeded in creating that atmosphere of suffocating and insufferable British superiority where they refuse to dress for the climate because that wouldn't be British. I can even see them sitting around set declaring themselves to be in India when they were not. I do wish the show had been given a chance to play out over the intended five seasons, because they started moving more into the political upheavals that were on the horizon in India with Gandhi and contrasting his power with that of the Raj with the introduction of Art Malik as the Maharajah of Amritpur in season two. A change was in the wind and the cracks really started to show in season two and then it just ended! And what about the romance between Alice and Aafrin! The series ends with a potential happy ending for the mixed race couple, but would that have actually lasted if the show went on for three more seasons? Or did they shoehorn this in to give the audience some kind of happy ending even though anyone who has any sense of history would know how hard the life they chose would be in 1935. Also would the show have tackled World War II? But I have to settle with what we got, a slice of life, not perfect, but very atmospheric.
