First broadcast on FAB RADIO INTERNATIONAL at 19:00 on November 27th 2022

In the early 1980s, GRANADA TELEVISION produced what is widely considered to be one of the all-time masterpieces of British Television Drama series, much of it filmed on location in India, and which went on to be sold all around the world as an example of the very finest of the kind of television series that British television could produce, although, like many older programmes, it is a series that is often overlooked in more recent polls of the greatest television series ever made, partly because it is based in an era that history is turning out to be far less comfortable with than it used to be, and partly because more recent shows do have a habit of making the modern audience forget pretty much everything that preceded it ever existed.

We’ve talked before about some of the notable absences on those kinds of lists on earlier editions of VISION ON SOUND, and I’m often reminded of the DVD packaging on a certain highly regarded and popular, but otherwise fairly average, TV series which claimed THIS IS ABOUT AS GOOD AS BRITISH TELEVISION GETS! and wickedly thinking to myself “Oh that’s a shame!”, so here on VISION ON SOUND we like to think that we’re doing our own little bit to restore the reputation of certain television gems, and just remind the viewing public of one or two excellent programmes that they might largely just have forgotten all about.

First broadcast between January and April 1984 THE JEWEL IN THE CROWN tells the story of the last few years of British Rule in India, taking place both during, and just after the Second World War, and stars a whole host of then-emerging television talents including ART MALIK, GERALDINE JAMES, TIM PIGOTT-SMITH, and CHARLES DANCE, playing alongside such names as SAEED JAFFREY, ERIC PORTER and PEGGY ASHCROFT to create an epic fourteen-part, thirteen-and-a-half hour television series based upon the four books making up what is known as THE RAJ QUARTET which were written by PAUL SCOTT between 1965 and 1975.

Because he very much enjoyed watching the series on its first transmission nearly four decades ago, my occasional co-host SANDY McGREGOR has recently been re-watching the series, and so, this week, he returns, for once just on his own, to VISION ON SOUND to share his thoughts and observations upon this acknowledged television classic.

PLEASE NOTE - For Copyright reasons, musical content sometimes has to be removed for the podcast edition. All the spoken word content remains (mostly) as it was in the broadcast version. Hopefully this won't spoil your enjoyment of the show.