montferrato You do not see series like this anymore.The Plot is superb, the actors are fantastic, and the "Last Days of the Empire atmosphere" is actually very good.If you are looking for some action, this is not your TV serial. It is a drama, and it is slow. However, the characters are superbly developed, and are extremely real.The story goes very deep into issues like racism, elitism, and the fears of a crumbling and hypocritical society. For some reason, the story also touches sexual repression, homosexuality, and sadism. There are even some veiled hints of lesbianism. While sex is not really the main theme, it is a recurrent part of the atmosphere in the series. The story starts with the life of a young, eccentric and idealist white & aristocratic British woman who is raped by a gang of Indian thugs. As you can imagine, the British establishment does not take it well and soon a scapegoat is found and blamed. The Scapegoat is subjected to a sadistic torture by a psychopathic British policeman who later joins the military. Funny enough, the British torturer is a repressed homosexual who enjoys inflicting pain and gets relief having sex with young Indian guys "Bazaar Style".Terry Porter as the Russian Count is by far the best character of the whole series. I take my hat before such a superb actor. Again, the Russian Count is described in the series as an "European Pederast".However, as I have said before, it is not really about sex. It is just a portrait of British colonial society in the last days of the empire. Very good, highly recommendable.

Mark Christiansen Not knowing anything about the book, I was expecting this celebrated PBS series to be somewhat like a longer variation of the excellent David Lean movie Passage to India. But I was disappointed by Jewel in the Crown. While it did give me valuable glimpses into the British Raj, the class tensions between the British and the Indians (and between the British themselves), and the history of the period, the overall effect on me when the series ended was depression.And I did not enjoy the portrayals of rape, brutality, torture, insanity, homosexuality, etc. I regret having watched this series. If you would be offended by such content, then I also caution you about this film. PBS has been going downhill in recent years, in my opinion, as far as portraying more and more offensive content. After watching Jewel in the Crown, I now realize the decline had began much earlier - at least as early as 1984, when this series was broadcast.

pekinman It was brave of Yorkshire Television to take on a filmed adaptation of Paul Scott's massive novel 'The Jewel in the Crown'. All-in-all they did a good job of it. Wisely the script focuses in on the personal relationships within the context of a changing India. The jarring complexities of "old" India rubbing up against the modernizing influences of the British Raj is vividly conveyed, mostly in the smaller, quieter moments, as when Harry Kumar takes Daphne Manners to visit his aunt and the behavior of the servants and the Rajput princess with whom Daphne is living.It's true that there is a great deal of dialog, in a soap opera-ish sense. There are times in some of the later episodes when I thought I was watching some bit of trash on TV on a Wednesday afternoon, but then I'd focus in on what the characters were saying and realize that it was deep and important stuff. You have to pay attention to 'The Jewel in the Crown' or it does indeed become a muddle and a bore. If you lose the train of thought you will not be rescued by brilliant cinematography or sound-track because both are inferior, which is a big shame. Perhaps it is the awful A&E dvds that are the problem, something that could be rectified with a remastering of the original films and sound- track. As it stands the sound is execrable, oftentimes the music and background rumble drowning out the speaking voices of the main characters. The musical score itself is wonderful and the actual camera-work is very good, which makes the loss of a good picture and decent sound-track all the more frustrating. As for the acting, the thing is chocked-full of fine performances. Some of the characters are indeed a little too clichéd and, in the case of Ronald Merrick, completely over the top, but Merrick's character works, as a dramatic contrivance, to add to the melodrama of the story... something which may or may not have been the purpose of Scott's creation in the first place. But that's entertainment!My favorite performances were Eric Portman's crafty old Russian emigré, Count Bronowsky. Porter was a great actor and is greatly missed. I savor his every appearance in 'The Jewel in the Crown' because he evokes the old Northern world of honor and good breeding, now extinct. His character makes me wish for a great film of the true story of the White Russians who had to flee the Bolsheviks in the first two decades of the 20th century, for such disparate places as India, Paris and Manchuria. Susan Wooldridge is superb as Daphne Manners, ditto Art Malik as Harry Kumar. I enjoyed Charles Dance's upper-crust but manly Sergeant and found Derrick Branche's Ahmed Kasim a fascinating and seductive person. Peggy Ashcroft's old missionary lady is heart-breaking in the loss of her simple faith in God, conveying, in the end, a powerful and sibylline persona. It is good to see Rachel Kempson (Mrs Michael Redgrave) in one of her last roles on film. Tim Pigot-Smith manages to make an unbelievable character, Ronald Merrick, human, well, almost. He's a monster of bigotry, jealousy and class envy, and Pigot-Smith plays him so convincingly that it is difficult to imagine a more effective portrayal of pure evil by anyone else. Pigot-Smith steals the show, on the whole.This TV series is definitely worth owning on DVD; if only A&E hadn't tossed it off in such a haphazard manner. Still, it's better 'n nuttin'.

trpdean This series is captivating. The wonderful way in which strands of plot are woven throughout the series in new and interesting ways, the eternally memorable characters, the fascinating background of historical events, the series' sympathy to people of every age, social and economic background, the charm of many of the protagonists.Even the more minor characters are just drawn so well. Thus, one of my favorite characters in all of television is that of Nigel Rowan - who is wonderfully portrayed by Nicholas LePrevost; one of my least favorite is the major to whom Sarah is introduced by her aunt and uncle.Such historical episodes as the decision by the princely states of India whether to accede to the newly independent India - or the creation of an Axis army by Indians who had been taken captive by Germans or Japanese -- these stories are engrossing and not so well known among those of us in the United States not well versed in recent Indian history.The series is spellbinding - one cares greatly about these people and what happens to them is very interesting indeed. The symbolism in the series deepens one's sense of the mood of the time, of the tragedy, of the ocean in which these characters swim.I can't imagine a better series adapted from more wonderful books.