The Jewel in the Crown

Episode 1

Crossing the River

Mon, Jan 9, 1984105 mins

In February 1942 Daphne Manners, the niece of the one-time Governor of the District, arrives in Mayapore, India full of enthusiasm. She is staying with her 'aunt' Lili, a close friend of her aunt. She is soon introduced to the duality of society and the fact that Indians and English only rarely meet and even more rarely socialize together. Each has their own clubs and both groups are geographically separated, living across the river from one another. Soon however she meets Hari Kumar, a young journalist who has recently relocated from England to India. In everything but skin color, Hari is as English as Daphne. He went to an elite private school, Chillingborough, but was forced to return to India when his father lost his fortune. Hari doesn't even speak Hindi. Into this mix comes the District Superintendent of Police Ronald Merrick. He is a grammar school boy who very much feels inferior and he soon takes a disliking to Hari and a liking to Daphne. She has taken quite a liking to Hari but when Merrick unexpectedly proposes marriage, she has no choice but to refuse him.