Gillian David

What a wasted opportunity. I was really looking forward to seeing this series, even though it was on ITV (sorry but I'm putting my years of prejudice out there). My disappointment is huge, and even by ITV standards of historical drama, this is extremely poor. The positives - the palaces, the scenery, the vibrancy of India but this wonderful 'set' emphasises the dreadful waste of its assets by whoever commissioned Beecham House. The script is contrived, wooden, anachronistic. The characters are almost stereotypes of stereotypes. Don't watch Beecham House for any sense of period! Don't watch it unless you really do enjoy drama aimed at adults written by not very good children's TV writers - the ones who aren't confident the kiddies fully understand, so keep explaining over and over. Some critics have compared it to Downton Abbey and truth be told I didn't like that either, finding it banal and thin on historical credibility but Downton is still superior. I can't believe William Dalrymple, whose name was in the credits, could have had made any real contribution to Beecham House or if he did, he never saw the final cut!