Beecham House

    It can sometimes be hard to watch a show when you know it’s already been cancelled.  Yet, with Beecham House, I still found myself absorbed with the story.  Which is funny, because I wasn’t planning on watching this show.  Yet, I still found myself not wanting it to end.

    There are a lot of mysteries surrounding John Beecham (Tom Bateman).  He appears to be a man of money, but no one knows how he attained it.  He wants to start a trading business, but as an English man in 18^th century India, the Indian community around him wonder if he truly is independent from the British.  And then there is the biggest mystery of all. 

    Who is the mother of John Beecham’s child?      

    The truth about who mothered his child, August, is a secret John is determined to keep to protect his son.  Whenever anyone asks about August’s mother, he redirects the conversation.  This leads to all sorts of questions, assumptions, and rumors.  All things that increase when a woman shows up at the door and tries to take control of August.  A woman John seems to know well, but will not reveal who she is.  It is only until there is a misunderstanding does John finally admit the woman is August’s aunt, Chandrika (Pallavi Sharda), and he is a widower.

    The news of John being a widower is a relief to John’s mother, Mrs. Henrietta Beecham (Lesley Nicol), and her companion, Violet Woodhouse (Bessie Carter).  Mrs. Beecham brought Violet with her to India in hopes of setting up a match.  She did this without any knowledge of August’s existence, or about anything else going on in John’s life.  Mrs. Beecham keeps trying to push John and Violet together even after it is clear John has feelings for the governess next door, Margaret Osborne (Dakota Blue Richards).

    Mrs. Beecham also greatly struggles with her new way of life in India.  In fact, when she first arrives, she absolutely hates it.  She even tries to change the name of the servants because she has a hard time saying their true names.  An act her son, Daniel (Leo Suter), takes her to task for.  Thankfully, eventually, Mrs. Beecham does come around.

    Daniel came to his brother's house only after their mother arrived in India.  With Daniel already in India serving in the British military, John seeks out to find him for their mother. 

    It does not take too long for John to find Daniel.  He is in a brothel, which at first, he is reluctant to leave.  But Daniel does agree to visit his mother, and on the way, he is shot.  Needing to recuperate, Daniel stays at the house instead of rejoining his regiment.  While there, he begins a romance with the woman charged with August’s care, Chanchal (Shriya Pilgaonkar).

    Chanchal falls in love with Daniel and becomes pregnant with his child, much to the distress of the steward, Baadal (Viveik Kalra).

    Daniel, on the other hand, was only looking for some fun, and is not happy about the child.  Neither is John.  Not because of the child’s existence, but because Daniel plans to rejoin his regiment, leaving Chanchal, the child, and his responsibilities behind.

    With Daniel’s behavior, both about Chanchal and with other matters, it would be easy to think there isn’t any seriousness or care within him.  In truth, Daniel can be serious, and he is far more astute than John is.  Especially when it comes to underhanded doings.

    While John fully trusts his business partner, Samuel Parker (Marc Warren), Daniel does not.  Daniel senses something is not right with the man, but John will not listen.  Instead, he proceeds with his trust.  A trust that ends up putting him in prison.

    Samuel has had it in for John from the start.  He wants John to return to England to clear Samuel’s name in court.  To make this happen, Samuel works with General Benoît Castillon (Grégory Fitoussi), a man who wants John out of India.  Together, they do whatever they can to make that happen.      

    What Samuel and the General don’t expect is the loyalty people have towards John.  They know John is a good man, and innocent of the crime he is accused.  People from all aspects of John’s life speak to the Emperor (Roshan Seth) and Empress (Tisca Chopra) about freeing John from prison.  Even August’s grandfather, the Maharaja of Kalyan (Denzil Smith), comes from afar to plead for John.  Everyone wants to see a good man freed.

The Sands of Time/Artwork by Kate Dorsey

    The season ends with a terrible event.  But because the series is not being continued, what was meant to happen next will remain unknown.  Which is really disappointing because this was a good show.  There was only one storyline that drove me crazy enough that I looked ahead to see what happened.  Doing that didn’t ruin my enjoyment of the show, and at the end of the season I wished there were more episodes to watch.

    Since there aren’t any more episodes in the works, I will have to stick with what has been created, and enjoy this show as it is.