PBS is airing Indian Summers series 2 on Masterpiece. As mentioned earlier, it has several scenes that didn’t air in the C4 version. Last night’s episode, White Gods (original recap here), had two deleted scenes featuring the Viceroy.
The first shows Lord Willingdon, in a very smart dressing gown, sitting on the foot of his bed with a cup of tea. He asks how the visiting Maharajah is settling in. Ralph tells him that the Maharajah has taken *all* of the rooms at the club and says none of them are good enough. The Viceroy reacts with a mixture of disgust and wry amusement. He knows they need to get in the Maharajah’s good graces, but he doesn’t seem to approve of the degenerate prince very much at all.
The second scene takes place after the first half of the cricket match. The players have gone to the club where we briefly see the Viceroy congratulating the Maharajah and Mr. Patel on their team’s strong showing. Of course, that strong showing is partly because the Viceroy is trying to throw the match in their favor. Mr. Patel (the younger bearded chap on the left) is a staunch critic of the Maharajah and is working for Indian independence. Putting him and the Maharajah on the same team forces them to work together while giving the Viceroy some grim satisfaction. 😉
- Asking if the Maharajah has settled in.
- Learning the Maharajah took all of club’s rooms.
- And none of them were good enough.
- Congratulating Mr. Patel and the Maharajah on their cricket skills.
- Hawthorne disses the umpire (Aafrin).