A single studio drama from the novelist Paul Scott, examining the anxieties of the British in India on the eve of independence.
Adapted from Paul Scott’s own 1953 novel, this play is set in the fictional Indian princely state of Kalipur in 1947, during the final, turbulent days of the British Raj. The narrative follows a small group of English expatriates whose assumptions and allegiances are tested by the imminent transfer of power. As their relationships with each other and their Indian counterparts begin to fracture, the characters are forced to confront a future where their place in the world is no longer guaranteed.
This single play was a key early television credit for the novelist Paul Scott, representing a precursor to the themes he would master in his celebrated Raj Quartet. By adapting his own work, Scott was able to translate his intricate study of colonial psychology directly to the screen. The production, broadcast live from the studio, assembled a formidable cast of stage and screen actors, including Stephen Murray, Roger Delgado, and Zia Mohyeddin. Like the majority of television plays from its era, The Alien Sky was not preserved in the archives and no recording of the broadcast is known to exist.
Broadcast: BBC, 1 Episode, 26 January 1956
Written by: Paul Scott
Director: John Jacobs
Main Cast: Stephen Murray, Helen Haye, Roger Delgado, Sheila Burrell, Zia Mohyeddin, Hugh McDermott
