All the Raj

If you’re already bemoaning the approaching adieu to Downton Abbey, then look no further than Indian Summers.

The English period piece — which made its U.S. debut on PBS’s Masterpiece September 27 — is replete with romance and drama as well as a sharp-as-a-tack historical portrait of English expats summering in Simla, India, during the final years of British colonial rule.

Just as Downton follows the Crawley family, their servants and gorgeous stately home, Indian Summers follows the Whelans (led by Henry Lloyd-Hughes and Jemima West), during summer 1932 in the Himalayan foothills.

“Full disclosure I loved Downton Abbey. There’s nothing to feel guilty about!” says writer-creator Paul Rutman, laughing. “Julian Fellowes created a fantastic ensemble show about class, and you can tell he really loves his characters.”

Ditto for Rutman, who has previously written for such U.K. hits as Vera and other crime dramas like Agatha Christie’s Marple and Inspector Lewis.

“The one thing that writing crime dramas taught me is that you have to always know your ending,” says Rutman, who lives in Oxford, England, with his wife and two children. “I always write the last five minutes of the last episode first because then I know my general direction.”

Going from whodunit to historical wasn’t a big leap. He had been drawn to India ever since he spent time teaching drama at Ootacamund, a hill station in south India.

“It was right after university,” Rutman relates. “It was my first and last foray into teaching, but I fell in love with the culture. My wife is Indian, and she has family in Bangalore and Delhi, so we go there quite a bit.”

To portray the period accurately required as much researching as writing. “I spent six months only reading relevant autobiographies and steeping myself in the culture.”

But when it came time to film the nine episodes of season one, Rutman had to take a little artistic license. “We ended up shooting in Penang, Malaysia, instead of India because a lot of the Raj-era properties have been taken over by the government.”

No one seemed to notice except his mother-in-law. “The forests in this part of the world are a slightly different color, which irritated her,” he says, chuckling.

Landscapes aside, the hemlines, backdrops, rooftops and even the subtle inflections of accents ring true of 1932. True enough that the cast (also starring Julie Walters) and gripping storylines struck such a chord that Rutland has already finished writing season two and has three more in mind. Then it may be time for something completely different.

“I wouldn’t mind doing some science fiction since, honestly, I’m quite a slow reader. So I only enjoy the research to a point.”

One would never have guessed.