Episode list

In 1932, Alice Whelan, fleeing a faithless husband in England and passing herself off as a widow, arrives with her baby in Simla, India - where her brother Ralph is private secretary to the Viceroy. On the train, she meets the missionary Dougie Raworth and his waspish wife Sarah, with their young son. A little boy is lifeless on the railway track, poisoned for being a half-caste, and Dougie and his assistant Leena save him, naming him Adam (after he tells them that he has no name). Another new arrival is young Scot Ian McLeod, come to stay with his uncle, Stafford Armitage, a drunken tea plantation owner, and Sarah sets her sights on him. Ambitious local boy Aafrin Delal works for Ralph, to the disgust of his sister Sooni, a nationalist who supports Gandhi and daubs anti-British slogans on the Viceroy's wall. Alice attends the first evening of the season at the Empire Club, run by the influential military widow Cynthia Coffin. Cynthia arranges for Ralph to have sex with wealthy American Madeleine Mathers and afterwards tells him that he should marry her to improve his chances of being selected as the next Viceroy. An assassin later fires at Ralph, but Aafrin steps in and takes the bullet. Alice insists on breaking protocol by accompanying him to hospital.

Following the shooting, a curfew is imposed, whilst Ralph's assistant Ronnie brings in a journalist to raise Ralph's profile, though Ralph directs him towards Aafrin, still lying injured in hospital. Alice goes to see if she can help Aafrin's family, whilst Ralph visits the gunman, nationalist Chandru Mohan, in prison, only to be attacked by him. Ralph turns to Cynthia for solace, by which time Mohan has been found dead in his cell. Armitage gives his nephew, Ian, a tour of the plantation, where he meets his neighbour, Ramu Sood, towards whom Armitage adopts a racist attitude, but to whom he also apparently owes money. The Raworths' marriage continues to disintegrate as Dougie gives the orphanage priority, whilst Aafrin wakes from his coma to find Alice by his bed. Madeleine and Ralph share a bath.

Ralph offers Aafrin, now fully recovered, a promotion, whilst Ramu asks Ian to intervene with his uncle for money Armitage owes him. Sooni canvasses for independence, though her meeting is brutally interrupted and she is arrested. Aafrin asks Ralph to secure her release, which he does, as well as requesting Aafrin and Alice to say the same thing at the inquest on Chandru Mohan. Alice volunteers to help at the orphanage, where Leena tells her that many of the children are not orphans but mixed race, rejected by their parents, and they observe Aafrin with his secret lover, Sita. The Sipi Fair takes place, where Indians can enter the grounds of the British Club. Here, Sarah accuses Leena of having an affair with Dougie, and Armitage collapses while fighting with Ramu, who has served him with an eviction notice. At the inquest, Aafrin and Alice obey Ralph's request, but afterwards Aafrin finds an interesting document.

Armitage dies and Ramu offers Ian work as his plantation manager, to the disgust of the racist Cynthia Coffin. Believing Ralph only wants Madeleine as a mistress and not a wife, Eugene announces that they are returning to Chicago, prompting Ralph to ask Aafrin if he should propose. Sarah Raworth announces her intention of sending her little son back to England, and, when she fails to get the expected support from Alice, threatens to expose her secret. The Viceroy comes to visit and Aafrin is invited to a dinner in his honour. Here he learns that the authorities are looking for the - possibly fake - certificate linking Chandru Mohan to Gandhi's Congress Party, which Aafrin stole. He asks Alice to take a message to Sita, requesting that Sooni destroy the certificate, but Sita, aware that the Delals disapprove of her, fails to do so and the document is found.

The Viceroy prepares a lavish engagement party for Madeleine and Ralph, though both Cynthia and Alice question his motives, whilst Cynthia learns from Eugene that the Mathers have no money. At a meeting to discuss political power-sharing, Ralph supports Dr. Kamble, representative of the despised Hindu 'Untouchables', aiming to get him on side against the Congress party, and invites him to the party, incurring the displeasure of the Viceroy and many of the Brahmin guests. Encouraged by Cynthia, Ian asks Ramu why he has employed him as his manager, and is told he will learn business skills in exchange for letting Ramu use a British name for his plantation. Aafrin's father tries to persuade his wife to accept the Untouchable, Sita, who has lied to Aafrin, claiming that the certificate is safe. At the party, Alice and Aafrin share more than a secret, and Adam's mother appears to present him to his natural father.

Shocked to see Jaya, Adam's mother, Ralph ignores Cynthia Coffin's advice and goes to meet her, where it becomes apparent that Adam is his son, and it was Jaya's father who shot him. He promises to find Jaya a home and ensure Adam's welfare. Following their passionate embrace Alice and Aafrin are cool to each other. He is surprised that his father has persuaded the family to welcome Sita into their house whilst she (Alice) is charmed by handsome mountaineer Billy Farquhar - until he reveals that he is a friend of her husband, spying on her on the husband's behalf. Ralph pushes him down the stairs, claiming it was an accident, and Billy leaves Simla. Barred from the club for drunkenness, Ian is returning home from a visit to Ramu, who claims that Jaya stole from him, when he hears a scream and discovers a body.

As Jaya's body is discovered, Ralph claims not to know her, but Ian - questioned by the police - mentions that Ramu had claimed she'd stolen from him. As a result, Ramu is arrested and a confession is forced from him. Feeling guilty, Ralph persuades the Viceroy to donate a large contribution to the orphanage where Adam lives, causing Leena to conclude that Adam is Ralph's son. He also confesses to Cynthia that he once loved Jaya, and they both momentarily suspect that the other may have been the killer. Meanwhile, Ian believes more and more in Ramu's innocence and alienates himself from the other Britons as he tries to give him an alibi. Elsewhere, local police confront Aafrin with the stolen certificate, leading him to accuse Alice of betraying him.

Ramu's trial begins in a packed courtroom where he is defended by Vinod Mukesh, assisted by Sooni, with oily British lawyer Hugh Slater prosecuting. Despite Ramu's warning that it will alienate him from the British community, Ian testifies for Ramu, but in vain, as the case against him is found. Leena, suspecting that Ralph is Adam's father, also takes the stand to suggest that an unknown Briton, the father of the child, was the killer, and Sarah is distraught when Dougie rises to stop the examination. However after the trial Dougie returns the Viceroy's cheque to Ralph, telling him he is not welcome at the mission school. Aafrin apologizes to Alice and, aware that it was Sita who failed to deliver the message, rejects her.

Aafrin begins an affair with Alice but is also coerced by Nationalists, including police sergeant Singh, into helping their cause. Eugene Mathers dies of malaria and Cynthia sees her chance to stop the wedding by suggesting that Madeleine returns to America with her brother's ashes. The local nawab visits the club and the British are anxious to get him on side against Gandhi though at a party in his honour he is angry that Indians are barred from the club. Having realized that Adam is his son and that Sarah knows Alice's husband is alive, Whelan attempts to bribe the Raworths by securing an English school place for their son. However, he is genuinely shocked to find that, having once loved Jaya, he would have married her if he had known about Adam and accuses Cynthia of keeping them apart. A vengeful Cynthia counters by telling Ralph that Madeleine has no money but this only draws him closer to his fiancée. He is also intrigued when one of his staff finds a bracelet that belonged to Jaya.

A vote is taken to lift the ban on Indians at the club and Cynthia is not happy with the outcome. Sarah Raworth and her son return to England though her parting from Dougie is not passionate. Aware that Adam is Ralph's son, Dougie rebukes his fellow Briton for his lack of concern but is grateful to Leena for allowing him to continue running the orphanage. After Bhupi attempts suicide Ralph tells Aafrin that they grew up together and it becomes apparent to Aafrin who really killed Jaya. He rushes to halt the execution but is too late. Sooni, unaware of this, accuses him of betrayal and Singh prevails upon him to keep spying for the Congress party. Following the execution a devastated Ian becomes a local hero for his passionate outburst though most Britons are unimpressed. One exception is Alice, who, as she continues her affair with Aafrin, believes they should admit it to Ralph. Aafrin, however, aware that Ralph did nothing to save Ramu, dissuades her, telling her that Ralph is a dangerous man, who cannot be trusted.