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A Suitable Boy commissioned by the BBC

A Suitable Boy adapted for the first time by Andrew Davies for BBC One

The multi award-winning screenwriter Andrew Davies will adapt Vikram Seth’s international bestseller A Suitable Boy (8×60’) for BBC One. A modern classic about a young woman’s search for love and identity in a newly independent, post-Partition India defining its own future, this beloved novel has never been adapted for the screen before. Now, Andrew Davies’ scripts will bring the story to a whole new audience with his signature blend of warmth, wit and humanity.

Piers Wenger, Controller of BBC Drama, said

I’m absolutely thrilled to announce that Vikram Seth’s epic novel A Suitable Boy set in India in the 1950s will be adapted for the very first time by Andrew Davies, as we continue to explore new worlds through classic adaptation on BBC One.”

A Suitable Boy is the story of Lata, a young woman coming of age in northern India in 1951. Lata’s mother Mrs Rupa Mehra is determined to find her a husband, but after her sister’s conventional arranged marriage Lata is not convinced she wants the same path through life. Torn between duty to her family and the excitement of romance, Lata embarks on an epic journey of love, desire and heartache as three very different suitors vie for her hand. Her choice will play out against the tumultuous political backdrop of India at a crossroads, looking towards its first independent general election and carving out its own destiny.

Vikram Seth said

It is a great pleasure to collaborate with the BBC and Andrew Davies on an adaptation of A Suitable Boy. I have carried with me for a long time the stories of Lata, her family and the many people they encounter. With Andrew and his team I feel they are in good hands, and I greatly look forward to seeing them brought to life for television.

Screenwriter Andrew Davies said

Lata’s trials of the heart speak as loudly to me now as when I first read Vikram’s epic novel two decades ago. She is a great literary heroine in the tradition of Jane Austen and George Eliot. But behind her stands a massive supporting cast of striking, funny, irrepressible characters and a vision of India in the 1950s that no reader can ever forget. It will make a wonderful series and I can’t wait to bring the magic of the book to life on screen.

Faith Penhale, Lookout Point Executive Producer, said

A Suitable Boy is the perfect story for television – a generous, expansive epic of the human heart, and of India at a turning point in its history. It is a privilege to bring it to life for the BBC and to partner again with Andrew Davies, a writer brilliantly attuned to the sweep and subtleties of Vikram Seth’s wonderful novel.”

A Suitable Boy has been commissioned by Charlotte Moore and Piers Wenger. It is a Lookout Point (War & Peace, Les Misérables) production for BBC One. Executive Producers are Andrew Davies and Vikram Seth, Faith Penhale and Laura Lankester for Lookout Point, and Lucy Richer for the BBC. The series will be filmed on location in India.

Deadline
Andrew Davies adapting Vikram Seth’s ‘A Suitable Boy’ for BBC One, Lookout Point

Telegraph
BBC to adapts Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy as its first period drama with a non-white cast

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