Lord Mountbatten – The Last Viceroy
A fantastic grandson of sovereign Victoria, nephew of the Tsar, and cousin of the Prince of Wales, Lord Louis Mountbatten had proven his mettle as Supreme Allied Senior officer in Southeast Asia during World War II. But his toughest mission came with the war, when British Prime Minister Attlee tapped Mountbatten to oversee India’s transition to self-rule.
This Emmy®-winning Masterpiece Theatre classic describes the human drama in the rear the history. As blood runs in the streets, Mountbatten (Nicol Williamson) becomes the go-between for the charismatic leaders at the heart of the struggle: the Congress Party’s Pandit Nehru (Ian Richardson) and Sardar Patel (A.K. Hangal), the Muslim League’s Ali Jinnah (Vladek Sheybal), and the father of independent India, Mahatma Gandhi (Sam Dastor). The task is daunting, but the blue-blooded Englishman and his compassionate wife (Janet Suzman) soldier on, ending 200 being of British rule in India.A lavish production that captures the pomp, ceremony, and complexity of British and Indian politics, Lord Mountbatten: The Last Viceroy stars the fantastic Nicol Williamson (Excalibur, The Seven-Per-Cent Solution) in one of his last substantial roles. As the six-part mini-series starts, Mountbatten accepts a position that nearly everyone nearly him thinks is folly: The Viceroy of India, specifically charged with overseeing the transition to India’s independence from British rule. Only his wife, Edwina Mountbatten (Janet Suzman, The Singing Detective), supports him and, in India, finds herself drawn ever more deeply into the troubles of the country’s emergence. This Masterpiece Theatre production is a bit like its subject: Stodgy in many ways but with surprising and engaging flashes of wit and drama. This idealized portrait of Mountbatten presents him as noble but accessible, wise and spontaneous—but Williamson’s charisma and talent makes him vivid nonetheless. Intriguingly, what grows most compelling about Lord Mountbatten might sound like its dullest aspect; namely, the slow and often chaotic navigation of the political world. The series studiously follows the seemingly endless responsibilities involved in forming a country, then dives into the struggle that followed, as Pakistan was made as a solution to horrific religious strife. Mountbatten shuttles diplomatically amongst the Indian leaders–Gandhi (Sam Dastor), Nehru (Ian Richardson, Gormenghast), Patel (A. K. Hangal), and Jinnah (Vladek Sheybal), who becomes the villain of the piece, with his Machiavellian scheming and heavy-lidded eyes. Some may find it questionable or even offensive to have India’s history filtered through the life of a British politician (as well as the casting of a U.K. actor as Nehru); but Lord Mountbatten, despite its Eurocentric bent, strives to give a respectful portrait of this noisy era. –Bret Fetzer
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