The BEST episodes directed by Christopher Morahan
#1 - Pandora's Box
The Jewel in the Crown - Season 1 - Episode 13
It is now August 1947 and Guy Perron, who has returned to academic life, is in India to observe the transition to independence. His arrival in Mirat was meant to be a joyous occasion with Nigel Rowan, Susan and Count Bronowski planning to meet him at the station. Unfortunately, Ronald Merrick accidental death the previous week has put a damper on everything. Merrick had been working in Mirat with the police and had been successful in re-organizing the force. At the last moment, Guy decides to accompany Sarah, Susan aunt Fenny and Ahmed Kasim on the train to Ranpur.
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#2 - Travelling Companions
The Jewel in the Crown - Season 1 - Episode 11
Sarah and her father return to Pankot and attempt to resume their normal lives. The Colonel is still worried about the well-being of his Havildar and has written the Governor seeking his assistance in the matter. With Sgt. Guy Peron in tow Ronald Merrick - now a Lieutenant Colonel - is traveling to Pankot to inform Colonel Layton that the Havildar has taken his own life. Peron is reunited with another old school friend, Nigel Rowan who is also enroute to Pankot to meet with Mohammed Ali Kassim - MAK - a noted leader of the Congress Party. Perron is billeted in the Sergeants' quarters at the hospital and is well received until they become aware of his association with Merrick, at which point there is a decisive chill in the air. Sarah is shocked to learn that Merrick will be marrying her sister Susan.
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#3 - The Bibighar Gardens
The Jewel in the Crown - Season 1 - Episode 2
Jealousy and circumstance weave together. Daphne Manners is pregnant, and Hari Kumar languishes in jail on a charge of rape. Unrequited in his love for Daphne, Superintendent Ronald Merrick vents his frustration on Kumar in a vicious jailhouse beating. Later, Daphne gives birth at Aunt Lady Manner's estate in Kashmir. There, neighbor Mildred Layton is preparing for the wedding of her daughter Susan to Indian Army Officer Teddy Bingham, who has a new roomate just reassigned to the military: Ronald Merrick.
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#4 - The Towers of Silence
The Jewel in the Crown - Season 1 - Episode 9
Susan has had a complete breakdown and is under psychiatric care in Pankot Hospital. When Mildred returns the spoons Barbie gave Susan as a wedding gift, she decides to donate them to the Officer's Mess silver collection and makes her way to Captain Coley's bungalow in the pouring rain. What she finds there sends her reeling and she falls ill. Her attempt to get a position as a teacher is not going well. Mildred's sister, Fenny Grace, visits the family in Pankot and Mildred angrily tells her what she suspects about Sarah. Fenny takes charge of the situation and provides the motherly support Sarah needs. With the Layton's away, Major Ronald Merrick stops in at Rose Cottage only to find Barbie retrieving some of her belongings.
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#5 - Daughters of the Regiment
The Jewel in the Crown - Season 1 - Episode 7
Still in Calcutta, Sarah accepts Jimmy Clarke's invitation to attend a party and finds a somewhat mixed crowd. She also finds that Clarke isn't quite the gentleman her aunt Fenny made him out to be. In Pankot Mabel Layton reveals to Barbie Batchelor why she and Mildred Layton do not get along very well. She also tells Barbie that when she dies, she wishes to be buried next to her husband in Ranpur. When she dies soon afterward, Mildred won't hear of sending Mabel's remains all the way to Ranpur and orders Barbie to leave the house as soon as possible. Mabel's sudden death causes Susan to go into labor.
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#6 - Incidents at a Wedding
The Jewel in the Crown - Season 1 - Episode 4
The Layton family has traveled to Mirat but the wedding plans are in disarray. Susan is quite naturally on edge and her aunt Fenny's flitting about doesn't help the situation. Teddy Bingham's best man is unavailable and Ronald Merrick volunteers himself for the job. He doesn't tell anyone that he continues to receive subtle forms of harassment and reminders of his handling of the Manners case and the men who were imprisoned. It all comes out however when someone throws a stone at the car carrying Teddy and Merrick to the chapel. The fiasco continues when the Nawab of Mirat, an invited guest, is refused entry to the club. Susan saves the day however. At the wedding reception, the Maharajah's senior advisor, Count Bronowski and his social secretary, Ahmed Kasim, make an impression on Sarah and Merrick.
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#7 - Ordeal by Fire
The Jewel in the Crown - Season 1 - Episode 6
Having held a memorial service for Teddie Bingham, the Laytons learn more about the circumstances of his death when Susan receives a letter from his commanding officer. It would seem that Ronald Merrick acted quite bravely in trying to save him and was severely injured in the attempt. It again falls upon Sarah's shoulders to take on the family's responsibility and visit Merrick in the hospital in Calcutta. Merrick tells Sarah that Teddie simply could not accept the fact that men from his own Regiment would now be fighting for the Japanese and set off into into the jungle only to walk into a trap. Merrick himself is in constant pain and is scheduled to have an arm amputated. Sarah stays with her aunt Fenny and uncle Arthur, now a Colonel, who have recently been transferred from Bombay. Aunt Fenny arranges for a few young officers to have dinner with them and a newly promoted Major, Jimmy Clarke, seems to take an interest. Everyone rejoices at the news of the D-Day landings in Normandy.
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