BBC and Working Title develop A Passage to India as a television series

The BBC and Working Title are developing an adaptation of EM Forster's epic novel A Passage to India. Working Title's Surian Fletcher-Jones revealed the news of the new five-part series A Passage to India. Nisha Parti is also producing and her Parti Productions is a co-production partner.



Fletcher-Jones (pictured) said the team is working with Canadian film director and writer Richie Mehta on the adaptation.

Forster’s novel has just turned 100. Set against the backdrop of the British Raj and the Indian independence movement in the 1920s, the book revolves around four characters: Dr Aziz, his British friend Mr Cyril Fielding, Mrs Moore and Miss Adela Quested.

A Passage to India was last adapted by David Lean in 1984 for a feature film starring Peggy Ashcroft, Judy Davis, James Fox, Alec Guinness, Nigel Havers and Victor Banerjee.

Fletcher-Jones said the film adaptation will “reclaim colonial history” and “turn the novel on its head”. She recently visited India, which she said “felt like a homecoming for me”.

“It was just incredible to go back there as a worker,” she said. "It was like soul food. You feel like you have the best job in the world.