By Mike Walker
The first of four dramas featuring episodes in the life of Eric Blair.

After an undistinguished academic career at Eton, Eric leaves in December 1921. Unlike most of his friends, his parents can't afford to send him to University. When the girl he hopes to marry rejects him, he sets sail for Burma to join the colonial police. His experiences in Burma will affect him profoundly. They will give him material for essays such as 'A Hanging' and 'Shooting An Elephant', and his first novel, 'Burmese Days' - and they will begin to shape his political thinking. When he rejects the Empire and returns to England, Blair begins to spend more and more time with the poor.

Eric Blair . . . Joseph Millson
Jacintha Buddicom . . . Sophie Roberts
Wilson . . . Joseph Kloska
Inspector d'Souza . . . Ernest Ignatius
Burmese youth . . . Armaan Kirmani
Man on Train . . . Derek Riddell
Ted . . . Alun Raglan

A BBC/Cymru Wales production, directed by Kate McAll. Show less