Original version

BBC Two Northern Ireland

A Passage to Britain

Documentaries

Factual: History

Dr Yasmin Khan traces the story of migration from the Indian subcontinent to Britain.

Dr Yasmin Khan explores an extraordinary collection of ship's passenger lists to trace the changing story of migration from the Indian subcontinent to Britain over three key decades.

BBC Two England

England

BBC Two Scotland

Until 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales (analogue) was known simply as BBC Two Wales. BBC Two Wales (digital) was BBC 2W. From 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales schedules on both analogue and digital became identical

BBC Two Wales

Simulcast of network BBC Two in high definition.

BBC Two HD

A Passage to Britain: Series 1

Yasmin Khan

Wall to Wall West

Emily Assael

Martin Ralph

Emily Shields

Helen Nixon

Dilesh Koraya

A Passage to Britain: Series 1: Episode 1: The Viceroy of India

The Viceroy of India

Episode 1

Episode 1: The Viceroy of India

Series 1

BBC Two - A Passage to Britain, Series 1, The Viceroy of India

Dr Yasmin Khan tracks down passengers who travelled from Mumbai to Britain in the 1930s.

Dr Yasmin Khan tracks down passengers who travelled from Mumbai to Britain in the 1930s on the luxurious P&O liner The Viceroy of India.

Dr Yasmin Khan explores an extraordinary collection of ships' passenger lists to trace the changing story of migration from the Indian subcontinent to Britain over three key decades.

In this episode, she tracks down passengers who travelled from Mumbai, known previously as Bombay, to Britain in the 1930s on the P&O liner The Viceroy of India. Yasmin discovers the challenges faced by these new arrivals as they tried to build a life in a strange land and reveals how their individual stories reflect the increasingly strained relationship between Britain and its Indian Empire.

Yasmin traces the story of a 21-year-old student Netra Dutt, to discover the reasons why his Bengali parents panicked and forced him to come to Britain. At the Indian High Commission, Yasmin finds out from his daughter about Netra's struggles with his identity as he tried to fit into an overwhelmingly white London. She uncovers the story of Mulk Raj Anand, one of the most famous Indian authors of the 20th century, who despised the British Raj and meets his niece and the surprising family he married into.

Raja Stokes, an 86-year-old surviving passenger from the Viceroy, sheds light for Yasmin on the relationships that developed between colonial families and the local Indian population - from his bond with his ayah who travelled with the family to Britain, to the maharajah who was his father's patron.

Yasmin also traces the story of Viceroy passenger Sir Lancelot Graham, who became one of the last colonial governors in the Indian Empire. She tracks down evidence of a bloody revolt in the Sindh province to share with his grandson.

And she travels to Essex to reveal the sacrifice Ghulam Mum-taz, a law student from Madras, made when he married a white woman and started a family.

BBC Two

Knowledge, drama, comedy and the arts for a broad adult audience.

BBC Two is a lively channel of depth and substance, carrying a range of knowledge-building programming complemented by great drama, comedy and arts.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

A Passage to Britain

Series 1

Episode 1: The Viceroy of India

Contributors

Genres

Formats

Brand

Series

BBC Two Northern Ireland

About BBC Two