John Sergeant embarks on a unique 3,000 mile journey exploring the history of India’s rail network in this two part series for BBC FOUR it was announced today (Monday).
The documentary produced by Mentorn Media, ‘John Sergeant on Tracks of Empire’, transmits on 13th and 14th July at 9pm.
Mentorn Media’s Executive Producer, Neil Grant, said “The railways hold a pivotal place in India’s national identity. John’s fascination for India’s history and politics make him perfect to present this remarkable story”.
The documentaries journey through the history of the greatest legacy the British left to India: its rail network. The biggest in Asia, it runs on forty thousand miles of track and reaches every corner of the subcontinent. Proposed in 1853 by Governor General Lord Dalhousie, it would become the biggest engineering project of its time and instrumental in every chapter of India's history.
Starting in Kolkata, John traverses India from East to West, travels through turbulent Bihar state, visits the Victorian railway town of Jamulpur, and discovers why the construction of the Dufferin Bridge at Varanasi resulted in Victorian technology and ingenuity clashing with ancient religion. He ends his journey at the border with Pakistan.
Even though Mahatma Gandhi denounced the railways as ‘evil’, Sergeant reveals how it became a civil engineering triumph that united the country and played a crucial role when India became independent in 1947.
In episode two, John continues his 3,000 mile journey along India's rail tracks. He travels north to south to discover how the railways not only shaped its history, but now shape India's future. He concludes that today it is India’s railways that continue to change the lives of its one billion people in ways that would have delighted its colonial architects.
Producer/director: Jim Funnell.
For further information please contact Louise Plank on behalf of Mentorn Media on 020 8995 3936 or lou@plankpr.com