Last night, BBC One premiered the first episode of it’s latest series, A Suitable Boy. The new show is not only one of the corporation’s most expensive, it’s also the first to have a cast of solely people of colour.

Based upon a novel of the same name by author Vikram Seth, it tells the story of Mrs Rupa Mehra’s efforts to arrange a marriage for her 19-year-old daughter Lata, to a ‘suitable boy’. Set in a newly independent India, post partition, it follows four families over 18 months whilst Lata, a spirited university student who is deeply passionate about literature struggles to choose between family duty and romance as she is wooed by three different men: Kabir, Haresh and Amit.

Vikram Seth’s 1993 novel is a vast (1,349 page long) tale. In fact it’s one of the longest single book novels ever published in the English Language and beautifully tells the story of India at a crucial point in its history. It examines national politics, the first election following independence from British colonial rule, religious troubles between Hindus and Muslims, the strife of lower-caste individuals subjected to the ancient Indian cast system and changes to how the country is ruled including warring princes and the abolition of old systems.

Best known for the widely read and beloved ‘A Suitable Boy’, Vikram Seth is novelist and poet who has won multiple awards both in India and internationally and is currently working on ‘A Suitable Girl’ novel. The BBC show is directed by Mira Nair and adapted for television by Andrew Davies. And this is one of the first problems with the program - here was a wonderful opportunity for the network to use a south Asian writer but passed on it. Writers of colour are often missing in writer’s rooms but it really says something if they can’t even write stories from their own culture and heritage.

Although the cast is exceptionally talented and features some of Indian cinema’s finest contemporary actors like Tabu, Rasika Dugal, Shahana Goswami and Ram Kapoor as well as brilliant newcomers Ishaan Katthar and Tanya Maniktala, there is a deafening lack of British south Asian actors on the screen. Given that it was commissioned by a British broadcaster, for a British audience, it makes sense that more British south Asian talent should have been seen, especially as there is so much of it.

Larger-than-life sagas about love, loss and scandal make for perfect Sunday evening viewing. And the TV adaptation of ‘A Suitable Boy’ fits this perfectly. The sets are captivating, the costumes beautiful and of-course seeing the natural, colourful landscapes of India is always joyous but it’s all still an India that UK audiences are used to seeing - a period drama version of India. They saw it in last year’s Beecham House on ITV and in 2016 in Channel 4’s Indian Summers. It’s also the one that’s always shown in films.

So although it’s always a win to see more south Asian stories in mainstream viewing, it is a reminder that there is more to show, like a modern day south Asia with all it’s intricate and deliciously juxtaposing stories or indeed the complex yet beautiful multi-identity lives of British Asians in the country today.