A lavish television drama from the director of Bend It Like Beckham is to challenge the view that Britain’s involvement in India was all bad.

Beecham House, set in India at the end of the 18th century, will provide a more sympathetic take on the East India Company.

The central character in the ITV period drama is John Beecham, played by Tom Bateman, an Englishman who resigned from military service to set up as an honourable trader.

The show has been dubbed “the Delhi Downton” thanks to its portrayal of life in a grand house above and below stairs.

“The idea was to create a series for British TV about an Englishman in India who is good, and who is trying to do good at a time when a lot of Europeans weren’t,” Chadha said.