The Halcyon is a British TV series created and written by Charlotte Jones. Produced by Left Bank Pictures and shown on ITV. A period drama set in 1940 during World War II through the eyes of The Halcyon Hotel staff and clientĂšle. The show delivers a realistic representation of London in the 1940's with...
PLEASE PLEASE sign this petition. An ITV series called The Halcyon has been canceled after only one season despite its mass popularity and demand. We fans are pissed.
 Description: âThe story of a bustling and glamorous five-star hotel at the center of London society and the world at warâ
But this series is so much more than that:
Firstly: POC and LGBT Representation
It has an interracial (Indian and White) same-sex male couple: Toby Hamilton, the second son of the late Lord Hamilton who owned The Halcyon hotel which is now owned by his brother, and Adil Joshi, the Indian bartender/cocktail maker at the hotel to which experiences a racial slur thrown at him in one scene. (Spoiler alert) Both survive at the end of Season 1. Honestly, this couple was so beautifully written and groundbreaking for a period drama and their story still had much to be told. As a couple, they were treated as fairly as the straight couples in terms of screen time and that is rare within shows. Not to mention that due to the time period, the couple has to keep their relationship a secret, addressing the homophobia of the time. Unlike Downton Abbey which had Thomas Barrow treated less well (I love him though), these two are not. Toby has constant pressure from his mother to find a girlfriend and was more or less bullied by his father for not being good enough - so Tobyâs realisation of what he wants and who he wants to be with is very beautiful. I donât want to give away too much about Adilâs history but it is something that is mentioned briefly but is interesting as it concerns immigration (very applicable to today)
It had another interracial couple (a black man and white woman), Betsey Day, a cabaret singer at the hotel who is constantly degraded and judged by the conservative society because she âsleeps aroundâ but never lets that get her down; she is in a band with Sonny Sulivan, a black male pianist who I think (it isnât clear, but his accent suggests it) may have emigrated from the West Indies. He is the possibly the sweetest character who does something (not going to say what it is) for Betsey but doesnât let her know it was him and doesnât expect anything in return. Sonny and Betsey also keep their relationship secret, not because it was against the law but because of the judgment from society. (Spoilers) In one episode, they are found out by a man who wants to sleep with Betsey and the man is very racist towards Sonny. Sonny is a selfless character who is honestly the sweetest guy on tv ever not to mention Betsey and Sonny have amazing banter together. Their relationship too was beautiful but it is unclear whether both survived. Another reason why we need a season 2.
Not to mention it has many background POC (here are a few examples):
Secondly: The dealing with Social Issues
Sexism - As I said, Betsey is called a âwhoreâ on many occasions and this âreputationâ she seems to have is something that Sonny is shown not to care at all about. It also has one episode in which one of the male guests tries to force himself on one of the chambermaids, Kate and when she scratches him to get away, he hits her. Since the man is a wealthy and powerful man, his assistant tries pay her to keep her quiet. One of the young men working at the hotel called Billy confronts the man, the man says that she wanted it to which Billy says no she didnât and what he did was wrong.
Homophobia - The obvious is that homosexuality between two men was illegal and so Toby and Adil canât be open about their relationship. The villain in the show (who I am not going to spoil) finds about their relationship and blackmails both Toby and Adil and calls Adil Tobyâs âdisgusting little boyfriendâ.
Racism - Both Adil and Sonny are main characters and are both called racist slurs. In the case of Sonny, he was confronted by a group of white men and called an âape in a suitâ and other things to this extent. None of the other main characters that know about this incident support this racism.
Anti-Semitism and Xenophobia - There is an Austrian-Jewish refugee who works in the kitchen who experience extreme bullying and xenophobia from the Head Chef because he believes that him being Austrian means that he is German. The Head Chef gets fired for this. The refugee storyline is prevalent to today. Another example is the late Lord Hamiltonâs mistress Charity Lambert was a Nazi sympathizer, anti-Semitic and wanted to try and sway Britain to join Germany.
Thirdly, the female characters are great:
The series has both young and older female characters
Emma and Betsey'sâ female friendship is amazing
This villainous woman, Lady Hamilton, who is complex and both love and hate
Fourthly, Matt Ryan playing an American man:
Lastly, itâs beautiful and well written, good ass show but the finale of season 1 left so many unanswered questions and we need more. I could go on and on about the many reasons but please sign this petition and watch the show (if you want). It would be much appreciated.
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