Discover the best of Singapore

 

“Trying to be elegant while you can feel sweat dripping out of every pore in your body was a challenge,” explains Australian actress GeorgiaBlizzard, who plays Joan Blackett, the rubber merchant’s daughter. “But we had a phenomenal make-up team who would throw powder at us between takes and blast us with fans.”

 

Unseasonal tropical storms also presented a logistical challenge. “The storms were unbelievable, unlike anything I’d seen before,” says Blizzard. “We lost a lot of days and nights just sitting and praying that they would relent, but they were really fun to watch on the weekends.” The drama was shot over four months in capital city Kuala Lumpur and Penang, an island off the west coast. The chief attraction of the latter was the colourful pre-Second World War architecture of George Town. Founded by a British trader in 1786, the port thrived and briefly became the capital of the Straits Settlements, a British crown colony that included Singapore and Penang. Nowadays, the gently crumbling, pastel-painted shophouses that line its narrow lanes are Unesco-listed. One of George Town’s most photographed buildings, the Blue Mansion, has a starring role in the series. Built by a Chinese tycoon at the end of the 19th century, it has been gracefully restored and is now a boutique hotel, and features in a number of the drama’s indoor scenes. “It’s so lavish and beautiful,” says Blizzard. “We used the hotel rooms as changing and downtime rooms, which was great fun.”

 

These days, George Town is one of Asia’s coolest destinations and as famous for its art scene and fabulous street food as its heritage. “There’s amazing street art everywhere, and it’s a really cool, creative place.  Penang is also considered the food capital of Malaysia. I’m vegan, so I didn’t anticipate being able to eat many local dishes, but George Town had a thriving vegan scene.”

 

With its forest of skyscrapers and mega shopping malls, Kuala Lumpur seems every inch a 21st-century metropolis at first glance, but fragments of its colonial past are scattered across the city, such as the mock Tudor-style Royal Selangor Club that also has a cameo in the series. In its early years, high-ranking members of British colonial society gathered there to play billiards and watch cricket, rugby, hockey and football on the adjoining green. It’s now part of Independence Square, where, in 1957, the Malayan flag was raised for the first time, ending the British protectorate over Malay states and colonial rule in Penang and Melaka.

 

Viewers will also spot Kuala Lumpur’s deliciously retro Coliseum Café, where Somerset Maugham is said to have tucked into its signature steak when he stayed in one of the guest bedrooms. The decor hasn’t changed since colonial planters sought refuge there, and nor has the menu: jam omelettes, oxtail soup and jelly pudding are served alongside Hainanesewestern and Chinese dishes.

 

As for the main characters’ palatial homes, they can be found in the city’s landscaped Lake Gardens and were built for the first British high commissioner of Malaya. Now known as Carcosa Seri Negara, the colonial mansion and guest house have since hosted the Queen and starred in the 2018 film Crazy Rich Asians.

 

At weekends, Blizzard and her co-stars headed for the coast to cool off on powder-soft sands lapped by turquoise waters. “We did a couple of trips up to Cherating Beach, which is a lovely stretch on the east coast, and a trip to Langkawi, a beautiful island off the north-west coast. There was a real sense of adventure because we were all away from home and exploring together. I also took a trip to Malaysian Borneo to see the orangutans and monkeys, which was really cool.”

 

Although she never got used to the searing heat, Blizzard thinks it helped her get into character. “There was something nice about it because that’s the environment that these people were in, and heat like that does something quite visceral

to the body. “There’s a sort of laziness with which you move, but it also underscores the tension of the moment. The stakes are even higher when you feel like your brain is melting and you can’t quite think straight.”

 

CLAIRE WEBB