Sanjeev Bhaskar as Dr Prem Sharma

Gina, the doctor's receptionist, is struggling to hold down her job with a baby in tow. Tom, the father, has gone to London to try his hand at becoming a pop star.

A new addition to the village is Reverend Todd and his rebellious teenage daughter Verity. He's recently returned from ministering in Africa and she's reluctantly visiting from her boarding school in Richmond, Surrey.

Added to the mix and much to Kamini's delight, is the arrival from India of Pushpa, her mother, though "delight" is probably not the word that Prem would use.

Prem readies himself to deal with his daily surgeries and daily admonishments from his mother-in-law, when a case of dreaded smallpox is discovered in the village.

All eyes turn accusingly to the latest arrival, Pushpa. Has she brought death to the valleys?

There was a major outbreak of smallpox in South Wales in the early 1960s and that's what we broadly based our story on - though our dramatic conclusions are fictional.

There's probably a little more drama in this series than the first, though we hope you all enjoy the lighter moments.

One of the many delights in making the series is the soundtrack. I'm a big fan of the music of the time and as an ardent Elvis admirer, it was great to hear Devil In Disguise playing in the background of episode three when Verity (Naomi Battrick) and Dafydd (Rhys Ap William) are enjoying each other's company on the sofa.

Also listen out during the series for the cracking original version of Tainted Love by Gloria Jones and Screamin' Jay Hawkins' I Put A Spell On You. I could bore you further but the music is all listed for you on The Indian Doctor episode pages... I'll be interested to know what your favourite tracks are.

We were fortunate to have most of the old cast and crew back, so it felt very much like a class reunion.

The genius that is Ray Orton was back with his camera team as was Venita Gribble, the production designer. It's down to them that the production looks as good as it does on such a modest budget.

Though it did rain an awful lot more in Blaenavon this year than it did last time, and up in the hills was much colder too!

In fact, a tiny bit of trivia: In the above clip of the opening scene of episode one when Prem and Kamini are standing at the train station, Ayesha and I both had hot water bottles standing by, which were rushed in as soon as the director shouted "Cut!".

Ah, the glamour of it all.

I hope you enjoy spending a little more time with all the characters and the village, at least as much, if not more than last time.

Diolch yn fawr. Cariad, Sanjeev

(Thank you very much. Love, Sanjeev)

Sanjeev Bhaskar plays Dr Prem Sharma in The Indian Doctor.

Comments made by writers on the BBC TV blog are their own opinions and not necessarily those of the BBC.

There, they encounter the curious villagers and the local English colliery manager, Richard Sharpe. He is most worried about a missing diary, belonging to the previous doctor, that may have incriminating evidence against him, linking the awful conditions in his mine and unusually high rates of lung disease.

I first got involved after the producers Deep Sehgal and Tom Ware approached me about 18 months ago. I thought too that it would make a really watchable drama.

I was particularly drawn to the 1960s and that, historically, many doctors from the Commonwealth were invited to Britain to support the relatively new NHS.

Of greater irony was that it was Enoch Powell who was seen to be doing the inviting.

Many members of my family arrived here at that time, so I recalled their stories and plundered their memories to get an idea of the kind of attitudes they faced but more importantly, what their emotional responses were.

I also spoke with a retired Indian doctor who did arrive in the 1960s and practised in a Welsh village (where he still lives), which was invaluable.

The biggest problem, he told me, was understanding the accent (ironically!) and the colloquialisms the locals used. Most Indians had learned very traditional English and had only heard the Queen's English at that.

Though the story does involve race, I don't think it's about racism. It's more about curiosity and preconceptions.

I experienced a degree of racism, particularly when I was at school in west London but I got it from both sides - the Asians and the white kids. There was a lot of racial tension at the time.

Racism, though born mainly out of ignorance, is just another form of bullying. So anyone who's been victimised or intimidated for something that they have no control over, should be able to relate to that.

The difference in our Welsh village is that it is small enough for people to get to know the Indian doctor and so even if people do have ignorant notions about him, the opportunity to dispel them is that much quicker.

The predominantly Welsh cast and crew seemed to have worked with each other many times before, especially on Welsh language dramas, so were very familiar with each other.

They were incredibly welcoming and warm towards me which made going into work every day a total pleasure. The crew were amongst the finest I've ever worked with.

I became aware of a collective approach to problem solving that doesn't happen very often in filming. Usually, different departments have to solve their own problems but here everyone pitched in.

I'd worked with Ayesha Dharker (Kamini) in a couple of movies and a mini-series and Mark Williams (Richard Sharpe) too. In fact all three of us were in Anita And Me.

Ayesha is one of the most instinctive and subtle actresses I've ever worked with so I always feel I have to raise my game with her. Mark is a man who can just about play anything. Supremely gifted, razor wit and annoyingly intelligent.

Off set, he's incredibly funny but also interested in everything. Having been involved with Harry Potter for the last 10 years, he's as comfortable conversing with kids as he is with grown ups. I think I fall somewhere between the two.

When you're filming, the script is a fairly organic thing (challenging to the writer!).

There are things that you discover aren't clear or don't work only when you get to the location or the set. Bill Armstrong had delivered a great script with lots of interconnected stories, the overwhelming majority of which is what we filmed.

The most important thing is for the actors to own the dialogue so minor tweaks were made with the blessings of the directors (Tim Whitby, Deep Sehgal), sometimes on the day. This is normal though.

There were so many highlights - it was probably the best telly experience I've had in the last five years. I tried to learn two Welsh words a day. Everyone from the make up department to sound and cameras pitched in with suggestions - that was fun.

No lowlights I can think of at all, but the 'oddlight' was driving to Cardiff from London and having to pay the toll when you cross the Severn Bridge. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was entering a giant theme park called Wales.

Daytime drama has always had an odd association to it. I suppose people immediately think of an Australian soap and assume that this can be the only tone.

However, recent compact dramas with strong writing and experienced actors, directors and writers such as Missing and Land Girls do suggest that the production values are much higher than merely a soap, which in itself suggests a production line approach to drama.

The main challenge for a daytime drama (apart from having to do everything on a miniscule budget compared to primetime dramas) is having to take into account the range of viewers that may be sitting in front of the box at that time of the day.

I record a lot of programmes, or watch them on iPlayer, so when they're on means a lot less to me than it used to. We would have, no doubt, approached some of the subject areas differently if the show was going out at 9pm, but I hope with the same charm and attention to detail.

I'm really proud to have been involved in such a collaborative, fun effort. All the credit goes to the people behind the cameras. Even the catering was great.

It was probably the most ego-free environment that I've worked in for ages, so perhaps proud is the wrong word. Privileged would be better.

Sanjeev Bhaskar plays Dr Prem Sharma in The Indian Doctor.

The Indian Doctor is one of two programmes on BBC One to mark the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Swinging Sixties. Rewind The Sixties, presented by Lulu at 9.15am each weekday morning looks at the huge social change, creative innovation and historic importance that made the decade what it was.

Comments made by writers on the TV blog are their own opinions and not necessarily those of the BBC.