Goodness Gracious Me (TV series)

Last updated

Goodness Gracious Me
GoodnessGraciousMe.jpg
DVD cover
Genre Sketch comedy
Created by Sanjeev Bhaskar
Meera Syal
Anil Gupta
Starring Sanjeev Bhaskar
Meera Syal
Kulvinder Ghir
Nina Wadia
Opening theme Goodness Gracious Me (Bhangra version)
Ending themeGoodness Gracious Me (Bhangra version)
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of series6 (3 radio series and 3 TV series)
No. of episodes36 (14 radio and 22 TV)
Production
Executive producer Jon Plowman
Running time30–50 mins
Original release
Network BBC Radio 4
Release5 July 1996 (1996-07-05) 
25 June 1998 (1998-06-25)
Network BBC Two
Release12 January 1998 (1998-01-12) 
25 August 2015 (2015-08-25)

Goodness Gracious Me is a BBC sketch comedy show originally aired on BBC Radio 4 from 1996 to 1998 and later on BBC Two from 1998 to 2001. The ensemble cast were four British Indian actors, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Kulvinder Ghir, Meera Syal and Nina Wadia. The show explored British Asian culture, and the conflict and integration between traditional Indian culture and modern British life. Some sketches reversed the roles to view the British from an Indian perspective, and others poked fun at Indian and Asian stereotypes. In the television series, most of the white characters were played by Dave Lamb and Fiona Allen; in the radio series those parts were played by the cast themselves. Some of the white characters were also played by Amanda Holden and Emma Kennedy.

Contents

The show's title and theme tune is a bhangra rearrangement of the comedy song of the same name, originally performed by Peter Sellers (portraying an Indian doctor, Ahmed el Kabir) and Sophia Loren, reprising their characters from the 1960 film, The Millionairess . Sellers sang the 1960s song in a stereotypical "cod-Indian" accent. (In her 1996 novel Anita and Me , Syal had referred to British parodies of south Asian speech as "a goodness-gracious-me accent".)

The cast casually drop Punjabi and Hindi slang phrases into their speech, in the manner of many British Asians living in the UK. The Radio Show won Gold at the Sony Radio Academy Awards in 1997. [1] The TV show won Best Entertainment at the Broadcasting Press Guild Award and the Team Award from the Royal Television Society, UK in 1999. In March 2014, the BBC announced that the show would return with a special episode as part of celebrations of fifty years of BBC Two. [2] [3] An India special was broadcast on BBC Two on 25 August 2015.

Parodies and references in the show

Other parodies are based on shows such as Animal Hospital (where members of lower castes take the place of the pets) and Rough Guides (where tourists from India visit and make unpleasant remarks about the United Kingdom).

Going for an English

One of the best known sketches featured the cast "going out for an English" after a few lassis. They continually mispronounce the waiter's name, order the blandest thing on the menu (apart from one of them, who opts for the stronger option of a steak and kidney pie) and ask for 24 plates of chips. The sketch parodies British people "going out for an Indian" after drinking heavily, being rude to the waiter, demanding the spiciest thing available on the menu for show and ordering far too many papadums. This sketch was voted the 6th Greatest Comedy Sketch on a Channel 4 list show. [4]

Recurring characters

Series

Television show

Series 1 (1998)

No.TitleOriginal release date
1"Episode One"12 January 1998 (1998-01-12)
.
2"Episode Two"19 January 1998 (1998-01-19)
.
3"Episode Three"26 January 1998 (1998-01-26)
.
4"Episode Four"2 February 1998 (1998-02-02)
.
5"Episode Five"9 February 1998 (1998-02-09)
.
6"Episode Six"16 February 1998 (1998-02-16)
.

Series 2 (1998)

No.TitleOriginal release date
1"Episode One"13 November 1998 (1998-11-13)
.
2"Episode Two"20 November 1998 (1998-11-20)
.
3"Episode Three"27 November 1998 (1998-11-27)
.
4"Episode Four"4 December 1998 (1998-12-04)
.
5"Episode Five"11 December 1998 (1998-12-11)
.
6"Episode Six"18 December 1998 (1998-12-18)
.
7"Episode Christmas Special"23 December 1998 (1998-12-23)
.

Series 3 (2000)

No.TitleOriginal release date
1"Episode One"25 February 2000 (2000-02-25)
.
2"Episode Two"3 March 2000 (2000-03-03)
.
3"Episode Three"10 March 2000 (2000-03-10)
.
4"Episode Four"17 March 2000 (2000-03-17)
.
5"Episode Five"24 March 2000 (2000-03-24)
.
6"Episode Six"31 March 2000 (2000-03-31)
.

Specials

No.TitleOriginal release date
1"Goodness Gracious Me Unplugged"24 July 1999 (1999-07-24)
.
2"Goodness Gracious Me Live on the Road '99"24 July 1999 (1999-07-24)
.
3"Back Where They Came From"19 February 2001 (2001-02-19)
.
4"Reunion Special"26 May 2014 (2014-05-26)
.
5"India Special"25 August 2015 (2015-08-25)
.
6"Goodness Gracious Me – 20 Years Innit!"22 December 2018 (2018-12-22)
.

Cast and crew

See also

References

  1. "BBC Radio 4 Extra Goodness Gracious Me". BBC Radio Programmes. 8 April 2024. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
  2. "Goodness Gracious Me back for one-off special". BBC News. 7 March 2014.
  3. Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (7 March 2014). "Goodness Gracious Me cast to reunite for one-off special". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  4. "Channel4 – 50 Greatest Comedy Sketches". Channel 4. Retrieved 19 December 2008.