"Goodness Gracious Me" (1998) TV series 1998-2000

Writers:

Anil Gupta (additional material)
Sanjeev Kohli (additional material)

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | unknown

Release Date:

12 January 1998 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot Keywords:

British Asian | Asian Stereotype | India | Sketch Comedy | Based On Radio Series

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Amanda Holden	...	Various roles / ... (4 episodes, 1998)
Sanjeev Bhaskar	...	Various Roles (2 episodes, 1998)
Meera Syal	...	Various Roles (2 episodes, 1998)
Kulvinder Ghir	...	Various Roles (2 episodes, 1998)
Nina Wadia	...	Various Roles (2 episodes, 1998)
Dave Lamb	...	Various Characters (2 episodes, 1998)
Fiona Allen	...	Various Roles (2 episodes, 1998)

Runtime:

30 min (18 episodes) | 45 min (1 episode)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:M

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

The title of the show is a reference to the hit comedy song "Goodness Gracious Me" by Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren, in which Sellers plays an Indian doctor in brownface make-up and sings the title phrase.

Quotes:

Aubergine-Woman: I can make it at home for nothing!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Comedy Connections: Goodness Gracious Me (#3.5)" (2005)

boundary-breaking British Asian comedy

The strength of 'Goodness Gracious Me' was that it appealed to a wide audience - not squarely Asian or White British, but to everyone. And with sketches and characters like the Coopers/Kapoors (more English than anyone around them), Mr 'Check Please' (insulting every girl he sits down in a restaurant with), the Showbiz Kitten (Meera Syal purring like a poisonous cat), the huge Bollywood spoofs (usually involving Kulvinder Ghir poncing around in some ridiculously glamorous setting like the Indian song and dance fests), the 'Innit' teenagers, and, my favourites, the song pastiches, how could it fail? The four main performers were all instrumental to the show's success - Meera Syal as main writer and a key performer, with a classical acting background; Nina Wadia with her squeaky voice and amusing screen presence (some great characters were created for her); Sanjeev Bhaskar laying the foundations for his chat-show Kumar character; and Kulvinder Ghir as the daft scene-stealer who was better than you initially thought he was.

'Goodness Gracious Me' set the standard for ethnic comedies to follow, and by bringing the humour into the mainstream (the Indian family who 'go for an English', for example), it broke through boundaries that had been previously set for what would work in prime-time TV. Not enough episodes were made but what did get to the screen was definitely among the funniest comedy of the late 1990s.