This is really fine. Unpretentious, funny, brilliant characters, pitch perfect. I hope the writer, the director and the actors carry on and do more like this!
I also like it that it is drawing on the root meaning of "Jihad" which (as a non-Moslem) I understand is the struggle to live a righteous life. But it is all done with a light touch, neither diminishing the idea, nor over-egging it.
The pilot draws you in, in a witty sort of a way, and I certainly didn't suspect who the main characters were going to be, until they finally settled into their conversation on the bus.
Why on earth hasn't it been put out on the main BBC? It deserves to be shown everywhere, that is: anywhere where there is more than one culture bumping up against each other - where each has to make the best they can of their own world, in the presence of other worlds that might lack in respect or understanding.
I also like it that it is drawing on the root meaning of "Jihad" which (as a non-Moslem) I understand is the struggle to live a righteous life. But it is all done with a light touch, neither diminishing the idea, nor over-egging it.
The pilot draws you in, in a witty sort of a way, and I certainly didn't suspect who the main characters were going to be, until they finally settled into their conversation on the bus.
Why on earth hasn't it been put out on the main BBC? It deserves to be shown everywhere, that is: anywhere where there is more than one culture bumping up against each other - where each has to make the best they can of their own world, in the presence of other worlds that might lack in respect or understanding.