Goodness Gracious Me was a BBC English language sketch show originally on BBC Radio 4 and later on BBC TWO, based on four Indian-British actors: Sanjeev Bhaskar, Kulvinder Ghir, Meera Syal and Nina Wadia. In the television version most of the "white" parts are played by Dave Lamb and Fiona Allen, while in the radio version the white parts were played by the cast themselves. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the largest publicly-funded radio and television broadcasting corporation of the United Kingdom (see British television) and the world. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station which broadcasts a wide variety of chiefly spoken-word programmes including news, drama, comedy, science and history. ... BBC Two (or BBC2 as it was formerly styled) was the second UK television station to be aired by the BBC and the first British television channel to broadcast regularly in colour (from 1967), envisaged as a home for less mainstream and more ambitious programming. ... Sanjeev Bhaskar OBE (born 28 June 1964 in Essex, England) is a British Indian comedian and actor, best known for his work in the BBC2 comedy series, Goodness Gracious Me and as host of The Kumars at No. ... Kulvinder Ghir is a British actor and comedian of South Asian ancestry, best known for his roles in the sketch show Goodness Gracious Me, in particular Chunky Lafunga, a sexy Bollywood star. ... Meera Syal Meera Syal MBE (born Feroza Syal June 27, 1961 in Essington, near Wolverhampton) is a British Indian comedian, writer, playwright, singer, journalist and actress. ... Nina Wadia (born 1969 in Bombay, India) is a British comedy actress, she is best known for her portrayal of various characters in the BBC sketch show Goodness Gracious Me, which led to an appearance at Party at The Palace at Buckingham Palace in 2002, to celebrate the Queens Golden... Fiona Allen (born in Bury, Lancashire on 3 January 1965) is a British comedian. ...

The title and theme tune were based on a hit comedy song from the 1960 film The Millionairess (in which Peter Sellers impersonated an Indian doctor and Sophia Loren his Asian patient) the show's signature tune was a bhangra arrangement of the song. The show's original working title was "Peter Sellers is Dead", but was changed because the cast generally liked Peter Sellers. The theme music of a radio or television program is a melody closely associated with the show, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits. ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... The Millionairess is a 1960 romantic comedy film starring Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren set in London. ... Peter Sellers on The Muppet Show This is about the British actor; for the American director, see Peter Sellars. ... Loren in De Sica’s Two Women, 1960 Alfred Eisenstaedts portrait of Sophia Loren, September 16, 1966. ... Bhangra (Punjabi: , بھنگڑا, ) is both a lively dance which is from the region of Punjab, now divided between North India and Pakistan, and the musical accompaniment to the dance. ...

Many of the sketches explored the conflict and integration between traditional Indian culture and modern British life. Some reversed the roles to view the British from an Indian perspective while others poked fun at Indian stereotypes. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

One of the more famous sketches featured the cast "going out for an English" after a few beers. They mispronounce the waiter's name, order the blandest thing from the menu (apart from one of them who opts for the safer option of a curry) and ask for 24 portions of chips. This parodies the often drunk English people "going out for an Indian", ordering chicken phall and too many papadums. An Indian chicken curry A curry is any of a great variety of distinctively spiced dishes, best-known in Indian and Thai cuisine, but curry has been adopted into all of the mainstream cuisines of the Asia-Pacific area. ... French fried potatoes (North America; often shortened to French fries or fries) or chips (outside North America) are long pieces of potato that have been deep-fried. ... In contemporary usage, parody is a form of satire that imitates another work of art in order to ridicule it. ... A Phall is a form of curry. ... Papad (also papadam, poppadom, papadum, and appalam) is an Indian and Sri Lankan flatbread. ...

The cast casually drop Punjabi and Hindi/Urdu slang phrases into their speech, in the manner of many Indians living in the UK. Punjabi (also Panjabi; in Gurmukhī, Panjābī in Shāhmukhī) is the language of the Punjab regions of India and Pakistan. ... Hindi (हिन्दी hind), an Indo-European language spoken mainly in North, Central, and West India, is the official language of the Indian Union. ... The phrase Zaban-e Urdu-e Mualla written in Urdu Urdu () is an Indo-European language of the Indo-Aryan family that developed under Persian, Turkish, and Arabic influence in South Asia during the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire (1200-1800). ...

Recurring characters

• "Cheque Please" - A man who is frequently seen taking different women out to dinner, but he always says something so tactless or offensive that his date walks out on him, leaving him asking for the "Cheque please!" He has been criticized as a copy of the "I'll get my coat ..." character from fellow British sketch show The Fast Show.

• The competitive mothers - Two women who constantly argue about the respective accomplishments of their sons, becoming more and more exaggerated as they go along. Their discussions always end with one of them using their catchphrase, "Yes, but how big is his dunda (literal: stick, or weapon)?"

• Mr "Everything Comes From India" - A man who insists that just about everything comes from India or was invented by Indians, including William Shakespeare, Leonardo da Vinci, shampoo, comic book superheroes and the British Royal Family (all except Prince Charles, whom he claimed to be African).

• The Coopers (Kapoors) and Robinsons (Rabindranaths) - Two snobbish nouveau riche couples who claim to be entirely English with no Indian blood whatsoever, but often give themselves away by using each other's real names, mispronouncing words or silly mistakes such as serving guests some lemonade with sliced courgettes in it. They refuse to acknowledge their real ethnic background under any circumstances, and become very upset whenever anyone refers to them as foreigners.

• Superhero Bhangra-Man

• "Skipinder, The Punjabi Kangaroo" - Redubbed footage of the old television show about Skippy the bush kangaroo, with the kangaroo being "voiced over" so that he can talk. Skippy, who now calls himself Skipinder, is always drunk, speaks in a Punjabi accent and frequently insults the other characters.

• The Bhangra Muffins - Two teenage boys who are always trying to be "cool" and attract girls, but failing miserably. In their sketches, they seem to be having an intelligent discussion, albeit in their own "street" language, but it is then shown that they are doing something nonsensical or are in the wrong place (example: in one episode they are waiting in the audience at a taping of The Oprah Winfrey Show, leading to a conversation about the purpose of television and talk shows in society, but then the show starts and they find out they have in fact gone to an opera performance by mistake.) Their catchphrase is "kiss my chuddies, man!" - "chuddies" a reference to underwear.

• Chunky Lafunga ("lafunga" means "hooligan") - A Bollywood superstar who is now trying to make his name in Western cinema, but manages to turn every production he appears in, from an adaptation of a Jane Austen novel to an Australian soap opera, into a Bollywood musical.

• Mrs "I can make it at home for nothing!" - A mother who is shown going out and about with her family and repeatedly decries various things as wasteful, saying "I can make it at home for nothing!" For some reason she always seems to need "a small aubergine" to be able to do so.

• The 'Innit' Girls - Two girls who complain about unwanted male attention and shout out rude comments at the men who walk past them, with the camera then pulling back to reveal why the men are there (e.g. in one sketch the girls are shown to have gone to a gay bar, in another they are standing outside a men's public toilet.) During one episode they actually managed to get dates, but insisted on leaving because the men did not offer to buy them a drink.

• Guru Maharishi Yogi (based on Maharishi Mahesh Yogi) - A man who in different sketches is either shown giving completely made up lectures about Hinduism, or going door to door saying silly things to the people who answer. In one sketch he resorts to handing out flyers for a double glazing company when a householder doesn't want to hear him talk about religion. He also has two similarly dodgy guru friends, whom he likes to play board games with.

• Smeeta Smitten, Showbiz Kitten - A reporter who claims to be at a movie premiere or showbiz party, but turns out to be somewhere very ordinary, like queueing outside a video shop or public bathroom. She is then refused entrance, so to distract the viewers, she finishes by saying "Look, there goes Art Malik!" and running out of the picture. She was once in a chip shop, and Art Malik was there, but she didn't recognise him. After making a fool of herself, she tried to get out of the situation by pointing to Art outside the shop, and 'running after him'. Fellow character Chunky Lafunga is the only "celebrity" she has ever managed to interview. In Series 2 she loses her job and resorts to presenting her TV show from different rooms of her mother's house, then in Series 3 produces a variety of pilot shows for a possible new TV series, with disastrous results.

• Uncle Fixer - A man who shows up to greet different family members in unexpected places, such as at a funeral or during a kidney transplant operation, and then asks why they didn't come to him for help with the arrangements, because "I could have got it for you much cheaper!". He often says "Don't Worry" or "Don't Insult me!" when people decline his help.

• The Sindi Dolls - Two wealthy young women who act like Valley Girl stereotypes, forever showing off about the amount of credit cards they have and how much their fathers have spent on them. In one sketch they state their opinion that a friend of theirs should make more effort with her appearance, "leprosy or no leprosy".

• "Will I, bollocks!" - This sketch follows an old woman who is continually causing trouble for her family, then when she is asked to do something to help with the situation, she replies "Will I, bollocks!" In the last of her sketches, she collapses at home and her son-in-law offers to perform mouth to mouth resuscitation but when his wife asks him if he will really do it, he says "Will I bollocks".

The Fast Show was a BBC comedy sketch show programme which ran for four series from 1994 to 2000, starring Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, Simon Day, Mark Williams, John Thomson, Arabella Weir and Caroline Aherne (1994-1997). ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519) was an Italian Renaissance polymath: an architect, anatomist, sculptor, engineer, inventor, geometer, musician, futurist and painter. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... Superheroes is a danish pop/rock band. ... Members of the Royal Family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after the Trooping the Colour ceremony The British Royal Family is a group of people closely related to the British monarch. ... Prince Charles may refer to: Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, current heir-apparent to the British throne Any of the previous British royals named Charles, Prince of Wales The former Belgian regent, Prince Charles of Belgium This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might... World map showing location of Africa A satellite composite image of Africa Africa is the worlds second_largest continent in both area and population, after Asia. ... Courgette Young zucchini Flower of zucchini Zucchini (US and Australian English) or Courgette (New Zealand and British English), is the name of a vegetable. ... Bhangra (Punjabi: , بھنگڑا, ) is both a lively dance which is from the region of Punjab, now divided between North India and Pakistan, and the musical accompaniment to the dance. ... Punjabi (also Panjabi; in GurmukhÄ«, PanjābÄ« in ShāhmukhÄ«) is the language of the Punjab regions of India and Pakistan. ... Species Macropus rufus Macropus giganteus Macropus fuliginosus A kangaroo is any of several large macropods (the marsupial family that also includes the wallabies, tree-kangaroos, wallaroos, pademelons and the Quokka: 65 species in all). ... Skippy the Bush Kangaroo was a popular Australian television series for children produced from 1966 to 1968. ... Punjabi (also Panjabi; in GurmukhÄ«, PanjābÄ« in ShāhmukhÄ«) is the language of the Punjab regions of India and Pakistan. ... Bhangra (Punjabi: , بھنگڑا, ) is both a lively dance which is from the region of Punjab, now divided between North India and Pakistan, and the musical accompaniment to the dance. ... The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American nationally syndicated talk show, hosted and produced by Oprah Winfrey. ... A talk show (U.S.) or chat show (Brit. ... Sydney Opera House: one of the worlds most recognizable opera houses and landmarks Opera refers to a dramatic art form, originating in Europe, in which the emotional content or primary entertainment is conveyed to the audience as much through music, both vocal and instrumental, as it is through the... Typical Bollywood movie poster—Devdas (2002) Bollywood (Hindi: बॉलीवुड) is the informal name given to the popular Mumbai-based Hindi language film industry in India. ... Jane Austen, in a portrait based on one drawn by her sister Cassandra Jane Austen (December 14, 1775 – July 18, 1817) was an English novelist whose work is considered part of the Western canon. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The musical film is a film genre in which several songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative. ... Binomial name Solanum melongena Solanum esculentum An eggplant or aubergine is either of two species of nightshade, Solanum melongena and , bearing large pendulous purple or white fruit. ... A gay bar is a drinking establishment which caters primarily to a gay or lesbian clientele. ... See also Toilet for the lavatory Public toilet is a movie from the Hong Kong director Fruit Chan. ... Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (born Mahesh Srivastava in 1917) is the founder of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) Movement. ... Hinduism {Sanskrit/Hindi - HindÅ« Dharma, also known as Sanātana (eternal) Dharma, and Vaidika (of the Vedas) Dharma} is a religion originating in the Indian subcontinent, based on the Vedas and the beliefs of other people of India. ... Insulated glazing is a piece of glazing consisting of two or more layers of glazing separated by a spacer along the edge and sealed to create a dead air space between the layers. ... A board game is any game played with a premarked surface, with counters or pieces that are moved across the board. ... Art Malik (born as Athar Ul-Haque Malik on November 13, 1952) is a Pakistani-born British actor. ... Art Malik (born as Athar Ul-Haque Malik on November 13, 1952) is a Pakistani-born British actor. ... Underwater funeral in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea A funeral is a ceremony marking a persons death. ... Human kidneys viewed from behind with spine removed The kidneys are bean-shaped excretory organs in vertebrates. ... An organ transplant is the transplantation of an organ (or part of one) from one body to another, for the purpose of replacing the recipients damaged or failing organ with a working one from the donor. ... In the United States, Valley girl, or Val, is a term coined in the 1970s, originally referring to affluent young women living in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, California. ... For the malady found in the Hebrew Bible, see the article Tzaraath. ...

Seasons

Radio show

• 1996 June/July (4 eps)
• 1997 July/August (4 eps)
• 1998 May/June (6 eps)

Television show

• 1998 Jan/Feb - Season 1 (6 eps)
• 1998 Nov/Dec - Season 2 (6 eps)
• 1998 Dec - Christmas Special
• 1999 Theatre Tour
• 2000 Feb/Mar - Season 3 (6 eps)
• 2001 Feb - "Back Where They Came From" (Parts filmed in India)

Christmas (literally, the Mass of Christ) is a traditional Christian holiday meant to celebrate the birth of Jesus with both religious and secular aspects, commonly observed on 25 December. ...

External links

• Goodness Gracious Me on BBCi
• British Film Institute Screen Online
• Goodness Gracious Me at The Internet Movie Database