Adil Ray

Devised by and starring Adil Ray, Citizen Khan (BBC One) has been greeted as an all-time stinker. Is it really that bad? I'm afraid so, but it has its moments. The leading character is a Pakistani. Amiable and generous with his time, he is ready to have a long conversation with a cold caller until it turns out that the cold call is coming from India. He bangs down the phone, to a convulsive response from the audience.

Mind you, the audience responds convulsively to anything. At one stage Mr Ray did nothing but walk out of the kitchen to answer the phone in the hall, and he was met by a ripple of laughter. Why? No, the show is dreadful. But it might not be hopeless. There is room for it to grow. It might even turn into something as richly informative as the movie East is East, although for that to happen someone will have to get some writing talent from somewhere.

The sitcom set among Birmingham's Muslim community has provoked a rash of complaints to the BBC, mostly regarding disrespect towards the Qur'an. Few mention the BBC'' offence against comedy itself in commissioning yet another sitcom constructed almost entirely from clichés. Tonight Mr Khan (Adil Ray) becomes the Simon Cowell of Sparkhill in seeking a star performer for the local mosque's call to prayer.

There are several problems with this show, chief amongst them being what on Earth I can say which hasn't been said already in the past week.

For those who have not seen this show, the series revolves around a British-Pakistani family from Sparkhill, Birmingham. The head of the family, Mr Khan (Adil Ray, who also co-writes the series), a pompous community leader trying to control his family in his own way as well as the local Muslim population. Part of his problems comes from the new Mosque manager, a British-born convert called Dave (Kris Marshall).

Following the broadcast of this first episode, it seems that just about no-one likes it. There are reports of at least 700 people complaining to the BBC claiming the show is guilty of racist stereotyping. Meanwhile the critics have been attacking the series for being old fashioned.

Speaking as someone who knows very little about the Muslim community (I even learnt a little bit about Islam during this opening episode) I am not in position to say if it's racist or not. However, I can give an opinion on how funny or unfunny it is. Given that it's a studio sitcom with a live audience it's no surprise the critics don't like it. Having watched it, the thing that sprung to mind was trying to compare it with similar shows. With his pompous, domineering nature to me Mr Khan shares similar traits to Hyacinth Bucket from Keeping up Appearances, which was one of my favourite comedies as a child.

However, some of the gags were just so predictable. When you saw him in the Mosque with a microphone who just knew he was going to say (on indeed sing) something stupid into it, unaware that he was broadcasting from a minaret.

In the end it'll come down to the public vote, so to speak, and Citizen Khan will probably be axed. It's for the best, really...

More hijinks from Sparkhill, Birmingham, "capital of British Pakistan". This week, bumptious community leader Mr Khan (co-writer Adil Ray) plans a networking meeting with local businessmen. First, however, he must take his 80-year-old mother-in-law on a predictably fraught shopping trip. As per, the show combines old-fashioned sitcom pratfalls with telling satire: "I'm not an immigrant!" blusters Khan. "Immigrants are eastern Europeans, coming over here and taking the jobs from Pakistanis."

Citizen Khan star defends show following 700 complaints

Adil Ray, the creator of the new BBC One sitcom Citizen Khan - about a Muslim family in Birmingham - has defended the show after more than 700 viewers complained.

Citizen Khan is the BBC's latest sitcom, and features the adventures of the opinionated, self-appointed community leader Mr Khan (Adil Ray). It's about time the Pakistani community in the "capital of British Pakistan" got some quality exposure and some laughs.

On the basis of this first episode, sadly they'll have to wait. Generalisations about house-proud culture, obsessive business ideology, tight-fisted patriarchs, and even honour killings? I thought comedy was beyond cheap gags and stereotypes these days.

Offensive? Racist? No, just funny - and oh so true!

Adil Ray should get full marks for using his childhood and life experiences to such tremendous comic effect.

Compaired to Hunderby, Citizen Khan (BBC1) looks very un-bold indeed. It's a family based sitcom that feels like it's from about 1983. You know, Mr Khan parks in a disabled space, someone sees him getting out of the car, so he adopts a limp, cue laughter. The fact that the parking space is at the mosque doesn't make it any more interesting I'm afraid - perhaps even highlights what a pity it is that the BBC's first Asian sitcom is so safe.

Oh, it's not that bad, I suppose. Adil Ray's performance is spirited. There are some nice touches, like the plastic sofa covers. But even the best joke - Mr Khan's imaginative speechifying (JFK, MLK, TJ*) being broadcast from the speaker at the top of the minaret - you can see coming a mile off, as soon as he picks up the mic. It seems for interesting original comedy you now have to look to the right of the first three columns in the listings page.

*Tom Jones.

BBC1's new comedy Citizen Khan (10.20pm) stars its creator, Adil Ray, in the title role, as a self-appointed - and selfimportant - community leader in Sparkhill, Birmingham.

He's a character who's already popped up in other shows, including the sketch series Bellamy's People, but this is the first time he's had a sitcom all of his own, focusing on his family life.

To be honest, the show's weakness isn't so much that it's a niche comedy but the fact that its style feels incredibly dated, like an old-fashioned studio sitcom from 20-odd years back.

To give you the flavour of this new comedy set around an Asian family, at one stage its hero, self-appointed "community leader" Mr Khan, drives to his local mosque and parks in a disabled space. As he gets out of the car passers-by shoot him a look, so he starts limping heavily.

It's not the episode's finest moment but it shows that writers Anil Gupta and Richard Pinto are not proud about where they'll look for laughs. Luckily, Khan himself is a brilliant creation by Adil Ray. Tonight, his daughter is set to get married, but Khan has foolishly failed to book the mosque.