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.

Spotlight On... Citizen Khan

The programme was critised for lazy cultural stereotypes and for insulting Islam, but certain prominent Muslims defended the show.

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.

Citizen Khan is not racist, but it's not funny either

The programme's offence is to bring back sitcoms to the slavery of one-liners.

Citizen Khan - the view from abroad

Debate over the BBC's new comedy series Citizen Khan has spread beyond the UK thanks to the availability of video clips online.

Citizen Khan - Episode 1.2 review

There are some good gags in this show, don't get me wrong, but they genuinely are few and far between.

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't: A UK-born Pakistani Muslim comic's view

I am a British-born Pakistani Muslim and I did not enjoy this show. It's not because I found it offensive, but just because it wasn't very funny unfortunately.