Meera Syal brings Mrs Sidhu Investigates to television
- Meera Syal is returning to her role as crime-solving Indian chef Mrs Sidhu in a new comedy crime drama for Acorn TV
- Mrs Sidhu Investigates follows the Radio 4 series of the same name by Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars At No. 42 writer Suk Pannu
- "Mrs Sidhu is a very special character, an extraordinary Indian aunty, a sleuth driven by curiosity (some would say nosiness)" says Pannu, who is also publishing his first Mrs Sidhu novel
Meera Syal is to reprise her role as a crime-solving Indian chef in a television adaptation of Mrs Sidhu Investigates, British Comedy Guide can exclusively reveal.
As well as starring in the comedy about the interfering "aunty" caterer for Acorn TV, BCG understands that The Kumars star has contributed to the script for the series, which is being made by Monumental Pictures (Ghosts) and Absolutely Productions (Alone, Lucy Porter In The Family Way).
Syal previously played the title role in two series of the Radio 4 comedy produced by Absolutely between 2017 and 2019.
The radio version was created by and written by Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars At No. 42 scribe Suk Pannu, who has penned three of the television series' 90-minute scripts.
Pannu's first Mrs Sidhu novel, Dead and Scone, is also set to be published late next year by HarperCollins.
Speaking in April, he said: "Mrs Sidhu is a very special character, an extraordinary Indian aunty, a sleuth driven by curiosity (some would say nosiness) who has been explored on BBC radio and has been greenlit for television. I'm looking forward to sharing her rich inner life with readers."
Further casting for the television series has yet to be revealed. Justin Edwards took the role of the stressed Inspector Burton on the radio, while Hamza Jeetooa played Mrs Sidhu's hapless son Tez. Other cast members involved in the radio series included Vincent Ebrahim, Amy Morgan, Rachel Atkins, John Sessions, Hilary Maclean and Okorie Chukwu.
In the first series, Murder With Masala, Mrs Sidhu caters a wedding in rural Berkshire where the bridesmaid goes missing. In the second, Mrs Sidhu's Deadly Highland Game, she gets mixed up in a homicide in the Scottish highlands.
Launched in the UK in 2020, Acorn TV's original programming is dominated by cosy crime dramas and is the current home of Ashley Jensen's Agatha Raisin series and Whitstable Pearl, starring Kerry Godliman.
Mrs Sidhu Investigates will likely further elevate Syal's profile in the US, after she appeared in the Apple TV+ feminist anthology series Roar alongside the likes of Nicole Kidman and Alison Brie.
Syal is also reprising her role as Granny Kumar on Radio 4 for a second series of Gossip And Goddesses With Granny Kumar, the chat show hosted by the writer-actor's enduring Kumars character.