Tandoori Nights

1 9 8 5 – 1 9 8 7 (UK)
12 x 30 minute episodes

Though The Fosters and No Problem! had paved the way for black comedy programming, the comedic sensibility of the Asian experience had yet to become a marketable commodity.

To mid-1980s audiences in the UK, Channel 4’s Tandoori Nights had the elements of a potentially groundbreaking sitcom: a mixed-race relationship, left wing and sexy Asian women, and a restaurant proprietor more interested in success and money than in his cultural roots.

Unfortunately, the show suffered from a comedic deficit and the laughs were fleeting, perhaps because it took itself too seriously.

The fact, though, that the show gave rare opportunities to Asian talent behind and in front of the camera is, one can argue, distinction enough.

The actors (including the prolific Saeed Jaffrey, whose character brings to mind his role in My Beautiful Laundrette) make the most of the patchy and rambling scripts.

Jimmy
Saeed Jaffrey
Alladin
Tariq Yunus
Asha
Rita Wolf
Delia
Angela Browne
Bubbly
Shelley King
Gran
Zohra Segal