Goodness Gracious Me

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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 title and theme tune were based on a hit song from the 1960 film The Millionairess (in which Peter Sellers impersonated an Indian doctor and Sophia Loren his 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 (in spite of this bit of racial stereotyping).

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.

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.

The cast casually drop Punjabi and Hindi/Urdu slang phrases into their speech, in the manner of many Indians living in the UK.

1 Recurring characters
2 Seasons
- 2.1 Radio show
- 2.2 Television show
3 External links

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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 dunder?"

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. 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".

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