But he's supposed to be in his 50's surely? That age group would have been born here or arrived here as very young children so they would have moved with the times.

I know what you mean about the very elderly Asian men - I lived and worked in Leicester for 15 years.

Maybe you should have stopped after the first sentence of your 'ironic' post then.

You know it was just a silly, little sitcom right?

What makes the show racist and anti-islam?

This. The canned laughter didn't help either. I usually like everything the Beeb throw at us but this was painful to watch and that's for someone who grew up near the area it's set in and should be able to relate to this 'comedy'. I hope it shows signs of improvement in the episodes yet to air.

I don't think there was any implication that all women and girls who wear the hijab are being hypocritical, but it's a lie to say that girls like the daughter in Citizen Khan don't exist.

It's amusing that you think the show was racist while another poster thought it was too PC. It can hardly be both, and I think it's neither.

I thought it was ok, room to improve and frankly absurd to suggest it is "Islamaphobic" or "racist". I too grew up next to Sparkhill and know it very well, pity they didn't use more of it.

By the way, it isn't "canned laughter", it was filmed in front of a studio audience at Salford Quays studios.

It was as Islamophobic and racist as Father Ted was Catholophobic(?) and racist to the Irish, ie. not at all.

Didn't know about the laughter being real, it sounded very strange.

BTW, the opening scene is of Ladypool Rd, Balsall Heath, the mosque seen in the programme was actually the Saffron Centre in Highgate (ironically owned by Sikhs) with a CGI-type mosque juxtaposed on the front of the building and the house shown, I think, is in Kingswood Rd, Moseley - none of which in Sparkhill.

Pakistanis didn't all arrive at the same time!

I thought exactly the same thing, along with 'they would have moved with the times', no hard and fast rules or nobody would have come up with the phrase 'mutton dressed as lamb'

I thought the show was promising. Very silly at times - while not shying away from issues. There was no elephant in the room and you could just get on with enjoying it as a comedy.

The girl who pretends to be a good girls reminds me of my sis shes a hijabi but has another side to her lol

Exactly.

Father Ted made fun of Catholicism and a certain stereotype of Irishness. It was ludicrous, exaggerated, offensive to a lot of Catholics and Irish, bore no relationship to any real priests or Irish who have ever lived etc etc, but it was also very funny. Most Irish Catholic priests either ignored it or joined in with the joke.

What is so special about Muslims that they cannot be made fun of? Nobody is pretending that it is giving an accurate portrayal of real life - it is a sitcom, with the main aim of making people laugh.

On Father Ted, in one episode there was a black priest. Everyone assumed he was African. Turned out he spoke with a thick Irish accent. General shock.

That similar enough for you?

I thought I was going to hate this, and it was really pretty terrible, but it didn't stop me laughing regularly from 30 seconds in and not stopping. Mr Khan singing Tom Jones was the highlight. Although why does Mr Khan feel the need to announce continually that he's Pakistani? He must be 50, hasn't he figured it out yet?

And Kris Marshall. Ah. The seal of quality of a truly crap sitcom. He was great.

Thank goodness this wasn't written by a non-Muslim, imagine the storm that would have created.

Shame the Daily Mail went on the attack...though predictable

Could be the sort of thing that gets increased ratings. A bit like people slowing down on a motorway to see a pile up....except the pile up is funnier

The one predictable thing about the BBC airing a sitcom about Muslims is that there's going to be complaints.

I think Citizen Khan would have to be a lot worse than it is before it would be a bad thing to commission. It's easier to hate a section of society from a position of ignorance.

Mr Khan wasn't dressed like someone older (or younger) than himself, he was dressed like someone from the past. Can you actually buy clothes like that now? And I know it's nitpicking, but in "real life" he would have been a teenager in the 70s so he wouldn't have owned those clothes back then either.

Have you had a look round charity clothing shops recently? Full of that kind of gear and I can imagine being frequented by our penny-pinching Mr Khan. Actually frequnted is probably not quite right. Every five or ten years is possibly nearer the mark.

I did admit I was nitpicking. But I doubt if there are many suits that old in charity shops. That came from a theatrical outfitter's (or the BBC wardrobe), I bet.

Where does 'hate' come from? Even if the FM's referring to real life rather than just the programme, I think 'hate' is far too strong a word.

I found it fairly amusing; I'd watch it again if there was nothing better on, but wouldn't grieve if I missed it. It's a nice, gentle comedy, full of nice people. It's more watchable than pretentious rubbish like little britain, come fly with me, etc.

As for the clothing - I dress like that, I'm a caucasian non-muslim, and a fair bit older than Mr. Khan.

How can it be shot in front of a live audience when you've got scenes that are shot on location, for example outside the mosque?

I wasn't talking about the FM hating anything. I was speaking generally not about one person and I apologise if it came off wrong.

It bore a very great relationship to real priests ...thats why it was funny

But it was Irish people who had grown up Catholic doing it so it was not racist.


If you pick one race ..then it's racist..if you send up every race nd creed including your own ....and be vicious with your own and all it's ridiculousness then you are an equal oppertunity p*ss taker and not racist.

A sitcom about muslims written by muslims including jibes at white christians with all their hypocracies is not racist.

A sitcom that automatically assumes the position of judgement of Islam from the outside quasi detachment of a superior is racist.

Muslims are not funnier weirder worse or better than any other group out there.

Racist jokes are from people who make jokes about 'them' ....instead of all of us.

You can always take the piss out of yourself most viciously ...because you know the worst.

It's usually much funnier. Think of Fawlty Towers....It was British people taking the piss of situations true ..but also of elements of British culture like the British class system.

It had grotesque representation of a panih waiter and sometimes other ethicities...but the most grotesque and hilariou was Bazil....equal oppertunity pisstaking..

If you want to make fun of people you have to make fun of everyone especially yourself and your own tribe...

I have not seen this sitom..but if it takes the piss out of white people too..fair enough..if it represents muslims as worse..then it's racist..

All humans have there unique way of being morons...but we are all equally stupid and should be made fun of equally for it....

Mind you i have not seen this thing though..if it can make muslims laugh too ...then why not ? If they can't laugh or are not people need to ask why?

I'm disappointed they didn't get Pakistani actors/actresses to play the British Pakistani characters, would have made it seem more realistic.