Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Citizen Khan
Citizen Khan is a British sitcom produced by the BBC and created by Adil Ray. It ran for five series, from 2012 to 2016. It is set in Sparkhill, South Birmingham, described by its lead character, a British Pakistani man named Mr Khan (Ray), as "the capital of British Pakistan". Citizen Khan follows the trials and tribulations of Mr Khan, a loud-mouthed, patriarchal, cricket-loving, self-appointed community leader, and his long suffering wife Razia (played by Shobu Kapoor) and daughters Shazia (Maya Sondhi 2012–2014, Krupa Pattani 2015–2016) and Alia (Bhavna Limbachia). In Series One, Kris Marshall was Dave, the manager of Mr Khan's local mosque.
The title of the show is a play on the title of the Orson Welles film Citizen Kane. The character Mr Khan had already featured in the BBC Two comedy series Bellamy's People, on BBC Radio 4's Down the Line and on his own online series on the BBC Comedy website. On 27 September 2012, the BBC announced that Citizen Khan had been commissioned for a second series. On 2 December 2013, BBC controller Charlotte Moore announced that Citizen Khan had been renewed for a third series which began airing on 31 October 2014. On 11 December 2014, BBC comedy controller Shane Allen announced that a fourth series had been commissioned. On 14 October 2015, the official Facebook page of Citizen Khan confirmed through a video of Mr Khan that the fourth series would begin on 30 October 2015. On 20 January 2016, it was confirmed the show would return for a fifth and final series which started airing on 4 November 2016.
Although Adil Ray is a Muslim, the show has divided opinion on whether its humour is a mockery of followers of that religion and of stereotyping British Pakistanis. Ray maintains that Mr Khan is a comic character who is intended for families of any ethnic background to relate to, as with other British family sitcoms. The show subsequently moved onto being repeated on Gold.
The first episode of Citizen Khan was first broadcast on BBC One on 27 August 2012, in a late timeslot of 10:20pm. It received what Digital Spy referred to as an "impressive" 3.41 million viewers and 20.9% of the audience.
The Independent's Hasnet Lais stated "Credit must be given to Adil Ray for not sparing any sacred cows and shining light on the conundrum of some British Muslim women under the patriarchal cosh."
The BBC received more than 700 complaints following the airing of the first episode, with a further 20 complaints made to Ofcom. Some British Muslims claimed that the show "ridicules" and "insults" Islam. The BBC claimed it had evidence the complaints were part of a lobbying campaign and countered it saying a number of people, including those of Muslim communities, praised the show and referred to its audience figures as a "very positive start."
The first episode of Citizen Khan garnered considerable criticism for a scene in which the character Mr. Khan's daughter pretends to pray and bows before the Qur'an as a "holy charade" for her father's benefit, which was seen as desacralizing Islamic practices. This led to accusations of Islamophobia and the show being labelled as "racist", "embarrassing" and "old-fashioned" in some newspapers. Despite this, the show's writer, Adil Ray, defended it as a product of his own background and familiarity with the community.
The Independent's Arifa Akbar commented negatively on its many clichéd jokes and character traits, drawing many comparisons with 1970s-style sitcoms. Mark Jones of The Guardian was more optimistic, describing it as "an affable enough debut, deserving a wider audience than this post-watershed slot is likely to attract."
Hub AI
Citizen Khan AI simulator
(@Citizen Khan_simulator)
Citizen Khan
Citizen Khan is a British sitcom produced by the BBC and created by Adil Ray. It ran for five series, from 2012 to 2016. It is set in Sparkhill, South Birmingham, described by its lead character, a British Pakistani man named Mr Khan (Ray), as "the capital of British Pakistan". Citizen Khan follows the trials and tribulations of Mr Khan, a loud-mouthed, patriarchal, cricket-loving, self-appointed community leader, and his long suffering wife Razia (played by Shobu Kapoor) and daughters Shazia (Maya Sondhi 2012–2014, Krupa Pattani 2015–2016) and Alia (Bhavna Limbachia). In Series One, Kris Marshall was Dave, the manager of Mr Khan's local mosque.
The title of the show is a play on the title of the Orson Welles film Citizen Kane. The character Mr Khan had already featured in the BBC Two comedy series Bellamy's People, on BBC Radio 4's Down the Line and on his own online series on the BBC Comedy website. On 27 September 2012, the BBC announced that Citizen Khan had been commissioned for a second series. On 2 December 2013, BBC controller Charlotte Moore announced that Citizen Khan had been renewed for a third series which began airing on 31 October 2014. On 11 December 2014, BBC comedy controller Shane Allen announced that a fourth series had been commissioned. On 14 October 2015, the official Facebook page of Citizen Khan confirmed through a video of Mr Khan that the fourth series would begin on 30 October 2015. On 20 January 2016, it was confirmed the show would return for a fifth and final series which started airing on 4 November 2016.
Although Adil Ray is a Muslim, the show has divided opinion on whether its humour is a mockery of followers of that religion and of stereotyping British Pakistanis. Ray maintains that Mr Khan is a comic character who is intended for families of any ethnic background to relate to, as with other British family sitcoms. The show subsequently moved onto being repeated on Gold.
The first episode of Citizen Khan was first broadcast on BBC One on 27 August 2012, in a late timeslot of 10:20pm. It received what Digital Spy referred to as an "impressive" 3.41 million viewers and 20.9% of the audience.
The Independent's Hasnet Lais stated "Credit must be given to Adil Ray for not sparing any sacred cows and shining light on the conundrum of some British Muslim women under the patriarchal cosh."
The BBC received more than 700 complaints following the airing of the first episode, with a further 20 complaints made to Ofcom. Some British Muslims claimed that the show "ridicules" and "insults" Islam. The BBC claimed it had evidence the complaints were part of a lobbying campaign and countered it saying a number of people, including those of Muslim communities, praised the show and referred to its audience figures as a "very positive start."
The first episode of Citizen Khan garnered considerable criticism for a scene in which the character Mr. Khan's daughter pretends to pray and bows before the Qur'an as a "holy charade" for her father's benefit, which was seen as desacralizing Islamic practices. This led to accusations of Islamophobia and the show being labelled as "racist", "embarrassing" and "old-fashioned" in some newspapers. Despite this, the show's writer, Adil Ray, defended it as a product of his own background and familiarity with the community.
The Independent's Arifa Akbar commented negatively on its many clichéd jokes and character traits, drawing many comparisons with 1970s-style sitcoms. Mark Jones of The Guardian was more optimistic, describing it as "an affable enough debut, deserving a wider audience than this post-watershed slot is likely to attract."