...including from the Asian community

The cast of Goodness Gracious Me received death threats when the groundbreaking comedy series first aired.

Star Nina Wadia revealed that the BBC’s all-Asian sketch show even provoked fury from Hindu and Muslim communities.

She makes the disclosure in the upcoming Radio 4 documentary Gareth Gwynn Was Better On The Radio in which the titular writer explores comedies which started as audio programmes before transferring to TV.

In comments reported by the British Comedy Guide, Wadia recalled being ‘terrified’ by her television debut.

She said: ‘There was huge fear that will people switch on to BBC Two to watch just mostly brown people? 

‘By the way, I don't know if you all know this, but we received death threats after the first series. Of course we did. Yeah, and strangely enough, mostly from the Hindu and Muslim communities in the UK... It was crazy.’

Goodness Gracious Me – which co-starred Meera Syal, Sanjeev Bhaskar and Kulvinder Ghir – was always earmarked for TV,  running on Radio 4 from 1996 to 1998 to build an audience and to establish its tone before switching to Radio 4. 

It began as a one-off sketch show, written by the cast, performed in London's Riverside Studios.

Gareth Gwynn Was Better On The Radio is set to air on Boxing Day and also covers That Mitchell & Webb Sound becoming That Mitchell And Webb Look,  Hancock's Half Hour, and On The Hour becoming The Day Today among others.

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Published: 21 Oct 2026