When the first series of the pioneering sitcom Citizen Khan aired last year, it sparked around 200 complaints and was accused of making fun of Islam, stereotyping Asians and being disrespectful to the Qur'an. A Facebook post said: "Cancel the show OR we will have repeat of riot we had a few months ago."
Well, a second series and a Christmas special have been filmed and there have been no riots - although shamefully some death threats were made.
However, Adil Ray, creator of the sitcom about a self-appointed "community leader", is not going to bow to pressure to make changes to appease his critics. Ray says he and the BBC knew there was "probably going to be an adverse reaction" as "it's a very sensitive area - it's the first time we've had a sitcom based on a Muslim Pakistani family".
His upbringing in Birmingham and his religion gave him the perspective to deal with the controversy. "There was something my mum taught me when I was younger: 'Don't allow yourself to be offended about anything in life.'
"I remember the first time I got called 'Paki' at school and I went home and told my mum and she said: 'So what, what's that done to you? It doesn't matter, just get back into school.' And she was so right."
He adds: "Particularly if you think you're religious - and I would like to think that my religion and faith is strong - a comedy show or whatever won't affect that. That's quite key I think, otherwise it's a sign of weakness."
For every one person who complained about the scenes such as Khan's youngest daughter Alia rushing to put on a hijab when her father was around, Ray says, he would get ten or so emails from Muslim, Catholic and Jewish people saying their daughter also paid lip service to their religion.
"So you kind of go 'well who's right here?' The fact is nobody's right, we're not all the same. You have some Muslims who didn't like it and wanted to complain and a lot of Muslims, the vast majority of Muslims, who did like it. That's a good thing. If the entire Muslim population had come out and said 'yes we all love Citizen Khan' that'd be quite scary."
Ray has experienced controversy before. In 2009 he received threats from Sikh listeners who claimed he was being insensitive about a Sikh religious symbol on his Asian Network show.
He agrees with John Cleese's view that "no one has the right not to be offended", but says the most important thing when he comes in for criticism is to use Islamic teachings to ask himself what his intentions were.
"You have to ask if you are doing the right thing. What I've intended to do with Citizen Khan is a good thing - to make Mr Khan a good character, to make him universal and a communication between different communities."
The Radio 2 and 5 Live presenter is an articulate advocate for the universality of comedy, revealing his early influences were shows such as Fawlty Towers and Only Fools and Horses - some of his happiest childhood moments were eating fish and chips while watching That's My Boy, starring Mollie Sugden. "The power of comedy struck home for me", he says, when he realised "here we were as a British Asian family ... laughing together at this white family sitcom".
That drove him to make Citizen Khan family-friendly viewing. He admits it is "slightly romantic" of him but says one of the things that motivated him to do comedy was "the joy you can bring to families".
There can be a snobbishness in coverage of sitcoms. Citizen Khan averaged around 4 million viewers yet some reviewers still felt inclined to look down their noses. Ray admits that "it does bother you - but you don't focus on that". He adds: "As long as more people are liking it than aren't, and as long as the BBC commissioners love it and recommission it, that's all that matters at the end of the day."
He warms to his theme: "There's a real desire and hunger for that kind of comedy - not trying to be cool and on-trend but 'just make me laugh out loud' and we've tried to embrace that, in the same vein as studio comedies that have been on BBC1 like Mrs Brown's Boys or Miranda.
"They might not sometimes be the critics' choices or the coolest comedies but we're in times now where people like to be nostalgic and relive the times when they laughed out loud.
"I think on the whole you've got to concentrate on the positives and when people turn round to you and say they've never watched TV with their children before but now their children are loving [Citizen Khan], that's great."
What he also wants is for his comedy to cross ethnic and religious boundaries: "Yes [Citizen Khan] is about a Pakistani Muslim family but what I really want is a white English lady to be watching it and nudge her husband and say 'That's like you, Mr Khan is just like you'. That - and the idea that children love the show - means more to me than anything any reviewer could ever say."
Ray enjoyed early opportunities on the nursery slopes of BBC3 and on the Asian Network. He is grateful for the freedom he was given, but worries that budget cuts to the digital radio station might mean others don't enjoy the chances he had.
Mr Khan is based on a number of people he observed growing up, and came to life via the BBC2 show Bellamy's People and a Salford Sitcom Showcase. There are some changes as the show reappears for a second series, beginning on Friday - one character change, guest stars such as Vicar of Dibley actor James Fleet and more physical comedy.
In one episode Mr Khan tries to impersonate some animals, revealing a talent for rubbery physical comedy in the sitcom's star that is reminiscent at times of Rowan Atkinson's Mr Bean. "We wanted to make it more physical," Ray explains, "purely because it dawned on me, watching series one again, that Mr Khan is just a child, he's a kid."
The writers, Ray, Goodness Gracious Me's Anil Gupta and Richard Pinto, have to tread a fine line with how Mr Khan is portrayed. "Sometimes you get to a point in any comedy where you need your main lead to be slightly monstrous, whether it's slightly chauvinistic or selfish or arrogant. Those characters in the past - Rigsby, Del Boy, Basil Fawlty - they've all got those faults," Ray points out.
"The danger sometimes is when writing Mr Khan you go 'hang on, we don't want to suddenly play to this perception of Muslim or Pakistani men that they are [those things],' there's a real delicate way of doing it. We need to have those monstrous moments, he needs to have battles with his mother-in-law and his daughter, only for him to redeem himself later.
"If you don't take him to that level there's no sweet end really - in a BBC1 sitcom you need those moments. In the end, for all his flaws Mr Khan is a good guy. When he needs to do the right thing, he does."
Curriculum vitaeAge 39
Education Handsworth Grammar school, Birmingham; University of Huddersfield, BA (Hons) marketing
Career 1995 DJ, Choice FM 1998 DJ, Galaxy FM 2000 broadcaster, BBC Asian Network 2003 presenter, The Last Word 2006 presenter Desi DNA, Tales from Europe 2007 presenter, Is It Coz I Is Black, Heaven and Earth 2008 presenter, Explore 2009 presenter, actor Radio 4: Picturing Britain, Sparkhill Sound 2010 actor, writer, Bellamy's People; presenter, Radio 5 Live 2011 presenter, Exposed: Groomed For Sex 2012 creator, writer, actor, Citizen Khan; presenter, Radio 2
Source: Theguardian
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