British television programmes with Asian leads explained

This is a list of scripted British television programmes featuring one or more actors of Asian ancestry as the programme's leading actor portraying the protagonist or protagonists.

List of television programmes

1980s

• The Chinese Detective (protagonist portrayed by David Yip)
• The Jewel in the Crown (protagonist portrayed by Art Malik)

1990s

• Goodness Gracious Me (the entire cast)

2000s

• The Kumars at No. 42 (the entire cast)
• My Life as a Popat (majority of the cast)
• M.I. High (first five series starring Rachel Petladwala)
• Planet Ajay starring Ajay Chhabra
• The Sarah Jane Adventures (lead characters played by Yasmin Paige and Anjli Mohindra)

2010s

• Spirit Warriors (majority of the cast), first British television drama series to have a predominantly East Asian cast^[1]
• The Indian Doctor (protagonist portrayed by Sanjeev Bhaskar)
• Citizen Khan (majority of the cast)
• Ackley Bridge (half the cast)
• (majority of the cast)
• PREMature (majority of the cast)
• Indian Summers (half the cast)
• The Bisexual (protagonist portrayed by Desiree Akhavan
• The A List (protagonist portrayed by Lisa Ambalavanar)
• Strangers (half the cast)
• Humans (protagonist portrayed by Gemma Chan)
• Informer (protagonist portrayed by Nabhaan Rizwan)
• Man Like Mobeen (protagonist portrayed by Guz Khan)
• Zomboat (ITV series, protagonists portrayed by Hamza Jeetooa and Ryan McKen)^[2]
• Giri/Haji (protagonist portrayed by Takehiro Hira)
• Killing Eve (protagonist portrayed by Sandra Oh)
• What We Do in the Shadows (protagonist portrayed by Kayvan Novak)
• Almost Never (TV series) (protagonist portrayed by Nathaniel Dass)
• Departure (TV series) (protagonist portrayed by Archie Panjabi)
• The Good Karma Hospital (half the cast)

2020s

• Get Even (protagonist portrayed by Kim Adis) first British show to feature a Southeast Asian lead.
• Baghdad Central (protagonist portrayed by Waleed Zuaiter) first British produced show with a West Asian Arab lead.
• Intelligence (protagonist portrayed by Nick Mohammed)
• Sandylands (protagonists portrayed by Natalie Dew, Sanjeev Bhaskar and Hamza Jeetooa)
• A Suitable Boy, a miniseries adapted from Vikram Seth's 1993 novel of the same name, (majority of the cast from South Asia)
• The Irregulars (protagonist portrayed by Thaddea Graham)
• Shadow and Bone (protagonists played by Jessie Mei Li, Archie Renaux and Amita Suman)
• Starstruck (co-leads played by Nikesh Patel and Sindhu Vee)
• We Are Lady Parts (majority of the cast)
• This Is Going to Hurt (co-lead played by Ambika Mod)
• Hullraisers (co-lead played by Taj Atwal)
• DI Ray (protagonist played by Parminder Nagra)
• Count Abdulla (Majority of cast)

See also

• American television series with Asian leads

Notes and References

1. Web site: Eastern Promises . 2011-05-12 . Film London . https://web.archive.org/web/20110725170207/http://filmlondon.org.uk/news/2011/february/eastern_promises . dead . 2011-07-25 .
2. Web site: Zomboat! – Cara Theobold and Ryan McKen cast interviews. Virgin Media. en. 2019-10-06.