| Genre: | Reality television |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
| Num Series: | 2 |
| Num Episodes: | 20 |
| List Episodes: | List of Desi Rascal episodes |
| Location: | London |
| Runtime: | 60 minutes |
| Company: | Buccaneer Media |
| Channel: | Sky Living (Series 1) Sky 1 (Series 2) |
Desi Rascals is a structured-reality television series broadcast by Sky 1 and Sky Living in the United Kingdom. Desi Rascals chronicled the lives of a multi-generational cast living within the British Asian community of London.[1] The show was created by former producer of The Only Way Is Essex, Tony Wood, and Bend It Like Beckham director, Gurinder Chadha. Desi Rascals was cancelled on 15 October 2015 after disappointing ratings in the second series.
The show was first commissioned by Celia Taylor, head of non-scripted at Sky, in September 2014. Sky Living director Antonia Hurford-Jones told Broadcast that the "way into" Desi Rascals would be through the eyes of a group of British Asian thirty-somethings. The first series began on 20 January 2015, continuing for twelve episodes, with two episodes broadcast each week (on Tuesday and Friday at 8pm). The show's title is a play on the name of British rapper, Dizzee Rascal, and Desi, a term for people from the Indian subcontinent.
After a successful first series, a second was commissioned by Sky and began broadcasting on Sky 1 on 22 July 2015. Unlike the debut series, the second failed to attract much of an audience and on 15 October 2015 it was revealed that a third series would not be commissioned.
Filming took place just days before broadcast in the West London areas of Gerrards Cross, Harrow, Hounslow, Wembley and Pinner.[2]
| Cast member | Occupation/role | Series | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adam Michaelidies | Businessman | 2 | |
| Jason Lowe | Businessman | 2 | |
| Farha Rai | Appeared on Take Me Out | 2 | |
| Solomon Akhtar | Young entrepreneur, appeared on the tenth series of The Apprentice. He attended the University of Exeter. | 2 | |
| Boyfriend to Jasmin. Appeared on the first series of Ex on the Beach | 2 | ||
| Reality TV participant, appeared on The Only Way Is Essex from 2012 to 2015, Singer | 2 | ||
| Wajma Baig | Wife to Anj Baig | 2 | |
| George Pigott | Personal assistant to Yasmin Karimi | 2 | |
| Vaneeta Chapaneri | One of Shreena's best friends | 2 | |
| Amita Patel | Beautician | 1–2 | |
| Anj Baig | Owner of Pure Muscles Gym and Wembley's Anjees Dessert Lounge, older brother of Moses | 1–2 | |
| Moses Baig | Gym worker and aspiring DJ, younger brother to Anj | 1–2 | |
| Nusrat "Uncle Nuss" Beg | Bodybuilder and gym owner | 1–2 | |
| Jay Vara | Builder, property developer, husband to Anita Vara, father of Sunjay Vara and Prakash Vara | 1–2 | |
| Anita Vara | Hospital worker, wife to Jay Vara | 1–2 | |
| Sunjay Vara | Mechanic, older brother to Prakash Vara | 1–2 | |
| Shreena Vara | Online digital manager, wife to Prakash Vara | 1–2 | |
| Prakash Vara | Head of business intelligence, son to Jay and Anita Vara and husband to Shreena Vara | 1–2 | |
| Property developer, personal trainer and model | 1–2 | ||
| Yasmin Karimi | Make-up artist | 1–2 | |
| Ravi Gurtata | Works for family business | 1–2 | |
| Blake Goodman | Financial consultant | 1–2 | |
| Manoj Shah | Senior bank manager, husband to Celia Shah and father to Natalie and Jo. Famous for "meddling" and drinking tea. | 1–2 | |
| Celia Shah | Healthcare assistant and phlebotomist, wife to Manoj Shah and mother to Natalie and Jo | 1–2 | |
| Natalie Shah | Assistant supermarket manager/supervisor, sister to Jo Shah | 1–2 | |
| Jo Shah | Performer and Bollywood dancer, sister to Natalie Shah | 1–2 | |
| Arshina Trivedi | Co-owner of dance company Angels | 1–2 | |
| Rita Siddiqui | Estate agent | 1–2 |
The first series of Desi Rascals, with a total of twelve episodes, began showing on Tuesday 20 January 2015. It was broadcast on Sky Living and had an average of 105,000 viewers. Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan made a special appearance in the fourth episode broadcast on 30 January 2015.[3]
| No. in series | No. in season | Title | Original airdate | UK viewers |
|---|
Immediately after the finale of the first series, Sky commissioned a second series. On 6 July 2015, it announced that former The Only Way Is Essex cast member Jasmine Walia, her boyfriend Ross Worswick (Ex on the Beach), The Apprentice star Solomon Akhtar and Farah Rai of Take Me Out will all be starring in the second series. The second series trailer was released on 10 July 2015 and unlike the first series, will be broadcast on the main Sky channel Sky 1 rather than Sky Living. The second, and last series, began on 22 July 2015 and lasted eight episodes.[4]
| No. in series | No. in season | Title | Original airdate | UK viewers |
|---|