The title and Theme Tune were based on a hit comedy song from the 1960 film '' The Millionairess '' (in which Peter Sellers impersonated an Indian doctor and Sophia Loren his Asian patient) the show's signature tune was a Bhangra arrangement of the song. The show's original working title was "Peter Sellers is Dead", but was changed because the cast generally liked Peter Sellers.
Many of the sketches explored the conflict and integration between traditional Indian culture and modern British life. Some reversed the roles to view the British from an Indian perspective while others poked fun at Indian Stereotype s.
One of the more famous sketches featured the cast "going out for an English" after a few beers. They mispronounce the waiter's name, order the blandest thing from the menu (apart from one of them who opts for the safer option of a Curry ) and ask for 24 portions of Chips . This Parodies the often drunk English people "going out for an Indian", ordering chicken Phall and too many Papadum s.
The cast casually drop Punjabi and Hindi / Urdu slang phrases into their speech, in the manner of many Indians living in the UK.
- - A man who is frequently seen taking different women out to dinner, but he always says something so tactless or offensive that his date walks out on him, leaving him asking for the "Cheque please!" He has been criticized as a copy of the "I'll get my coat ..." character from fellow British sketch show The Fast Show .
- - Two women who constantly argue about the respective accomplishments of their sons, becoming more and more exaggerated as they go along. Their discussions always end with one of them using their catchphrase, "Yes, but how big is his dunder?"
- - Two snobbish ''nouveau riche'' couples who claim to be entirely English with no Indian blood whatsoever, but often give themselves away by using each other's real names, mispronouncing words or silly mistakes such as serving guests some lemonade with sliced Courgette s in it. They refuse to acknowledge their real ethnic background under any circumstances, and become very upset whenever anyone refers to them as foreigners.
- - Redubbed footage of the old television show about Skippy the bush kangaroo, with the kangaroo being "voiced over" so that he can talk. Skippy, who now calls himself Skipinder, is always drunk, speaks in a Punjabi accent and frequently insults the other characters.
- The ''''', leading to a conversation about the purpose of Television and Talk Show s in society, but then the show starts and they find out they have in fact gone to an Opera performance by mistake.) Their catchphrase is "kiss my chuddies, man!" - "chuddies" a reference to underwear.
- ("lafunga" means "hooligan") - A Bollywood superstar who is now trying to make his name in Western cinema, but manages to turn every production he appears in, from an adaptation of a Jane Austen novel to an Australia n Soap Opera , into a Bollywood Musical .
- - A mother who is shown going out and about with her family and repeatedly decries various things as wasteful, saying "I can make it at home for nothing!" For some reason she always seems to need "a small Aubergine " to be able to do so.
- - Two girls who complain about unwanted male attention and shout out rude comments at the men who walk past them, with the camera then pulling back to reveal why the men are there (e.g. in one sketch the girls are shown to have gone to a Gay Bar , in another they are standing outside a men's Public Toilet .) During one episode they actually managed to get dates, but insisted on leaving because the men did not offer to buy them a drink.
- (based on Maharishi Mahesh Yogi ) - A man who in different sketches is either shown giving completely made up lectures about Hinduism , or going door to door saying silly things to the people who answer. In one sketch he resorts to handing out flyers for a Double Glazing company when a householder doesn't want to hear him talk about religion. He also has two similarly dodgy guru friends, whom he likes to play Board Games with.
- - A reporter who claims to be at a movie premiere or showbiz party, but turns out to be somewhere very ordinary, like queueing outside a video shop or public bathroom. She is then refused entrance, so to distract the viewers, she finishes by saying "Look, there goes Art Malik !" and running out of the picture. She was once in a chip shop, and Art Malik was there, but she didn't recognise him. After making a fool of herself, she tried to get out of the situation by pointing to Art outside the shop, and 'running after him'. Fellow character Chunky Lafunga is the only "celebrity" she has ever managed to interview. In Series 2 she loses her job and resorts to presenting her TV show from different rooms of her mother's house, then in Series 3 produces a variety of pilot shows for a possible new TV series, with disastrous results.
- - A man who shows up to greet different family members in unexpected places, such as at a Funeral or during a Kidney Transplant operation, and then asks why they didn't come to him for help with the arrangements, because "I could have got it for you much cheaper!". He often says "Don't Worry" or "Don't Insult me!" when people decline his help.
- - Two wealthy young women who act like Valley Girl stereotypes, forever showing off about the amount of credit cards they have and how much their fathers have spent on them. In one sketch they state their opinion that a friend of theirs should make more effort with her appearance, " Leprosy or no leprosy".
- - This sketch follows an old woman who is continually causing trouble for her family, then when she is asked to do something to help with the situation, she replies "Will I, bollocks!" In the last of her sketches, she collapses at home and her son-in-law offers to perform mouth to mouth resuscitation but when his wife asks him if he will really do it, he says "Will I bollocks".
- 1996 June/July (4 eps)
- 1997 July/August (4 eps)
- 1998 May/June (6 eps)
- 1998 Jan/Feb - Season 1 (6 eps)
- 1998 Nov/Dec - Season 2 (6 eps)
- 1998 Dec - Christmas Special
- 1999 Theatre Tour
- 2000 Feb/Mar - Season 3 (6 eps)
- 2001 Feb - "Back Where They Came From" (Parts filmed in India)
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