British television programmes with Asian leads

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)
• Tandoori Nights (the entire cast)
• Casualty (long-running ensemble cast with Shaheen Khan, Mamta Kaash, Naoko Mori, Crystal Yu, Hasina Haque, Sunetra Sarker, Neet Mohan, Manpreet Bachu)

1990s

• Goodness Gracious Me (the entire cast)
• The Buddha of Suburbia (protagonist portrayed by Naveen Andrews)
• The Thin Blue Line (ensemble cast with Mina Anwar)

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)
• Strike Back (ensemble cast with Rhona Mitra)
• Skins (ensemble cast with Dev Patel)
• Doctors (long-running ensemble cast with Akbar Kurtha, Seeta Indrani, Nicole Arumugam, Vineeta Rishi, Bharti Patel, Nina Wadia, Rahul Arya)

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)
• Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist (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)
• Virdee (protagonist played by Staz Nair, majority of cast)
• Grantchester (ensemble cast with Rishi Nair)

See also

• American television series with Asian leads