British culture, despite what some people say, has always constantly evolved. From Romans to Saxons to Normans to more recent immigrants from the Commonwealth and Europe, visitors have helped shape the British Isles from the moment they land on our rugged coastline.
Not many know more about how much immigrants and their cultures have brought to these shores than Meera Syal.
Perhaps that’s why she likes visiting them so much.
“I’ve spent the last 20 years going to British seaside towns,” said Meera. Every year I have a British seaside holiday. Is that really old-fashioned of me?
“What I really like about it is our kids and nieces and nephews are all around 14, but since they were around one we’ve been going.
“For me the good thing about it probably is because it is old-fashioned.
“If the weather’s bad you put on your wellies and go for a long walk.
“We’ve had lots of rainy holidays. But we get a house together with the rest of the family and it’s a chance to spend time together.
“It’s a chance to do non-tech things. Very Enid Blyton-y things like building sandcastles.”
Meera has created something more permanent than a sandcastle in her legacy as one of Britain’s foremost comic actors.
She found fame as one of the team behind Goodness Gracious Me, and portraying mischievous grandmother, Ummi, in The Kumars at No. 42.
As well as having comedy chops, Meera is something of a polymath, too.
She is also a singer, writer, playwright and producer – as well as being married to her Kumars co-star Sanjeev Bhaskar.
Meera has been concentrating on theatre performances recently but is returning to our screens in new ITV sitcom Kate & Koji, starring alongside Oscar-winner Brenda Blethyn.
The style these days is for documentary-style comedies but Kate and Koji is a bold step – back the way.
Unusually, it is filmed in front of a live studio audience.
“There are few audience sitcoms these days, aren’t there?” she laughed. “But that’s what’s really clever about this.
“The makers have gone for probably the most popular form of comedy to say what they’re trying to say.
“But audiences really like that sitcom format. Recording a live sitcom which is quite exciting.
“You’ve got the audience right there. You know what’s funny but you know what’s not working then and there.”
In Kate And Koji, Meera, now 58, plays a local GP who takes umbrage at the titular Koji – a refugee doctor who sets up an unofficial surgery in a local cafe.
The half-hour programme may be lighthearted but like a lot of comedy it has a subtle message.
“Comedy can strip away your perceptions of people,” said Meera.
“It’s what we were trying to do in Goodness Gracious Me. You use humour to look at people’s prejudices. And once you start laughing, a lot of those prejudices start to peel away and that’s sort of what happens to Kate during the course of the series.
“Obviously it’s funny, that’s the main thing. But also I just love the spirit of what it is.”
The cafe in the show is owned by Brenda Blethyn’s Kate, with whom Meera first worked on a movie called Girls’ Night, all the way back in 1998.
“It really does feel like a long time ago now,” she said. “This was before all her Oscar success and all that. She’s just as lovely as she was then. She’s really warm, and brilliant to work with.
“Watching her was a masterclass, actually. I learned a lot. She really knows how to throw away a line. So good!
“I also get a buzz doing live stuff rather than filmed – it’s why I’ve done so much theatre over the past few years,” she said.
“The parts are generally much better in theatre anyway but it’s quite addictive performing in front of a live audience.
“Particularly with comedy as you know straight away what is and isn’t working.
“But when it is working, it’s incredible. Addictive.”
© Dan Wooller/Shutterstock On social media Meera hasn’t been shy at hinting about a return of Goodness Gracious Me, which began 22 years ago.
She’s keen to return to the sitcom which was the first to explore British Asian culture on mainstream television. “It changed the landscape, but when you’re doing something you don’t know that,” she added. “You have no idea.
“But the great thing is we were really brave with it because we had nothing to lose. None of us were known. If it didn’t work we’d go back to obscurity.
“As it happened that was the thing that made it bold, because we were bold. We didn’t care about who got what, we just did the things that made us laugh.
“Luckily it was universal enough for everyone to get it. That’s probably because most of us were born and brought up in Britain.
“Our comedy influences were Western. It was a collision between our mother culture and these Western comedy influences we loved.
“There’s been continual interest in bringing it back. The hardest thing is deciding what we want to do with it and getting people free at the same time.
“It’s not like the interest isn’t there. I think we’re trying to find the right thing to do because what you don’t want is to rehash old stuff for the sake of it.
“We have to have the right format. Soon as we find the right way to do it, we will.”
Meera grew up in the Midlands which gave her a grounding in British culture.
Part of the culture she has embraced is quizzing – not surprisingly since Sanjeev is keen on quiz shows. So keen in fact he recently began hosting afternoon quiz The Switch.
“We are great quizzers. We watch Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and The Chase, and we’ve got the apps. And we’re going to the school quiz in a couple of weeks’ time. We’re a very sad family.
“The school quiz is a huge deal, it’s fiercely competitive. We’re surrounded by the brains of Britain.
“Generally I will lose to Sanj, unfortunately. I’m good on arts but sport? Forget it. He’s got a much more rounded quizzing knowledge than me.”
As for their spare time, it seems Meera would rather go for long walks than deal with trivia.
“There’s some lovely places in Northumbria I could recommend,” she said, talking about her journeys around the coasts of Britain.
“The best beaches are there – it’s an undiscovered jewel. Everyone’s going to know about them, now.
“I’ve done the West Coast of Scotland, it’s lovely! Around Silver Sands and the Kyle of Lochalsh, it’s amazing there.
“Long walks and fighting off the midges. They’re so deserted. Scotland is particularly beautiful – you’re very lucky up there.
“You can’t do much about the weather but when you have that scenery it doesn’t really matter. Just look at those vistas you have.
“I’ve got a real affection for our coast. Britain is full of beautiful places, we don’t explore it enough. We need to get out there and explore a bit more.”
Kate & Koji, ITV, Wed, 8pm
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