Actor Sanjeev Bhaskar and his wife Dame Meera Syal banned Jimmy Savile from appearing on their hit comedy The Kumars at No 42 before anyone knew he was a paedophile.
Bhaskar said: "We turned Jimmy Savile down as a guest on The Kumars without knowing what was going on, to be quite honest. He was just so weird and creepy."
The spoof chat show, which saw Bhaskar's character interview stars while being ridiculed by his British-Indian family, featured guests including Phil Collins, Mark Owen, Gary Lineker, Cilla Black and Anne Robinson.
Queen's favourite comedy
Bhaskar regrets never getting to interview the late Queen, who he met at Buckingham Palace when he was made an OBE. He said: "The Kumars was the late Queen's favourite comedy TV programme. I always knew that she watched it. But, apparently, a journalist was standing next to her once at a function and, trying to kill time, he asked her 'got a favourite TV programme?' and she said 'The Kumars at No 42' and then she proceeded to talk about it."
He added: "Of course, we had a number one single with Spirit in the Sky as The Kumars for Comic Relief. Did she [the Queen] buy our single? I don't think she did, but a lot of people did and we went straight to number one."
Reflecting on the success, he said: "It was one of the most bizarre moments of my life. I remember being on Top of the Pops. The people in the audience were about 12 and I was 45!"
New legal drama
Bhaskar returns to BBC1 next month in a legal drama, The Split Up, following the Kishan Law family, a British-South Asian firm on Manchester's high-net-worth divorce circuit. The Succession-style plot centres on rising lawyer Aria Kishan (Ritu Arya) poised to take over from her father Dhruv (Bhaskar), who questions if she can handle it alone.
The British-Asian cast includes Danny Ashok, Mawaan Rizwan, Aysha Kala and Dimitri Leonidas, aiming to break new ground for the BBC.
Comedy and cancel culture
Bhaskar, who found fame in Goodness Gracious Me, feels problematic humour from the past should not be automatically cancelled. He said: "I am a big believer in not banning things. By all means put up your flash warnings, but don't ban it."
He added: "Don't ban, as you will never know how we got here. History is benign, awful, evil, terrible and wondrous. It is important we don't whitewash any of those [shows] as we won't have a full picture."
He recalled Peter Sellers' portrayal in The Party, saying: "Everybody gets stereotyped. Back in the day, the 'go-to' Indian was Peter Sellers. It is of its time and you can't blame anyone."
Growing up in Ealing, he said he did not see people who represented him on TV: "It was either Peter Sellers or Spike Milligan doing the accent. We did not view it as grossly insulting. What we could comment on was its accuracy."
He admitted to causing accidental offence with a joke about meat on Goodness Gracious Me that upset some Hindu viewers. He described a sketch with Amanda Holden where a priest explained a ceremony involving meat, leading to a complaint about the reference.
Serious acting and personal moments
Having played Detective Inspector Sunil Khan in Unforgotten for 10 years, he has fans as far afield as the USA. He said: "Three years ago, I went to New York and went for a walk with Hugh Jackman. I became friends with Hugh after working on the Richard Curtis film Yesterday with him."
He added: "Anyway, we went for a walk and every few minutes people stop and go 'hey Hugh. It's Wolverine' from X-Men. We went down the boardwalk and we saw this woman come towards us. When she walked past us, she said 'love you in Unforgotten'. I just wanted to say 'take that Wolverine!'"
Despite his success, he remains modest: "I am not even the funniest person in my family. I was lucky I found my way into comedy. But I think I was always keen to do what I am doing now, which is dramatic acting and dramatic parts."
Of his comedy career, he said: "For me, it was right place, right time, minimal talent. Believe me, I know."
Reflecting on working with his wife, Dame Meera Syal, who played his grandmother on The Kumars, he said: "Meera was the granny on the show. She was not my wife at the time, but I saw her dressed as a granny. When she turns 80, I have no surprises at all. I will wake up one morning and go 'Oh there you are!'"
The Split Up airs on BBC1 in September through October.
