Sitcom escapes Ofcom probe

Citizen Khan has escaped an Ofcom investigation into claims it was offensive to Muslims.

The broadcast watchdog received 254 complaints that Adil Ray’s BBC One sitcom, based around an Asian family in Birmingham, was guilty of religious offence or discrimination.

Complaints at the time it was first broadcast, back in August, spoke of the show ‘taking the mickey out of Islam’, being guilty of ‘stereotypes about Asians’ and showing ‘disrespect to the Koran’.

Particularly mentioned was one scene in which Mr Khan’s daughter, wearing heavy make-up, rushed to put on a hijab and pretended to be reading the Koran when her father entered.

But amid the complaints, other viewers felt the show was an accurate portrayal of some families’ lives.

Ofcom said today that, ‘after careful assessment’ the complaints would not be pursued because ‘they did not raise issues warranting investigation’.

The watchdog produces a regular list of such complaints that it would not be following. Today’s also includes complaints against Al Murray’s One Night Stand on Dave, the Simpsons and The Thick Of It.

A total of 68 people complained about the first episode of Citizen Khan, although the numbers tailed off over the series, with just seven complaining about episode six.

Published: 17 Dec 2012