# 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
* 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)
* 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)