This is a list of scripted British

television programmes A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platfo ...

featuring one or more actors of Asian ancestry as the programme's

leading actor A leading actor, leading actress, or leading man or lady or simply lead (), plays a main role in a film, television show or play. The word ''lead'' may also refer to the largest role in the piece, and ''leading actor'' may refer to a person w ...

portraying the protagonist or protagonists.

List of television programmes

1980s

*''

The Chinese Detective ''The Chinese Detective'' is a British television police procedural drama series, first transmitted by the BBC between 1981 and 1982. The series was created by Ian Kennedy Martin, who had previously devised '' The Sweeney'' and ''Juliet Bravo' ...

'' (protagonist portrayed by

David Yip David Nicholas Yip ( zh, t=葉西園, p=Yè Xīyuán; born 4 June 1951) is a British actor and playwright. He gained prominence through his role in the BBC series '' The Chinese Detective'' (1981–1982) as the first Chinese lead on British tel ...

) *'' The Jewel in the Crown'' (protagonist portrayed by

Art Malik Athar ul-Haque Malik (; born 13 November 1952), known as Art Malik, is a Pakistani-British actor. He achieved international fame in the 1980s through his starring and supporting roles in assorted British television serials and films. His break ...

) *'' Tandoori Nights'' (the entire cast) *''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

'' (long-running ensemble cast with Shaheen Khan, Mamta Kaash,

Naoko Mori (born 29 November 1971) is a Japanese actress based in the United Kingdom. She is known for her roles as Toshiko Sato in ''Doctor Who'' and '' Torchwood'', Yasuko Namba in '' Everest'', Sarah in '' Absolutely Fabulous'' and Nicola in '' Spice ...

, Crystal Yu, Hasina Haque,

Sunetra Sarker Sunetra Sarker (born 25 June 1973) is an English actress and presenter, known for her roles as Nisha Batra in '' Brookside'', Anji Mittel in '' No Angels'', Zoe Hanna in '' Casualty'', and Kaneez Paracha in '' Ackley Bridge''. In 2014, she t ...

Neet Mohan Navneet "Neet" Mohan (born 11 November 1985) is an English actor. He is known for his roles as PC Taz Ahmed in the Channel 4 series '' No Offence'' (2017) and Rash Masum in the BBC medical drama ''Casualty'' (2017–present). Career In 2012, M ...

, Manpreet Bachu)

1990s

*'' Goodness Gracious Me'' (the entire cast) *'' The Buddha of Suburbia'' (protagonist portrayed by

Naveen Andrews Naveen William Sidney Andrews (born 17 January 1969) is a British-American actor. He is best known for his role as Sayid Jarrah in the television series '' Lost'' (2004–2010), for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and a Primet ...

) *'' 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 ''M.I. High'' is a British action television series produced by Kudos for CBBC and created by Keith Brumpton. The series focused on a team of undercover teenage spies working for the fictional British secret intelligence agency MI9 who had to ...

'' (first five series starring Rachel Petladwala) * ''Planet Ajay'' starring Ajay Chhabra * ''

The Sarah Jane Adventures ''The Sarah Jane Adventures'' is a British science fiction television programme that was produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies, and starring Elisabeth Sladen. The programme is a spin-off of the long-running BBC s ...

'' (lead characters played by Yasmin Paige and

Anjli Mohindra Anjli Mohindra () is an English stage, screen and voice-over actress and writer. She is best known for her television roles as Rani Chandra in the ''Doctor Who'' spin-off '' The Sarah Jane Adventures'' (2008–2011) and would-be suicide bomber ...

) * '' Strike Back'' (ensemble cast with

Rhona Mitra Rhona Natasha Mitra (born 9 August 1976) is a British actress. Mitra is known for her roles as Sonja in '' Underworld: Rise of the Lycans'' (2009); as Major Rachel Dalton in the second and third seasons of '' Strike Back'' (2012–2013); as Rac ...

) * '' Skins'' (ensemble cast with

Dev Patel Dev Patel (; born 23 April 1990) is an English actor and filmmaker. List of awards and nominations received by Dev Patel, His accolades include a British Academy Film Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and two Golden Globe A ...

) * ''

Doctors Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

'' (long-running ensemble cast with

Akbar Kurtha Mohamed Akbar Kurtha (born 30 August 1970) is a British actor and producer, known for his role as Dr. Rana Mistry in the BBC soap opera ''Doctors'' (2000–2001). In a career spanning over thirty years, he has also appeared in various films inc ...

, Seeta Indrani, Nicole Arumugam, Vineeta Rishi,

Bharti Patel Bharti Patel is an English actress, known for portraying the role of midwife Ruhma Carter on the BBC soap opera ''Doctors''. For her portrayal of Ruhma, she was nominated for numerous awards at the National Television Awards, British Soap Awar ...

Nina Wadia Nina Wadia (born 18 December 1968) is a British actress. She is known for portraying Zainab Masood in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', Aunty Noor in '' Citizen Khan'', Mrs Hussein in the BBC comedy ''Still Open All Hours'' and for starring i ...

, Rahul Arya)

2010s

*'' Spirit Warriors'' (majority of the cast), first British television drama series to have a predominantly East Asian cast *''

The Indian Doctor ''The Indian Doctor'' is a British television comedy drama, set in the 1960s. Produced by Rondo Media and Avatar Productions, it was first broadcast on BBC One in 2010. The most recent series began on 4 November 2013 on BBC One daytime and conc ...

'' (protagonist portrayed by

Sanjeev Bhaskar Sanjeev Bhaskar (born 31 October 1963) is a British actor, comedian and television presenter. He is best known for his work in the BBC Radio 4 and BBC Two sketch comedy series ''Goodness Gracious Me (TV series), Goodness Gracious Me'' and as t ...

) *''

Citizen Khan ''Citizen Khan'' is a British sitcom produced by the BBC and created by Adil Ray. It ran for five series, from 2012 to 2016. It is set in Sparkhill, South Birmingham, described by its lead character, a British Pakistani man named Mr Khan (Ray), ...

'' (majority of the cast) *''

Ackley Bridge ''Ackley Bridge'' is a British comedy drama series set in a multicultural academy school of the same name. The series is set in the fictional town of Ackley, and filmed in Halifax, West Yorkshire and it began broadcasting on Channel 4 on 7 Jun ...

'' (half the cast) *'' Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist'' (majority of the cast) *''

PREMature Premature may refer to: * ''Premature'' (2014 film), an American comedy film * ''Premature'' (2019 film), an American romantic drama film * '' PREMature'', a 2015 British television drama miniseries See also * Premature aging, of an organism * ...

'' (majority of the cast) *'' Indian Summers'' (half the cast) *'' The Bisexual'' (protagonist portrayed by Desiree Akhavan) *'' The A List'' (protagonist portrayed by

Lisa Ambalavanar Lisa Hayley Ambalavanar is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Alia Hanif in the BBC soap opera ''Doctors'' (2018–2019) and Mia in the iPlayer and Netflix series '' The A List'' (2018–present). Early life Ambalavanar was born ...

) *''

Strangers A stranger is a person who is unknown or unfamiliar to another person or group. Because of this unknown status or unfamiliarity, a stranger may be perceived as a threat until their identity (social science), identity and Character structure, chara ...

'' (half the cast) *''

Humans Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...

'' (protagonist portrayed by

Gemma Chan Gemma Chan (born 29 November 1982) is an English actress. A graduate of Worcester College, Oxford, Chan began acting during the late 2000s, making her film debut in 2009. She rose to attention with her leading role in the Channel 4 science fiction ...

) *''

Informer An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a "snitch", "rat", "canary", "stool pigeon", "stoolie", "tout" or "grass", among other terms) is a person who provides privileged information, or (usually damaging) information inten ...

'' (protagonist portrayed by

Nabhaan Rizwan Nabhaan Rizwan (born ) is a British actor known for crime drama ''Informer'', his supporting roles in '' The Accident'' and ''1917'', and the miniseries ''Station Eleven''. More recently, he portrays Dionysus in the 2024 series ''Kaos''. Riz ...

) *'' Man Like Mobeen'' (protagonist portrayed by

Guz Khan Ghulam Dastgir Khan (; born 24 January 1986), also known as Guz Khan, is a British comedian and actor. His TV appearances include '' Man Like Mobeen'', '' Taskmaster'' (series 12), '' Our Flag Means Death'' (series 1) and stand-up performances ...

) *''Zomboat'' (ITV series, protagonists portrayed by Hamza Jeetooa and Ryan McKen) *''

Giri/Haji (, 'Duty/Shame') is a British crime drama television series that premiered on BBC Two in the United Kingdom on 17 October 2019, and was released internationally on Netflix on 10 January 2020. A co-production between the BBC and Netflix, the se ...

'' (protagonist portrayed by Takehiro Hira) *''

Killing Eve ''Killing Eve'' is a British spy thriller television series produced in the United Kingdom by Sid Gentle Films for BBC America and BBC Three (streaming service), BBC Three. The series follows Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh), a British intelligence age ...

'' (protagonist portrayed by

Sandra Oh Sandra Miju Oh (born July 20, 1971) is a Canadian and American actress. She is known for her starring roles as Rita Wu in ''Arliss (TV series), Arliss'' (1996–2002), Cristina Yang in ''Grey's Anatomy'' (2005–14), and Eve Polastri in ''Kill ...

) *'' ''What We Do in the Shadows'''' (protagonist portrayed by

Kayvan Novak Kayvan Novak (born 23 November 1978) is a British actor and comedian.Kadivar, DariuSyriana breaks Iranian stereotypes, ''Persian Mirror''. Retrieved 3 August 2007. He co-created and starred in the comedy series ''Fonejacker'' (2006–2008) an ...

) *''

Almost Never (TV series) ''Almost Never'' is a British musical film, musical Comedy drama, dramedy series that premiered on CBBC on 15 January 2019. The series details the experiences of two fictional bands after their appearances on a reality television competition an ...

'' (protagonist portrayed by Nathaniel Dass) * ''

Departure (TV series) Departure, Departures or The Departure may refer to: Literal meaning * Departure, also called takeoff, the phase of flight from moving along the ground to flying in the air * Departures, the section of a transport hub designated for outgoing pa ...

'' (protagonist portrayed by

Archie Panjabi Archana Panjabi (born 31 May 1972) is an English actress. She has had various roles in both British and American television including as Maya Roy in ''Life on Mars'' (2006–2007), Kalinda Sharma in ''The Good Wife'' (2009–2015), Nas Kamal ...

) * ''

The Good Karma Hospital ''The Good Karma Hospital'' is a medical drama series produced by Tiger Aspect Productions for ITV about a disillusioned doctor, Ruby Walker, who travels to South India hoping to make a fresh start. It stars Amanda Redman, Amrita Acharia, Jam ...

'' (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 West Asia (also called Western Asia or Southwest Asia) is the westernmost region of Asia. As defined by most academics, UN bodies and other institutions, the subregion consists of Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Mesopotamia, the Armenian ...

Arab lead. *''

Intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. It can be described as t ...

'' (protagonist portrayed by

Nick Mohammed Nicholas George Mohammed is a British actor, comedian and writer. He has portrayed the character Mr. Swallow across both stage and television for over a decade. He is the creator of the Sky One comedy series ''Intelligence (British TV series), ...

) *'' Sandylands'' (protagonists portrayed by Natalie Dew,

and Hamza Jeetooa) *'' A Suitable Boy'', a miniseries adapted from

Vikram Seth Vikram Seth (born 20 June 1952) is an Indian people, Indian novelist and poet. He has written several novels and poetry books. He has won several awards such as Padma Shri, Sahitya Akademi Award, Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, WH Smith Literary Awar ...

's 1993 novel of the same name, (majority of the cast from

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

) *''

The Irregulars ''The Irregulars'' is a British mystery adventure crime drama television series created by Tom Bidwell for Netflix. Loosely based on the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, it features the Baker Street Irregulars working for Dr. Watson saving Lond ...

'' (protagonist portrayed by Thaddea Graham) *'' Shadow and Bone'' (protagonists played by

Jessie Mei Li Jessica Mei Li (born 27 August 1995) is an English actress. She is best known for her starring role as the main character and protagonist Alina Starkov in the Netflix fantasy series '' Shadow and Bone'' (2021–2023). She also played as Ellie ...

Archie Renaux Archie James Beale (born 22 November 1997), known professionally as Archie Renaux, is an English actor. On television, he is known for his roles in the BBC One miniseries '' Gold Digger'' (2019) and the Netflix series '' Shadow and Bone'' (20 ...

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 Ambika Bhakti Mod (; born 2 October 1995) is a British actress, comedian, and writer. She is best known for her roles in the BBC drama series '' This Is Going to Hurt'' (2022) and the Netflix miniseries '' One Day'' (2024). Early life and educa ...

) *''

Hullraisers ''Hullraisers'' is a British television sitcom written by Lucy Beaumont, Anne-Marie O'Connor and Caroline Moran. It is about three women who live in Kingston upon Hull, England. Production Beaumont wrote the pilot after being approached by ...

'' (co-lead played by Taj Atwal) *'' DI Ray'' (protagonist played by

Parminder Nagra Parminder Kaur Nagra (born 5 October 1975) is an English actress. She is known for portraying Jess Bhamra in the film ''Bend It Like Beckham'' (2002) and Dr. Neela Rasgotra in the NBC medical drama '' ER'' (2003–2009). Her other television r ...

) *'' Count Abdulla'' (Majority of cast) *'' Virdee'' (protagonist played by

Staz Nair Staz Nair is a British actor and singer. He is known for his roles in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'' (2016–2019), the CW series ''Supergirl'' (2019–2021), and the titular lead in the BBC One series ''Virdee''. Early life and education ...

, majority of cast) *''

Grantchester Grantchester () is a village and civil parish on the River Cam or Granta (river), Granta in South Cambridgeshire, England. It lies about south of Cambridge. Name The village of Grantchester is listed in the 1086 Domesday Book as ''Granteset ...

'' (ensemble cast with

Rishi Nair Rishi Kumar Nair (born 22 January 1991) is an English actor. On television, he is known for his roles in the Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'' (2017–2021) and the ITV detective drama '' Grantchester'' (2024–). He also appeared in the ITVX ...

)

References

Asian lead Asian-British culture {{UK-tv-prog-stub