Another good example from the same period (1969) was "Curry & Chips", written by Johnny Speight and featuring Eric Sykes and Spike Milligan, the latter in the part of "Paki Paddy", a rather unusual character, being half Irish and half Pakistani, which I personally find quite funny to start with...

Again, Paki Paddy always got the better of his racist workmates, and that was indeed the whole point, which far too many people failed to notice, and the series was shelved after the first season.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curry_&_Chips

I generally think offense is in the eye of the beholder, so to speak, but at the same time prejudice and discrimination do exist, and treating racial matters is always walking on very thin ice.

Still, this was the 70s, a century ago... nowadays funny "ethnic" characters are often found in sitcoms without much uproar, also thanks to this old "pioneering" stuff, I think.

And another thing: why do we pay so much attention only when a different skin colour is involved? Racism begins at home, is another of my favourite comments on the matter...

Don't think Spanyards would be extremely pleased with the portrayal of Manuel in Fawlty Towers, for instance, and 'Allo 'Allo should have had the whole Continent raising up in arms against Britain, only it didn't.

It may sound silly, but watching comedy requires a bit of sense of humour, for Pete's sake...

No one could play that role better than Spike, born and raised in Asia, who had British citizenship denied to him when he came to live in England, which in turn brought his refusal of an O.B.E. and his taking Irish citizenship, later, without ever having set foot on the Emerald Isle, at the time.

BTW, although Johnny Speight wrote the show, the original idea for it was in fact Spike's.

As for Goodness Gracious Me, the restaurant sketch, known as "Going for an English", was voted among the top-ten best single sketches in British Comedy history (list follows, I know you're curious ), which goes to show A LOT about your actual average Briton's sense of humour!

If you can't laugh of yourself, you can laugh at nothing!

GGM, in fact, mostly had fun with the ways of second and third-generation Asian immigrants, rather than Britain itself.

Oh, and there was a nice Rowan Atkinson sketch, with him as an Indian restaurant manager dealing with a drunken lot of football fans after a match, who could indeed murder a curry, and more...

So, the best part of Britain DOES have a sense of humour, why is it, then, that the small part that doesn't is always in charge?


Top-10 best sketches (Radio Times poll, 2004)

1. Dead Parrot (Python)
2. Four Yorkshiremen (Python) [actually, the 1948 Show]
3. Lou and Andy by the Pool (Little Britain)
4. Going for an English (Goodness Gracious Me)
5. Brown baby (Harry Enfield)
6. Ministry of Silly Walks (Python)
7. One Leg Too Few (Dudley Moore) [Beyond the Fringe]
8. Papa Lazarou (League of Gentlemen)
9. Two Soups (Julie Walters in Victoria Wood)
10. The Spam Song (Python)

Maybe I wouldn't have gone for either Little Britain or the League in a list of classics, I think rather something from Not the 9 O'Clock News, Blackadder or the Young Ones, and surely the Two Ronnies' "Four Candles" is as classic as they get...

Love thy neighbour was rather on the edge, but one must remember its time zone and context,.

very funny then, but almost illegal now... times have changed.