Meera Syal

Syal rose to prominence as one of the co-creators of smash-hit comedy sketch show Goodness Gracious Me for BBC Radio 4 and its subsequent television series on BBC Two. Her performance as grandmother Sushila on The Kumars at Number 42 was one of the popular features of the programme which ran for seven series and won an Emmy and a Peabody Award. In 2012 she performed as Beatrice in the RSC’s production of 'Much Ado About Nothing' directed by Iqbal Khan, which cemented her reputation as a “doyenne of British comedy actors” (British Theatre Guide). The production was part of the World Shakespeare Festival and enjoyed a successful West End transfer to the Noel Coward Theatre. She has written three screenplays, thee novels and was most recently seen alongside David Tennant in ITV’s BAFTA-winning crime drama Broadchurch as Judge Sonia Sharma.