Birmingham-based Citizen Khan gets preview in city

Fans of Birmingham-based comedy Citizen Khan were being treated to a special preview screening of two episodes tonight.

The creator and star of the BBC show, Adil Ray, was in the second city for the red carpet screening at Cineworld in Broad Street.

He said: "I live in Birmingham so it's always good to be in your home town, especially doing this preview screening.

"We are going to have a red carpet down Broad Street so I'm sure Mr Khan will be right in his element.

"It feels great to be able to give something back to the city in this way.

"We have only just finished recording the next series as it screens on Friday."

The show follows the trials and tribulations of larger-than-life self-appointed community leader Mr Khan and his family, based in Sparkhill.

Adil plays the lead role, alongside co-stars Bhavna Limbachia, Abdullah Afzal, Adlyn Ross and Krupa Pattani.

"The dynamics are changed up a bit for the next series," he explained.

"We finished with the Christmas episode of Shazia having a baby on Christmas Day, so it is a bit of a change for them now they are grandparents.

"As you can imagine Mr Khan is really proud of his grandson and has plans for him playing cricket for England and gaining super powers to help him win the lottery.

"We'll have another iconic Christmas scene too as Shazia wants to create a 'non-denominational winter wonderland' – it's just been great fun filming it all."

The opening episode to be screened at the preview sees comedy legend Peter Bowles, from To The Manor Born fame, return to the screen. Adil added: "He plays the lord of a stately home. It was fantastic for him to be a part of it and to film there too."

Following the first series, the sitcom generated some controversy, with reviews labelling it as giving negative portrayals of British Muslims. However, Adil explained how he feels opinions have now changed.

He added of the reactions:

"Difference of opinion is good."