In this week's episode of The Reunion - the first in a new series - monstrous egos were nowhere to be found and tone was, for much of the time, joyful. Presenter Sue MacGregor, best known for calmly making mincemeat of politicians on The Today Programme for nearly 20 years, reunited the brains behind the BBC comedy Goodness Gracious Me, which first aired on Radio 4 in 1996 and later transferred to television. There were no histrionics here, just pride in a series that helped break the largely white, xenophobic mould of mainstream comedy.

Goodness Gracious Me - named in "tribute" to the Peter Sellers-Sophia Lore song inspired by their 1960 film The Millionairess - was the first series in the history of the BBC that was conceived, written and performed entirely by British-Asians. In examining the tensions between traditional Asian ways and modern British life, it yielded a host of celebrated sketches including "Going for an English", in which the cast get tanked up on lassis and order 12 bread rolls and a pint of ketchup, and "The Six Million Rupee Man", a daft re-working of The Six Million Dollar Man.

Here the show's major players, including Sanjeev Bhaskar, Meera Syal and producer Anil Gupta, discussed their early days as the toast of British comedy like people who couldn't believe their luck. "There was a general feeling amongst British Asians that they were finding their identity, and we were part of that," noted Bhaskar, who had, until the show's early success, been working in marketing.

But there was a discernible sadness too, in the fact that the door they had opened for the next generation of Asian performers seemed to slam shut after them. After three series, Good Gracious Me was cancelled and, soon after, the BBC and its rivals seem to forget the non-white audience. "We used to play the spot the-Asian-on-the-telly game when I was a kid and I find that I'm doing that again," sighed Syal.

If the irony of making this point on Radio 4 - the station that first championed them and yet remains dominated by white, middle-class presenters - had occurred to Syal, she was too polite to mention it.

Meera Syal hits out over lack of Asian faces on TV

Goodness Gracious Me star Meera Syal has criticised British television for not showing enough Asian faces.

Sanjeev Bhaskar: It was weird marrying my 'grandmother'

After a six-year absence, The Kumars at No. 42 returns to our screens in 2013. Now, its host, Sanjeev Bhaskar, is married to Meera Syal, who plays his grandmother in the popular BBC comedy series.

Robert Webb, actor and comedian, opens the diary he kept when he was 17 for the benefit of host (and comedian) Rufus Hound and an enthralled audience. His entries include one about going to a party and kissing a girl he didn't really fancy. I always listen to this programme, now in its fourth series. But I often wonder whether a real conversation with the diaries' authors (who have included Meera Syal, Sheila Hancock, Michael Winner and Julian Clary) would produce something more satisfying than some wisecracks from Hound and lots of easy audience laughs.

Meera Syal interview

Growing up as part of the only Indian family in a West Midlands mining village meant the actress and writer was always an outsider. And that, she says, was a very good thing. Jonathan Owen meets Meera Syal.

Video: Meera Syal on new culture clash film

Meera Syal and Harish Patel reprise their roles from the award winning stage play Rafta Rafta, with the comedy All In Good Time.

The film - inspired by the 1960s British classic, In The Family Way - is directed by Nigel Cole whose earlier credits include Calendar Girls and Made in Dagenham.

The culture clash drama is set in Bolton and focuses on the challenges faced by newlyweds living with the extended family.

The BBC Asian Network's, Shabnam Mahmood, has been talking to Meera Syal, Amara Karan and Reece Ritchie.

Meera Syal's teenage daughter 'glassed friend's ex'

The teenage daughter of TV actress Meera Syal launched a vicious attack on a friend's ex-boyfriend, a court heard today.

Chameli Bhatia, 19, glassed Christian Pannell at the birthday party of two friends, Snaresbrook Crown Court was told.

The 18-year-old victim needed surgery to treat cuts to his cheek and eyelids after the alleged dancefloor assault.

Video - Five Minutes With: Meera Syal

Actress, writer and comedian Meera Syal talks to Matthew Stadlen about starting out in acting, the sacrifices her family made, why every performance is different and her love for boxing.

My Teenage Diary, now halfway through its second series, is proving a gentle, amusing listen. Julian Clary, last week, was a tad mournful about his young self, but this week Meera Syal positively revelled in reading out her entries, treating us to her original Midlands accent and 70s angst. It was lovely. Generally unsuccessful with boys, her teenage self did meet one fellow at judo she rather liked. "He is very intelligent, has epileptic fits and reckons God is a spaceman."