TV
Curry And Chips (ITV 1969, Spike Milligan, Eric Sykes)
Sitcom Curry and Chips focused on Kevin O’Grady (played by Spike Milligan), a Pakistani worker at Lillicrap Ltd who suffers racial abuse at the hands of his fellow workers. And apparently that’s a sitcom! Completely inappropriate in this day and age of course and wasn’t really acceptable in 1969 either.
Johnny Speight said that the idea of the series was to get people to laugh at their own bigotry.
When it was shown immigrant groups complained and the ITA ruled that it wasn’t suitable for family viewing. O’Grady saw the colour bar in everything, he would order a stout and then complain he’d been given a black drink because of his colour.
production details
UK / ITV – London Weekend Television / 6×30 minute episodes / Broadcast 21 November – 26 December 1969
Writer: Johnny Spieght / Music: Harry Rabinowitz / Producer and Director: Keith Beckett
cast
ERIC SYKES as The Foreman
SPIKE MILLIGAN as Kevin O’Grady
KENNY LYNCH as Kenny
NORMAN ROSSINGTON as Norman