Beta Female

BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4 LW

Beta Female: Series 2: Kids

Sitcom by Amna Saleem, starring Kiran Sonia Sawar.

Comedy: Sitcoms

Sitcom by Amna Saleem, starring Kiran Sonia Sawar. Like many women of her background and age, Amna wants her differences acknowledged but to be treated the same as everyone else.

The identity of Amna depends on who you are. To her fellow Glaswegians, she's a Londoner now, having lived there for three years. To Londoners, she's Scottish when they can only hear her, but Asian if they can see her. To Scots, she's Pakistani - but to Pakistanis, she's British. To employers, she's disposable. And to her white, English boyfriend, she's just Amna, as his white privilege means he doesn't have to think about all of that.

To her mum, of course, she's just "beta", the Urdu term for child.

Beta Female is a sitcom which hinges on Amna's desire to be all these things and more - to keep her Mum and Dad happy by allowing her to believe that she and her boyfriend don't live together, and to keep her boyfriend happy by getting a job and contributing to the rent. Like many women of her background and age, Amna wants to have her differences acknowledged but to be treated the same as everyone else. From work to love to family to social media, Amna walks a tightrope of identity.

Contrasting with her confusion are her little brother, Haris, and her sister, Sunnah, both of whom appear to have "picked a side" - Haris is a young Scottish slacker, and Sunnah is a Muslim wife and mother. Amna still finds herself wanting to be part of both worlds, and seeming to feel part of neither.

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Beta Female: Series 2

Series 2

A second series of the sitcom by Amna Saleem, starring Kiran Sonia Sawar.

Kids

BBC Radio 4 - Beta Female, Series 2, Kids

Amna makes a meal out of a family gathering that should have been child's play.

Sitcom by Amna Saleem, starring Kiran Sonia Sawar. Amna makes a meal out of a family gathering that should have been child's play.

Sitcom by Amna Saleem, starring Kiran Sonia Sawar. Amna makes a meal out of a family gathering that should have been child's play.

Kiran Sonia Sawar ... Amna
Sukh Ojla ... Maya 
Omar Raza ... Haris
Evelyn Lockley ... Nora
Layla Kirk ... Sunnah
Atta Yaqub ... Issa
Nadia Kamil ... The Child / The Parent
Sanjeev Kohli ... The Waiter / The Priest
Sudha Bhuchar ... Mum
Bhasker Patel ... Dad

Production co-ordinator Lily Hambly
Producer Ed Morrish

Sound design by Rich Evans at Synbox Post

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Beta Female

Series 2

Kids

Genres

Brand

Series

About this data