Beta Female

Original version

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

Radio 4

Radio 4 (FM)

Comedy: Sitcoms

Sitcom by Amna Saleem, starring Kiran Sonia Sawar.

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.

BBC Radio 4 LW

Beta Female: Series 2: Dad's Dishes

Dad's Dishes

Series 2

BBC Radio 4 - Beta Female, Series 2, Dad's Dishes

Amna is left alone to look after her dad for the weekend.

Sitcom by Amna Saleem, starring Kiran Sonia Sawar. Amna is left alone to look after her dad for the weekend.

Sitcom by Amna Saleem, starring Kiran Sonia Sawar. Amna is left alone to look after her dad for the weekend.

Kiran Sonia Sawar ... Amna
Evelyn Lockley ... Nora
Sudha Bhuchar ... Mum
Layla Kirk ... Sunnah
Bhasker Patel ... Dad
Atta Yaqub ... Issa
Omar Raza ... Haris
Sajeela Kershi ... Auntie

Production co-ordinator Lily Hambly
Producer Ed Morrish

Sound design by Rich Evans at Synbox Post

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4

Beta Female: Series 2

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

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

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Beta Female

Series 2

Dad's Dishes

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BBC Radio 4 FM

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