Cast of Goodness Gracious Me to reunite for BBC Two's 50th anniversary

The comedy sketch show made stars of its leads

Cast members Meera Syal and Sanjeev Bhaskar (Getty)

The cast of comedy sketch show Goodness Gracious Me are to reunite for a one-off special to celebrate 50 years of BBC Two.

The award-winning programme, which began life on Radio 4 before moving to television in 1998, helped to make major stars of its leads, including Meera Syal and Sanjeev Bhaskar.

Its title was reminiscent of the stereotypical portrayal of Asians that had stained the British media for decades and the show addressed the collision of cultures for British Asians.

Goodness Gracious Me, which ended in 2001, also featured Kulvinder Ghir and Nina Wadia, who went on to star as Zainab Masood in EastEnders.

The show’s regular characters included Smeeta Smitten, the competitive mothers and Mr Everything Comes From India.

The forthcoming edition of the show emerged after the BBC advertised for members of the audience to attend the recording at Teddington Studios in south west London.

The advertisement said: "To celebrate 50 years of comedy on BBC Two the original cast of the award-winning Goodness Gracious Me are back for a special one-off edition of the ground-breaking British Asian sketch show featuring new characters alongside some favourites from the original series in a wealth of brand new sketches."

Further anniversary celebrations will see Mock the Week host Dara O'Briain fronting a quiz called All About Two.

Also featuring Richard Osman from Pointless, it will highlight facts and figures about the channel over the years and is described as "part quiz, part silliness, part discovery and all love".