My Life as a Popat
My Life as a Popat was a British television series for children which followed the lives of a British-Indian family, through the eyes of their eldest son, Anand. The first series revolves around the teenager fighting the embarrassment his family causes him. The second series brings a change in the storyline, with Anand's genius brother Chetan Popat sometimes taking centre stage. Milli Patel (the Popats' cousin) also joins the family's adventures in this series.
| My Life as a Popat | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Comedy |
| Directed by | Beryl Richards (series 1 - 6 episodes) Charles Martin (series 2 - 4 episodes) Jonathan Gershfield (series 2 - 4 episodes) |
| Theme music composer | The Kray Twins |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 14 (at the end of Series 2) (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Philip Clarke (series 1 and 2) Laurence Bowen (series 2) |
| Producer(s) | Laurence Bowen (series 1) Nick Pitt (series 2) |
| Production location(s) | Ealing Studios (series 1) Greenford Studios (series 2) |
| Running time | Approx. 30 mins |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV Network (Series 1); CITV channel (Series 2) |
| First shown in | Series 1; 13 July 2004 Series 2; 11 April 2007 |
Cast
- Sonny Gill Dulay - Anand Popat
- Kulvinder Ghir - Ramesh Popat
- Shaheen Khan - Shoba Popat
- Chandeep Uppal - Dimple Popat
- James Gandhi - Chetan Popat
- Laura Greenwood - Holly Saviour (Series 1 and one episode of Series 2)
- Felicity Montagu - Ivy Saviour (Series 1 and one episode of Series 2)
- Dave Hill - Alf Saviour (Series 1)
- Yasmin Paige - Lucy Miesels (Series 2)
- Manjeeven Grewal - Milli Patel (Series 2)
Trivia
My Life as a Popat was not recommissioned after the second series due to CITV budget restrains. However, after the show won a BAFTA, a second series was commissioned. Laura Greenwood (Holly Saviour) was axed in the second series so (after a farewell appearance in the first episode) the character was written out. The new character of Lucy Miesels (played by Yasmin Paige) was introduced in the next episode.
Following further budget cuts to CITV My Life as a Popat was not recommissioned for a third series.
Episodes
Series 1 (2004)
| Episode # | Title | First broadcast | Synopsis |
| 1. | "Men in Turbans" | 13 July 2004 | Anand Popat arrives with his family in Harrow and is particularly keen to make a good impression on his next door neighbour, Holly. Will he ever pluck up the courage to invite her to see ‘Men in Turbans’?. |
| 2. | "Entertaining Radha" | 20 July 2004 | Anand's heart sinks when his parents announce that his bratty showbiz cousin Radha is coming all the way from Bombay to visit. |
| 3. | "Dimplicious" | 27 July 2004 | Dimple's never-ending singing, practice for an important end of year school concert, is driving Anand and Chetan to distraction. |
| 4. | "Health is Wealth" | 3 August 2004 | When Anand is given a school project to assess his family's eating habits, he sees that their high fat curry diet gives them a low life expectancy. He must do something to get them to change before it's too late. |
| 5. | "Happy Diwali" | 10 August 2004 | It's the night before Diwali – the Indian Festival of light – and Dimple, Chetan and Anand are dreading yet another record-breaking speech from their father, Ramesh. They have much more exciting plans and have to escape. |
| 6. | "Take Your Child to Work Day" (aka "Got to be Ghee") | 17 August 2004 | Anand is assigned yet another school project that fills him with dread. Ramesh, his father, hates to be disturbed when he's filming for his Asian satellite channel- how will he take to ‘take your child to work day’ ? |
Series 2 (2007)
| Episode # | Title | First broadcast | Synopsis |
| 1. | "Tit for Tat" | 11 April 2007 | Mili and Chetan join forces against Anand and Dimple. Meanwhile, Holly has an announcement for Anand... |
| 2. | "Ghost" | 12 April 2007 | The Popats think that they are being haunted by Uncle Sailesh's ghost. Chetan doesn't believe in ghosts but wants to make contact with an alien. Does either exist or is there a logical explanation behind the strange events? |
| 3. | "Evil Granny" | 13 April 2007 | Ramesh's eccentric mother comes to stay - and she's the evilest gran in history. Anand discovers that he may have been adopted - looking at his gran he might wish he were. But in the end, blood is thicker than water. |
| 4. | "Juvenile Delinquent" | 16 April 2007 | When Milli beats him the Matholympics exam, Chetan temporarily abandons his brainbox persona and becomes a hoodie. Milan pretends to be poor to see if Dimple only loves him for his money. |
| 5. | "Like Father, Like Son" | 17 April 2007 | Ramesh and Anand undergo a body swap. Ramesh has to go to school and Anand has to go to work - with unexpected consequences. |
| 6. | "Girlfriend" | 18 April 2007 | Chetan is on a quest to find his perfect partner, Anand is on a quest to prove himself, and Dimple is on a quest to improve Milan's memory. |
| 7. | "Popat Idol" | 19 April 2007 | Anand joins a boy band to save the family holiday. Milli plots to stay with the Popats for longer. |
| 8. | "Royal Popats" | 20 April 2007 | Dimple is Milan's princess. But when his parents ask to meet her, the Popats come up with a crazy plan to pretend to be an ancient, royal Indian family. Anand is about to lose Lucy to the school bully - only ballroom dancing can prevent it. |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Result | Award | Category | Recipient(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Won | RTS Award | Best Children's Drama | Feel Good Fiction |
| 2008 | Won | Broadcast Award | Best Children's Programme | Feel Good Fiction |
| 2007 | Won | BAFTA Children's Awards | Breakthrough Talent | Charles Matin |
| 2007 | Nominated | BAFTA Children's Awards | Best Drama | - |
| 2005 | Won | BAFTA Children's Awards | Best Drama | Laurence Bowen Beryl Richards Manoj Raithatha |
| 2005 | Won | Chicago International Children's Film Festival: Adult's Jury Award | Live Action Television Program | Beryl Richards, for episode "Health is Wealth" |
| 2005 | Nominated | Director's Guild of Great Britain Award | Outstanding Directorial Achievement in 30-Minute Television | Beryl Richards |
| 2005 | Nominated | RTS Television Award | Best Children's Drama |
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External links
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