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Meera Syal

Acting

Born June 27, 1961 · Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England, UK

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Meera Syal MBE (born Feeroza Syal on 27 June 1961) is a British comedienne, writer, playwright, singer, journalist, producer and actress. She rose to prominence as one of the team that created Goodness Gracious Me and became one of the UK's best-known Indian personalities portraying Sanjeev's grandmother, Ummi, in The Kumars at No. 42. She was awarded the MBE in the New Year's Honours List of 1997 and in 2003 was listed in The Observer as one of the fifty funniest acts in British comedy. Description above from the Wikipedia article Meera Syal, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Awards & recognition

  • Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire · 2026
  • BAFTA Fellowship · 2023
  • Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature · 2016
  • Commander of the Order of the British Empire · 2015
  • Member of the Order of the British Empire · 1997
Show all 6 awards →
  • Betty Trask Award · 1996

Filmography50+ titles

Absolutely Fabulous: Inside Out

2024as Self / Suzy

Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee

Horrible Histories

2009as Storyteller

The Sandman

2022as Ric the Vic

Broadchurch

2013as Judge Sonia Sharma

QI

2003as Self

Fat Friends

2000as Aysha Kapoor

Would I Lie to You?

2007as Self - Panellist

A Little Princess

1986as Anna

We Are Lady Parts

2021as Sister Squire

The Wheel of Time

2021as Verin Mathwin

Desert Flower

2009as Pushpa Patel

Doctor Who

2005as Nasreen Chaudhry

Bad Girls

1999as Janan Hamad

Paddington 2

2017as Prosecutor

Silk

2011as Aisha Wiseman

Midsomer Murders

1997as Clara Myerscough

Absolutely Fabulous

1992as Suzy

Back to Life

2019as Gaia

Doctor Strange

2016as Dr. Patel

Natural World

1983as Narrator

The Devil's Hour

2022as Dr Ruby Bennett

The Job Lot

2013as Jamina McNulty

8 Out of 10 Cats

2005as Self

Beautiful Thing

1996as Miss Chauhan

The Mrs Bradley Mysteries

as Madame Marlene

The Split

2018as Goldie

Kingdom

2007as Head Teacher

Spin

2021as Asha

Dragon Rider

2020as Subisha Gulab (voice)

The Musketeers

2014as Theresa

Murder Investigation Team

2003as DCI Anita Wishart

The Jury

2002

Drop the Dead Donkey

1990as Barmaid

The Smeds and the Smoos

2023as Aunt Smed (voice)

Who Do You Think You Are?

as Self

Mrs Sidhu Investigates

2023as Mrs. Sidhu

Soldier Soldier

1991as Sangita Sharma

The Bill

1984

The Canterville Ghost

2023as Lucretia Otis (voice)

Yesterday

2019as Sheila Malik

Patrick the Pug

2018as Miss Phillips

Alice Through the Looking Glass

2016as Nobody (voice)

Scoop

2006as Joe's Co-Passenger

Taggart

1983

The Amazing Mrs Pritchard

as Liz Shannon

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

2018as Cook

Richard Osman's House of Games

2017as Self - Contestant

Amar Akbar & Tony

2015as Honey

The Kumars at No. 42