Man Like Mobeen was made to 'make people proud'

A TV comedy set in Small Heath, Birmingham, was made to make the people of the West Midlands proud, its creator has said.

In Man Like Mobeen, Coventry comedian Guz Khan plays the starring role of a former drug dealer trying to live a good life as a Muslim, while raising his younger sister.

He said he wanted to portray the experiences of second-generation immigrants and hinted the fifth and final series would provide "closure" for fans.

The show, which also has scenes filmed in Khan's home city, returns to BBC Three on Thursday.

Khan said all actors in the Bafta-nominated comedy were from "very working class backgrounds".

"Instead of trying to manufacture what that's like and what it feels like to be from those communities, we knew it straight away," he added.

He said he felt happy the team had been able to show there was room for different types of comedy, with more realistic, grounded characters viewers might have met at school, on the bus, or in a factory.

"The aim was always to make a show that the people of the West Midlands, Birmingham, Small Heath, and the surrounding areas would be proud of," he said.

Khan said the programme had enabled him to "highlight issues that have affected us growing up".

He also said he realised, after filming the first series, that it was the first time he had done "serious acting".

He described the experience as "emotional and a little bit serious and a little bit dramatic".

The latest series came about because everywhere he went people asked him when there would be more episodes, he said, adding: "We had to make some closure for the fans."

Now he plans to spend more time at home with his wife and five children, to "stay at home and just be a dad".

"Five kids is a lot of kids. I love them. We have a laugh, but it's a lot of work," he said.

The fifth series of Man Like Mobeen is available to watch on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer from 1 May.

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