'Mrs. Sidhu Investigates' Gets Spring Debut on Acorn TV

Twin projects happen in Hollywood regularly, both in films and on TV. Litvinenko and Londongrad, for example, were announced within days of each other, with David Tennant and Benedict Cumberbatch both playing the late Russian ex-pat who was famously poisoned to death. However, it's rare for two actors from the same family to wind up in twin projects, but that's what's happened to Meera Syal and her husband, Sanjeev Bhaskar, who are both starring in comedic whodunit mystery series, Mrs. Sihdu Investigates, and Inspector Singh Investigates. The latter is heading to BritBox later this year, but Syal will get hers out first, with Acorn TV setting a May 2023 release date.

While her husband, Bhskar's series is adapted from the novels of the same name, Syal's project is one she's been involved with from the ground up, working with Suk Pannu, her longtime collaborator who also head writer on both Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars at #42, which propelled Syal to household name status in the U.K. She originated the character of Mrs. Sihdu initially for BBC Four Radio, infusing it with her trademark brand of British South Asian comedy. The audio mystery ran two four-part series, 2017's Murder with Malasa and 2019's Mrs. Sidhu's Deadly Highland Game.

Her character in the radio series is billed as "Slough's answer to Miss Marple," an older auntie type who punctuates her day job as chef and caterer with unabashed nosiness, whose relentless curiosity and quest for gossip winds up getting herself mixed up with murder. The adaptation of BBC Four's radio program to TV was first announced in July 2022, with both Pannu and Syal on board to write and star in the series, respectively.