BBC One's new sitcom Citizen Khan has received around 200 complaints, the Daily Mail reports.

The family-based sitcom, set in the capital of British Pakistan - Sparkhill, Birmingham, has been accused of "taking the mickey out of Islam", being guilty of "stereotypes about Asians" and being "disrespectful to the Koran", according to the newspaper.

citizen khan
(L-R) Alia (Bavna Limbachia), Dave (Kris Marshall), Mr Khan (Adil Ray), Amjad (Abdullah Afzal), Shazia (Maya Sondhi), Mrs Khan (Shobu Kapoor)

The BBC show's blurb reads:

Citizen Khan follows the trials and tribulations of loud-mouthed, tight-fisted, self-appointed community leader Mr Khan (Adil Ray) and his long suffering family...

Mr Khan is a larger-than-life character, with strong opinions and big dreams. The challenges he faces are those of many fathers - how to make ends meet, keep his wife and daughters happy and impress his daughter’s future in-laws. Things would be so much easier if everyone just listened to him and followed his lead, but his obsessively house-proud wife and two feisty daughters usually have other ideas.

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The series has been created by British Muslim Adil Ray, who also plays the lead role of Mr Khan. Explaining the concept of the sitcom, he recently told This Is Staffordshire: "I remember when Goodness Gracious Me first came on the radio. I thought, 'Wow, this is so strong that we're laughing at ourselves.' It was iconic and utterly brilliant.

"The biggest, most important, thing you can do is laugh at yourself.

"You then negate anything anybody can ever do. It's the ultimate weapon. If you can laugh at yourself, it doesn't matter what anybody says to you as you're laughing already."

One viewer wrote on Twitter:


its Pretty Ugly here
is definitely insulting in its religious context. But the cultural cracks and gimmicks are on point and funny.

While another said:


Crossy
Re: Citizen Khan. I didn't see it, but aren't all sitcoms based on stereotypes? Humour is going to end up illegal at this rate.

In a statement, the BBC have defended the show. They told the Daily Mail: "Citizen Khan has made a very positive start, launching successfully with 3.6million viewers and a 21.5 per cent share in a late-night slot.

"New comedy always provokes differing reactions from the audience. The characters are comic creations and not meant to be representative of the community as a whole."

SLIDESHOW: What's your favourite TV sitcom family?

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  • Only Fools And Horses - The Trotters

    The wheelin' and dealin', Peckham-based Trotter family - brothers Del Boy and Rodney, their Grandad and, later, their Uncle Albert - were quite possibly John Sullivan's finest creations.

  • Frasier - The Cranes

    The creators of <em>Cheers</em> took one of its most uptight characters, gave him an even more uptight brother, and forced him to live with his ex-cop dad. The result? Sitcom gold.

  • The Royle Family - The Royles

    A family who rarely moved from their sofa, the Royles may not have done much, but they were consistently funny while (not) doing it. Check out this clip, when they meet 'our Anthony''s girlfriend (a young Sheridan Smith) for the first time .

  • Family Guy - The Griffins

    Seth MacFarlane's animated creation may have your usual sitcom parents (Peter and Lois) and teenagers (Meg and Chris), but its brilliance arguably lies in the addition of a hilariously conniving baby (Stewie) - and in a dog (Brian) who's the smartest member of the family.

  • 'Til Death Us Do Part - The Garnetts

    Love 'em or hate 'em, you can't deny Alf Garnett's clan their place in sitcom history. Johnny Speight's sitcom ran for seven series, from 1965 to 1975.

  • Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em - The Spencers

    The Spencers weren't always just Frank and Betty - they were joined by baby Jessica, of course. (And we challenge you to <em>not</em> say 'Jessica' in a Frank Spencer voice...)

  • The Cosby Show - The Huxtables

    The everyday tale of a doctor father, a lawyer mother and their three kids. That the Cosbys were black wasn't the point of the show -and that's exactly what made it groundbreaking.

  • Open All Hours - The Arkwrights

    The way that grown-up errand boy Granville was put upon by his uncle Arkwright melted all our hearts, as well as tickled our funny bones. But when you've got David Jason and Ronnie Barker sharing the screen, what do you expect?

  • Malcolm In The Middle - The Wilkersons

    The eponymous Malcolm may be a genius - but he's still the middle child who has to contend with the rest of his family. Fun fact: the writers of the show wanted to keep the family's surname a secret - and the fact that it's 'Wilkerson' has only been revealed twice in the show.

  • Steptoe And Son - The Steptoes

    The relationship between rag and bone men Albert and his son Harold was full of spite, hate and need. And it didn't get much darker than in this clip, when Steptoe Jr dreams of murdering his father...

  • Outnumbered - The Brockmans

    Kudos to Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin not just for creating great characters and scripts - but also, in its improvised nature, the least annoying child cast of any sitcom, ever.

  • Roseanne - The Connors

    Sitcoms don't get much sassier than Roseanne Barr's slice of blue-collar American family, which co-starred the always-wonderful John Goodman as her husband and Laurie Metcalf as her sister.

  • Bread - The Boswells

    The Boswell family - headed by god-fearing matriarch, Ma - were experts at beating the welfare system, getting into hilarious scrapes along the way, of course. Check out this episode, in which we meet Adrian's girlfriend, the legendary Carmen, for the first time.

  • Absolutely Fabulous - The Monsoons

    Take a mother who acts like a child, and a child who acts like a grown-up, and you've got Jennifer Saunders' Eddy and Julia Sawalha's Saffy - a sitcom goldmine.

  • Arrested Development - The Bluths

    A father in prison, a son called 'George Michael', a never-nude, 'analrapist' brother-in-law... Are the Bluths the oddest family in TV sitcom history? Quite possibly. But that's what makes them so darn funny.

  • On The Buses - The Butlers

    The tales of bus driver Stan (Reg Varney), his mother (Cicely Courtneidge followed by Doris Hare) and his sister Olive (Anna Karen) may not have been the most politically correct - but the Britain of the 1970s loved them.

  • Butterflies - The Parkinsons

    Another Carla Lane creation, <em>Butterflies</em> centres around the life of Wendy Craig's Ria - a frustrated housewife (and terrible cook) trapped in a 19-year marriage and daydreaming of another man. Craig's co-stars included Geoffrey Palmer as her husband and a sweet, gangly Nicholas Lyndhurst as her younger son.

  • Happy Days - The Cunninghams

    The definitive, permanently happy, 1950s family? Quite possibly. But then there was the addition of the Fonz to shake things up, of course. Check out the pilot episode here - complete with The Best Sitcom Theme Tune Of All Time.

  • The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air - The Bankses

    The story of a street-smart teenager (Will Smith) who's sent to live with his aunt and uncle in Bel Air after getting in a fight. But then you knew that from the theme tune, right?

  • The Simpsons

    We'll also tip our hats to the Flanders, the Van Houtens and the Wiggums, of course. But no one beats Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie - the animated family who have made us laugh (and also in Homer's case: think) since 1989. Cowabunga!