Guz Khan is in demand. The creator and star of Man Like Mobeen has been busy between series two and three of the comedy hit. He’s been around the world, starring with Idris Elba in Netflix sitcom Turn Up Charlie, Sean Bean and Billy Zane in high-octane Sky drama Curfew and Mindy Kalling in the US TV version of Four Weddings and a Funeral, as well as joining the Spice Girls in an advert for a well-known crisp manufacturer popular with fellow Midlander Gary Lineker.
But home is where the heart is for Khan, who grew up in the Hillfields area of Coventry, which he has described as a “melting pot of ethnicities, bounded by poverty”. And when we meet at the BBC in Central London, he explains that he is very much in demand in Coventry right now, having recently welcomed his fourth child.
EXCLUSIVE: #ManLikeMobeen's @GuzKhanOfficial reveals the big issues he's tackling in the new series.
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Khan’s commitment to representing the stories of his local community is clear as he speaks with care about how he uses a comedy following the misadventures of Mobeen, Aks, the younger sister he dotes on (Dúaa Karim) and hapless pals Eight (Tez Ilyas) and Nate (Tolu Ogunmefun), to delve into issues affecting the working-class.
“What influences me is what has been going on, what is taking place in Small Heath, where the series is set,” he says. “Unfortunately in the last year it has continued to be reports of youth-related violence. It is easy to say, ‘Oh, dangerous kids with knives’ – but there are always structural issues as to why these things are taking place and we try to explore that.
“It is plain to see that there is a lack of opportunities for our young people up and down the country. And if you have a tough working-class area and the young people don’t have proper access to education… you can’t blame it on the kids.”