Written by Johnny Speight and broadcast on the then fledgling London Weekend Television network, CURRY AND CHIPS purported to be a "comedy" focusing on racist attitudes among the white working classes. As with Speight's better-known TILL DEATH US DO PART, the script was designed to expose the ignorance and stupidity of those having to work alongside a person of color.
But is this really the case? The person of color in this case is Kevin O'Grady, an Irish Pakistani played by a heavily made-up Spike Milligan. While Milligan was born in India and spent much of his childhood there, it is still somewhat shocking to see him play the central comic role with a mock-Indian accent. Such mimicry not only denigrates but marginalizes.
The white characters, including Mr. Blenkinsop (Eric Sykes) and a variety of stereotypes (played by Geoffrey Hughes, Norman Rossington, Kenny Lynch and Fred Hugh, amongst others) have a fine time making jokes about Kevin's race, his background, skin-color, and inability to "fit in" to mainstream British life. The level of racist language used is, quite simply, shocking; but the studio audience don't seem to mind, as they bray away maniacally on the soundtrack.
It's all very well to claim that Speight had a satiric purpose in writing the series, or that CURRY AND CHIPS was nothing more than "a bit of fun," and thus not to be taken seriously; but nonetheless we are prompted to wonder precisely what was LWT's purpose in commissioning the series in the first place. Attitudes might have altered significantly since the series was broadcast nearly half a century ago, but the fact that it is still available on video as well as online suggests that there are viewers ready and willing to tolerate such unacceptable material. If such is the case, then racist attitudes can be said not to have changed very much.