Silver Street
Encyclopedia
Silver Street was a radio soap opera
, the first such to be aimed at the British South Asian community, and was broadcast on the BBC Asian Network
. It was introduced in 2004 as part of the Sonia Deol
show, which was replaced from 24 April 2006 by the Anita Rani
show, and until 12 May 2006 each episode had an early evening repeat at 19.20–19.30 in the Drive Programme. Since 15 May 2006 the serial had been broadcast from 13.30 to 13.40 each weekday during the Nikki Bedi
show. The Omnibus edition of the show was broadcast every Sunday between 16.30 and 17.00. In 2007 it became one of the first BBC Asian Network programmes to be available as a podcast
and was the most downloaded show on the network. On 21 April 2008 BBC Radio Leicester began to broadcast current episodes of the show after a few weeks of highlights and compilations to introduce the stories.
Storylines focused on the lives of a primarily British South Asian community in an English town of unspecified name and location, with themes that generally related to issues that affect the daily lives of British South Asians and their neighbours.
Many guest stars appeared in the programme, including Saeed Jaffrey
as the family doctor of the Chauhan family at a point in the story when the character Roopa Chauhan was struggling with bulimia, Sonia Deol
(as herself) popping into a shop on the street on one occasion, and Toyah Willcox
playing the estranged mother of major Silver Street character Sean Brady.
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
, the first such to be aimed at the British South Asian community, and was broadcast on the BBC Asian Network
BBC Asian Network
BBC Asian Network is a British radio station serving those originating from and around the Indian subcontinent. The music and news comes out of the main urban areas where there are significant communities with these backgrounds. The station has production centres in Birmingham, Leicester and London...
. It was introduced in 2004 as part of the Sonia Deol
Sonia Deol
Sonia Deol is a British radio and television presenter who has presented the Sonia Deol Show on the BBC Asian Network.-Background:Born as Jaswinder Kaur Sidhu in England to Punjabi Sikh parents...
show, which was replaced from 24 April 2006 by the Anita Rani
Anita Rani
Anita Rani is an English born ethnic Indian radio and television presenter and journalist.-Early life:Rani was born and raised in Bradford in Yorkshire, to a mother of Sikh origins, and Hindu father...
show, and until 12 May 2006 each episode had an early evening repeat at 19.20–19.30 in the Drive Programme. Since 15 May 2006 the serial had been broadcast from 13.30 to 13.40 each weekday during the Nikki Bedi
Nikki Bedi
Nikki Bedi is a television and radio presenter, born Nikki Moolgaoker in Aylesbury to an Indian father of Maharashtrian origin and an English mother. Famously married to Kabir Bedi from 1992 to 2005, retaining her married name after an amicable divorce, her first marriage was to food stylist...
show. The Omnibus edition of the show was broadcast every Sunday between 16.30 and 17.00. In 2007 it became one of the first BBC Asian Network programmes to be available as a podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
and was the most downloaded show on the network. On 21 April 2008 BBC Radio Leicester began to broadcast current episodes of the show after a few weeks of highlights and compilations to introduce the stories.
Storylines focused on the lives of a primarily British South Asian community in an English town of unspecified name and location, with themes that generally related to issues that affect the daily lives of British South Asians and their neighbours.
Many guest stars appeared in the programme, including Saeed Jaffrey
Saeed Jaffrey
Saeed Jaffrey OBE is an Indian-born British actor, who has done numerous British movies. He was born in Malerkotla, Punjab...
as the family doctor of the Chauhan family at a point in the story when the character Roopa Chauhan was struggling with bulimia, Sonia Deol
Sonia Deol
Sonia Deol is a British radio and television presenter who has presented the Sonia Deol Show on the BBC Asian Network.-Background:Born as Jaswinder Kaur Sidhu in England to Punjabi Sikh parents...
(as herself) popping into a shop on the street on one occasion, and Toyah Willcox
Toyah Willcox
Toyah Ann Willcox is an English actress and singer. In a career spanning more than thirty years Toyah has had 13 top 40 singles, released 22 studio albums, written two books, appeared in over forty stage plays and ten feature films, as well as voicing and presenting numerous television shows...
playing the estranged mother of major Silver Street character Sean Brady.
Main cast list
Character (actor)- Rita Chauhan (Bharti Patel)
- Jas Chauhan (Hema Mangoo)
- Roopa Chauhan (Rakhee Thakrar)
- Arun Chauhan (Naithan Ariane)
- Kamla Dattani (Surendra Kochar)
- Mushtaq Jilani (Paul Bhattacharjee)
- Zenab Jilani (Sudha Bhuchar)
- Rozena Hussaini (Pooja Ghai)
- Sameer Hussaini (Alex Caan)
- Pervaiz Akhtar (Shajait Khan)
- Nadia Akhtar (Sohm Kapila)
- Zak Akhtar (Jetinder Summan)
- Mary Brady (Carole Nimmons)
- Pete Brady (Jez Thomas)
- Sean Brady (Lloyd Thomas)
- Brian Kavanagh (Gerard McDermott)
- Kuljit Singh (Sartaj GarewalSartaj GarewalSartaj Garewal is a British actor who works in films, TV, theatre and radio drama.Films include The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Dirty War, The Infidel and Baseline...
) - Sway Holloway (Mark MoneroMark MoneroMark Monero is a British actor. He has had various roles including parts in Babylon, Wilt, Prayer for the Dying, Sid and Nancy and remains best known for his role as Steve Elliot in the BBC soap opera EastEnders , although he has appeared in many other television and theatre roles.-Acting:Monero...
) - Jodie Howard (Vineeta RishiVineeta RishiVineeta Rishi , is a British actress of Indian descent.-Biography:Rishi trained at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts and is best known as PC Kapoor on ITV's The Last Detective...
) - Jaggy Singh (Jay Kiyani)
- Simran Kaur (Balvinder Sopal)
- Wahid Masud (Saeed JaffreySaeed JaffreySaeed Jaffrey OBE is an Indian-born British actor, who has done numerous British movies. He was born in Malerkotla, Punjab...
) - Shazia Malik (Shobu KapoorShobu KapoorShobu Kapoor is a British actress.She is most notable for playing the role of Gita Kapoor, the long suffering wife of the market-trader Sanjay , in the popular BBC soap opera, EastEnders ....
) - Ambika (Ayesha DharkerAyesha DharkerAyesha Dharker is a British-Indian actress. She is known for her performance in the Tamil Indian film, The Terrorist , for which she was awarded Best Artistic Contribution by an Actress at the Cairo International Film Festival and nominated for a Chlotrudis Award and National Film Award for Best...
)
Special appearances
- Nikki SandersonNikki SandersonNikki Ann Sanderson is an English actress and glamour model who is best known for playing Candice Stowe in the television soap opera Coronation Street and Dawn Bellamy in ITV's Heartbeat...
as Faye Dunbar - Ian Watkins (Steps) as Dave Thomas
- John Altman as Mr Walsh
- Kim VithanaKim VithanaKim Vithana is a British actress who played Rosie Sattar in Holby City from 2003 to 2005, Doctor Bannerjee in Coronation Street, Yvonne in Always and Everyone, and she has also been in Casualty, Cracker, Love Hurts, Dangerfield, Specials and North Square...
as Farrah Malik - Pal AronPal AronPal Aron is a British actor, best known for playing Adam Osman in Casualty, Brandon Kane in The Bill, Jayesh Parekh and Sonny Dhillon in Coronation Street. Before turning professional he performed with the Theatre of the Unemployed in Birmingham...
as Akram Malik - J Skillz as Himself
- John AbrahamJohn Abraham (actor)John Abraham is an Indian film actor and former model. After modeling for numerous advertisements and companies, Abraham made his film debut with Jism , which earned him a Filmfare Best Debut Award nomination. This was followed by his first commercial success, Dhoom...
as Himself - John Craven as Himself
- RaghavRaghavRaghav Mathur , known professionally as Raghav, is a Canadian singer currently signed to Cordova Bay Records. He is best known for his single "Angel Eyes" which peaked at number 7 in the UK in 2005...
as Himself - Hard KaurIndian popIndian pop music , often known as Indian-Pop, Hindi Pop, Indipop or Indi-pop, refers to pop music in India. Pop music really started in the South Asian region with the famous playback singer Ahmed Rushdi's song ‘Ko-Ko-Korina’ in 1966...
as Herself - MC Raa as Himself
- Anita DobsonAnita DobsonAnita Dobson is an English television actress and singer. She gained her highest profile while playing Angie Watts in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders...
as Sandra Lester
Writers
Silver Street had a roster of around 6 writers at a time that have changed over the years. Commissions were made monthly and each writer was commissioned to write one week of episodes. Past writers have included:- Sonali Battacharya
- Gurpreet Bhati
- Lorna French
- Tanika GuptaTanika GuptaTanika Gupta, MBE is a British playwright of Bengali origin. Apart from her work for the theatre, she has also written scripts for television.-Background and education:...
- Shai Hussain
- Waris Islam
- Kris Kenway
- Sonia Likhari
- Amber Lone
- Nirjay Mahindru
- Anjum Malik
- Prakash Patel
- Philip Qizilbash
- Saman ShadSaman ShadSaman Shad was born in Karachi, Pakistan. She has lived in the Middle East, Australia and currently spends her time between London and Dubai. Saman is a playwright and novelist, whose past works are listed below.-Short Stories:...
- Sukhbender Singh