Celebrity view; Kumars star Meera Syal, who's currently in the charts with Gareth Gates for Comic Relief, on her TV highs and lows...

Byline: Meera Syal 

"Being on Top Of The Pops as a granny was bonkers"

Golden oldie 

If someone had told me 10 years ago that one day I'd end up on Top Of The Pops, I'd have laughed in their faces. But that's what happened when The Kumars teamed up with Gareth Gates for this year's Comic Relief single.

Filming it was surreal. It was weird enough to be on Top Of The Pops anyway, but to be on it dressed as an 85-year-old granny was even more bonkers. I'll need a couple of weeks in therapy to sort that one out. What I really enjoyed was flirting with Gareth and making a lot of the girls in the audience jealous. He's a real charmer with a beautiful voice. Boy, can he sing! Obviously, we trashed our dressing-room afterwards.

Jokers in the pack

There's a lot of good comedy on at the moment. I loved the last series of Sex And The City and Johnny Vegas is always good for a laugh. I've also got a real soft spot for Peter Kay - there is something very affectionate about his humour that I find especially endearing. It's interesting when you compare him and Johnny. Although they've both got that Northern honesty and openness, with Johnny you feel like you're watching a car crash in slow motion, whereas Peter has got a lovely Victoria Wood tinge about him.

Nagging doubts

I cannot abide Channel Four Racing. A whole afternoon's worth of television that just involves horses running around in circles is not my idea of fun. It's mind-numbingly boring. Life's too short to waste watching John McCririck waving his arms about like a madman. I can't actually put into words what I think of Mr McCririck without offending someone, so all I will say on the matter is that he has very impressive facial hair.

The other show I detest at the moment is The Salon. It has to be the biggest pile of sh*te I've ever seen. It's false, cynical and as dull as ditchwater.

Risky business

I'm slightly worried for the celebrities featured in Reborn In The USA. OK, it's extremely entertaining viewing, but appearing on those kind of shows can do more harm than good.

It's a gamble if you take part because you don't know how you'll be portrayed - it's all in the editing. You could be as nice as pie, singing love songs and cooking souffles for everyone for the whole programme, but if they decide to show the one moment when you're scratching your backside or having an argument, you're done for.

Make friends with the editor first, that would be my advice to the likes of Sonia and co.

l Meera Syal (Comic Relief, Friday, BBC1, from 7pm) was talking to Tim Randall.

Prejudiced in favour

Without Prejudice is fascinating and gripping television. Each week a panel of ordinary people give one of the contestants a cheque for pounds 50,000, based purely on whether they like them or not.

It's interesting to see people openly displaying their prejudices on TV, but there was a lot of racism and homophobia. Sometimes I wondered how host Liza Tarbuck (above) managed to get through it without punching someone. We worked together on Linda Green and she is a woman of passionate opinions, so it must have been really difficult for her to listen to some of the comments and stay quiet.

CAPTION(S):

POP-TASTIC: Gareth performs, flanked by Sanjeev Bhaskar and Meera; DOUBLE THE LAUGHS: Johnny (top) and Peter; HORSEPLAY: McCririck