Mind Your Language

The series was commissioned by Michael Grade, then Director of Programmes at London Weekend Television.

Most recordings for the first three series took place on Tuesday evenings in Studio Two at the South Bank Television Centre, while Series 4 was filmed at Uxbridge Technical College in Middlesex.

The series attracted around 18 million viewers at its peak, making it hugely popular despite later controversy over its content.

Michael Grade eventually cancelled the programme after coming to consider its ethnic stereotyping offensive, telling Linda Agran at the 1985 Edinburgh Television Festival that 'it was really irresponsible of us to put it out.'

Academic Sarita Malik wrote in Representing Black Britain (2002) that the show's humour usually made 'Blacks, Asians or race' the butt of the joke, hitting a racist note despite its well-meaning, benevolent tone.

A 1979 BBC2 Open Door documentary titled 'It Ain't Half Racist, Mum' sharply criticised the show for its portrayal of racial stereotypes, including a scene showing an Asian character living on welfare while relatives crowded into his one room.

The series was widely sold internationally, airing in countries including Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Singapore, the Persian Gulf states and Hong Kong, and was one of the first British TV shows shown in South Africa after the end of the British Actors' Equity Association boycott.

Mind Your Language inspired numerous international remakes, including Zabaan Sambhalke in India, Kelas Internasional in Indonesia, Nihonjin no Shiranai Nihongo in Japan, Klassi Għalina in Malta, and What a Country! in the United States, following a failed 1981 backdoor pilot via a Diff'rent Strokes episode titled 'Almost American.'

Series 4 has never been released on DVD or any streaming format, and existing DVD box sets also exclude a few individual episodes from Series 1-3, such as 'Kill or Cure,' 'Don't Forget the Driver,' and 'Guilty or Not Guilty?'