Do-it-yourself chat-show
The queen of this kind of thing - that is, convincing guests to be interviewed by fictional characters, as opposed to an actual person - is Mrs Merton (Caroline Aherne), but all the same, Bhaskar makes a decent fist of playing the bumbling host.

Family ties
Bhaskar's character, also called Sanjeev, does his best to hold court in the Kumar family's jerry-built studio (constructed in their garden). His every proclamation tends to be ripped to shreds by his family: avaricious dad Ashwin (Vincent Ibrahim), doting foodie mum Madhuri (Indira Joshi) and diminutive but gloriously tactless granny Sushila, played by Syal, stealing the show with a hunched back and a wicked glint in her eye.

Guest again
One of the most consistently entertaining aspects of The Kumars is the somewhat odd fact that the majority of the invited houseguests don't seem to know anything about the programme. You'd think such luminaries as Richard E Grant, Minnie Driver and Jerry Hall might at least charge a random researcher to provide them with a morsel of information before they arrive on set, but unfailingly, they don't. The resulting air of befuddlement and "Oh no, what've I done?" facial expressions from the rich and famous gives The Kumars an edge unseen on any other chat show.

Life, the universe and everything
Sci-fi fans might do well to raise a quizzical eyebrow at the presence of the number 42 in this particular programme's title. And as it happens, they'd be spot-on. Sanjeev Bhaskar is indeed a huge fan of Douglas Adams's The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and insisted on shoe-horning a reference to the cult classic's all-important number into his creation. Rumours that Zaphod Beeblebrox is to be a guest on the next series of The Kumars are, however, unconfirmed.

That's the charity spirit
In an unusual move, The cast of The Kumars managed to secure themselves a UK No.1 single in 2003 by latching themselves onto stuttering pretty-boy Pop Idol runner-up Gareth Gates. Gates and The Kumars sang an enthusiastic cover of Norman Greenbaum's Spirit in the Sky for Comic Relief, but thankfully refrained from completely ruining the song by ad-libbing too many extra "funny" bits. And let's face it, Gates did a fair hatchet job on the tune all on his own.