David Farnor | On 12, Apr 2016

BBC Three has ordered a second season of Romesh Ranganathan’s travel series, Asian Provocateur.

Fresh from his nomination for Best Entertainment Performance at the forthcoming Bafta Television Awards, the comedian will return to BBC Three for more Asian Provocateur, after a successful first season saw him return to his motherland of Sri Lanka at the behest of his mother, Shanthi.
It took Shanthi 20 years to convince Romesh to travel to Sri Lanka and learn about his heritage. Now, she has convinced Romesh to join her and travel further afield in search of other relatives they’ve never met – and explore what his life could have been like, if they’d ended up somewhere other than Crawley.

For six weeks, they will visit extended family across the continents and be joined by some of the characters Romesh met in the first series for stints along the way. Will their relationship survive them spending every moment together, when what Romesh wants to be a relaxing trip with his mother is certainly going to end up being the complete opposite?

Romesh loves his mum, but the thought of going on holiday with her for six weeks strikes fear into his heart. As Shanthi tries to do some late on-set parenting while simultaneously expecting him to organise everything, Romesh will inevitably return to a petulant teenage state while Shanthi tells anyone who’ll listen all of his childhood misdemeanours.

“I’m absolutely delighted to be embarking on a second series, mainly to deal with the issue of people repeatedly telling me that my mum is funnier than me,” says Romesh. “I didn’t want her involved but I’ve been told that if I refuse they’ll do it with just her.”

The second season will span six 30-minute episodes and will be produced by Rumpus Media in association with Green Bee Productions for BBC Three. It was commissioned by Damian Kavanagh, Controller of BBC Three, and Alan Tyler, Acting Controller of Entertainment. The commissioning editor will be Rachel Ashdown for BBC Entertainment.

“The first series was smart, insightful and extremely funny, providing a perfect forum for Romesh’s quick wit and inquiring mind,” says Tyler. “He is a genuine star and, with his mum, may just have created a perfect double act.”

Season 1 of Asian Provocateur is available on BBC iPlayer until 29th April.

For our guide to the BBC Three box sets currently available to binge-watch, click here – or head this way for our guide to what’s coming soon to BBC Three.

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