Meera Syal

Writer, comedian and actress Meera Syal joins Vernon Kay to choose ten songs that have soundtracked her life, as she publishes her memoir Vigilauntie.

Dame Meera Syal is a multi-award winning writer and actress, born in Wolverhampton to Indian Punjabi parents, who had moved to the UK from New Delhi. She studied English and Drama at Manchester University but after taking a one woman show to the Edinburgh Festival she was spotted by a theatre director, so moved to London to pursue acting. Meera rose to prominence as one of the team that created Goodness Gracious Me and by portraying Sanjeev's grandmother, Ummi, in The Kumars at No. 42. This part gave her a number one single - a Comic Relief cover of Spirit In The Sky in 2003 with Gareth Gates. Aside from acting she also continued writing, with three novels including her award-winning debut Anita And Me in 1996. In 2002 she helped bring Bollywood to the West End, by co-writing Andrew Lloyd Webber's Bombay Dreams. Her other notable roles in film and TV have included parts in Paddington 2, Holby City and Beautiful People. In 2023, she was awarded the BAFTA Fellowship, its highest accolade, for her distinguished career on screen and became a dame in the 2026 King's New Year's Honours list for her services to literature, drama and charity.

Listen to Tracks Of My Years on BBC Sounds, and watch Vernon's conversations on BBC iPlayer and Radio 2's YouTube channel, just search for 'Tracks Of My Years'.

A BBC Audio production for BBC Radio 2.