Meera Syal to Deliver Alternative MacTaggart

Award-winning actress, writer, comedian and author Meera Syal will be the Alternative MacTaggart speaker at the 2023 Edinburgh TV Festival.

Syal’s numerous credits include the comedies Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars at Number 42 and dramas like The Split. She will soon be seen in Acorn’s Mrs. Sindhu Investigates and Prime Video’s Wheel of Time.

In conversation with Fatima Salaria, executive chair of the festival, Syal will discuss her experience as a British Asian woman working in film and television. “I am delighted to be invited to speak as this year’s Alternative MacTaggart and look forward to sharing some of those untold stories with the wonderful Fatima Salaria.”

Advisory Chair Kiran Nataraja commented: “I’m so excited that the wonderful Meera Syal has agreed to be this year’s Alternative MacTaggart speaker. As an icon who has always been at the forefront of the industry, I know her unique perspective will make for a fascinating and lively session.”

Other sessions at this year’s festival include discussions on managing through the current economic climate, classics being rebooted, the future of U.K. comedy, the state of European public broadcasting and more. Speakers already announced include Jesse Armstrong, Sally Wainwright and Louis Theroux, who will deliver the MacTaggart Lecture.