BBC Three has announced a new sitcom as part of their Comedy Slices pilot list, Chinese Burn. The show is about three “normal” Chinese girls and what escapades they get up to in London.
Producers explain: “There’s a common assumption about Chinese girls; Studious. Conservative. Polite. Well think again! Chinese Burn smashes all the stereotypes and with a round-house kick, busts opens the door to the messy, hilarious, unbridled reality putting an eastern twist on the western world.
“This brand new BBC Three sitcom follows the escapades of three ‘normal’ Chinese girls – Elizabeth the failed Chinese daughter, Jackie the feisty struggling actress and Fufu the Buddhist princess, fresh off the plane – as they negotiate the trials of modern life in the capital. From sex to relationships, failing careers to just about paying rent, getting drunk to getting in fights – they’re visitors from a scary superpower and they’re taking over London.”
Written by and starring up and coming writer-performers Yennis Cheung and Shin-Fei Chen, alongside Yuyu Rau, the pilot for Chinese Burn also features Felicity Montagu.
The BBC said: “The pilot sees Elizabeth’s crazy-rich childhood friend Fufu visiting London for the first time. It shouldn’t be a problem but Elizabeth has lied about her job to avoid shaming her parents. So she deals with the situation like she deals with any situation, by lying some more and getting drunk. Jackie has a big casting for the role of a lifetime, instead of the usual ‘Chinese prostitute, DVD seller or takeaway girl’ and this is the worst time to be babysitting a kooky new arrival. The Fufu problem isn’t going away.”
Shin-Fei Chen and Yennnis Cheung said: “Chinese people don’t get much representation on British TV, and when they do it’s usually illegal immigrants, Triads or takeaway staff. Chinese Burn aims to tackle these stereotypes and share real East Asian experiences of living in London. This show’s stories are straight-from-the-dragon’s-mouth, no-MSG, authentic. 6 billion Chinese can’t all be Wongs. We are more than the stereotypes. We are varied. We are different. But our stories are universal, so Brits can relate… mate.”
The BBC announced 12 pilots in total, BBC Comedy Commissioner Shane Allen said: “No broadcaster in the world is more committed to British comedy than the BBC with this extensive breadth of new shows to offer to audiences and amazing opportunities and initiatives for budding writers and performers like BBC Writersroom, The Salford Sitcom Showcase, The Felix Dexter Bursary, the Caroline Aherne Bursary For Funny Northern Women and The BBC New Comedy Award.
“In these twelve shows there is such a breadth of tone and ideas, I can’t wait for everyone to see what we’ve got on offer.”
