Early in 2020 I was cast as the role of Asif in Series 4 of Ackley Bridge. I’d watched the award winning series created by Ayub Khan-Din (who also wrote East is East amongst many others) which was hugely popular on Channel 4, so I was excited to join the fold.

It’s set in a school in Halifax, Yorkshire bringing together the Asian and British communities, and we see what happens. The first three series were originally on at 8pm with a 1 hour running time, but for Series 4, Channel 4 wanted to mix it up. So now it screened at 6pm and ran for 30 mins. All episodes of Series 4 are available to stream on All 4

Ackley Bridge doesn’t shy away from challenging topics, and this season was no exception. This season introduced a lot of new cast members, including 3 central characters. Fizza (played by Yasmin Al-Khudhairi) is one of them, and I play Asif her dad. Except, this isn’t the average family, Asif is a drag queen, and Fizza’s mother Miriam (played by Goldy Notay) is a hijab wearing mother.

Behind the scenes pic from episode 3 with Goldy and Yasmin. Photo credit: Stuart Woods

Shooting started pre pandemic and then like everything else, got paused in Lockdown 1. I hadn’t actually filmed anything for the show yet, so was anxious to see how it would all play out. During lockdown, I kept busy with voice work, and I kept hoping that we could all find a way through. The producers at The Forge kept us informed as and when they could. It was an impossible situation, so we all hung on.

Behind the scenes in Asif’s dressing room. Photo credit: Goldy Notay

Asif is a cool character with a chequered past. He’s flamboyant, loving and caring, but does have dark mood swings too. Fizza lives with Asif owing to family complications, but it’s fair to say that Asif and Fizza both take care of each other, instead of Asif being the parent all the time.

I knew Goldy before Ackley Bridge, and was so pleased to hear she’d been cast as Miriam. Goldy is a wonderful actress, so experienced, and I’m very thankful I got to work with her. I hope I can again 🤞🏽.

Happy families! 😂 Photo credit: Stuart Woods

One of the gambles of any acting job, is chemistry. Goldy and I had it, and Yasmin Al-Khudhairi and I definitely have it (in my opinion). Yasmin (Fizza) is one of the leads in the series, who is also new to Ackley Bridge, so had a lot to take on board. We had great on and off screen relationship, with lots of laughter and moments together. We seemed to giggle our way through a lot of the shoot, and on our last day together we laughed and cried.

Filming during the pandemic was very challenging, especially as I was working on another shoot at the same time (Doctors). My producer on Ackley, Rosalie Carew was wonderful, making sure everything was handled and regular Covid testing was a thing. We formed cast bubbles/cohorts, which meant that when we were shooting, we didn't have to do it socially distanced. But there were strict on set regulations which we all followed. Masks being worn, regular testing, one way systems, lunch in your room on your own, the whole shebang. We were all so focused on getting this show made, we did what was necessary, and the show continued without being shut down.

Behind the scenes with our director Joe Stephenson

We had two directors, one for each block. Joe Stephenson directed the first block including the drag episode (3). As you can imagine, it took a long time to put the look together, with costume supervisor Kate Gill, and hair and make up designer Lisa Parkinson. We all had ideas, so it was about pooling them together, and seeing what gelled. My make up was done by Jo Tudda, and wig was by Carrie Clark.

Ethosheia Hylton was the director of the other block. She directed me in episode 8, which came with it’s own challenges. Owing to various reasons, the script was re-written on the day of filming, I got the re-writes in the make up chair! Five pages of dialogue with Fizza for an emotionally charged scene, to be filmed later that day. It was tough, but we got through it. I didn’t get a pic with Toshia, but am so thankful for her direction and support on the day.

There’s lots of people to thank for my Ackley Bridge journey, in particular: Sunetra Sarker (who plays Khaneez Paracha), Ayub Khan-Din, Rosalie Carew, Yasmin Al-Khudhairi, Goldy Notay, David Martin, Sheraz, Joe Stephenson, Ethosheia Hylton, Alex Stewart and all the cast and crew.

Series 4 of Ackley Bridge is now available to stream on All4 I do hope you enjoy it. 🙏🏽

#AckleyBridge C4 - Asif Akhtar