The cast of comedy hit Goodness Gracious Me are to be reunited for a one-off special to celebrate a half century of BBC2.

The show - which began life on Radio 4 before transferring to TV - helped to make major stars of its leading lights, including Meera Syal and Sanjeev Bhaskar.

Figures from the sketch show, which looked at the collision of cultures for British Asians before ending in 2001, were reunited to discuss the programme last year for a Radio 4 documentary, as part of the series The Reunion.

Goodness Gracious Me also featured Kulvinder Ghir and Nina Wadia, who has gone on to star as Zainab Masood in EastEnders.

The regular characters included Smeeta Smitten, the competitive mothers and Mr "Everything Comes From India".

The forthcoming edition of the show emerged after the BBC advertised for members of the audience to attend the recording at Teddington Studios in south west London.

The ad said: "To celebrate 50 years of comedy on BBC Two the original cast of the award winning Goodness Gracious Me are back for a special one-off edition of the ground-breaking British Asian sketch show featuring new characters alongside some favourites from the original series in a wealth of brand new sketches."

Also lined up for the anniversary celebration is a quiz called All About Two which is fronted by Dara O Briain, and assisted by Richard Osman from Pointless. It will highlight facts and figures about the channel over the years and is described as "part quiz, part silliness, part discovery and all love".