After five series spread across seven years, Man Like Mobeen is finally coming to an end. Guz Khan has previously threatened to call time on his rascally BBC Three sitcom, before serving up successive cliffhanger finales. This time though, it truly feels as if conflicted former drug-dealer turned observant-Muslim Mobeen (who can’t seem to do right for doing wrong), his sister Aqsa and none-too-bright sidekick Nate will discover their ultimate fate at the hands of menacing crime kingpin Uncle Khan.

Throughout the series’ acclaimed, BAFTA-nominated run, Khan and co-writer Andy Milligan have struck an impressive balance, couching throwaway gags and broad humour in topical social commentary, all the while creating characters you actually care about. Despite attracting powerhouse actors in the form of Art Malik and latterly Youssef Kerkour as main villains, alongside enigmatic stand-up Mark Silcox as the blank, belligerent Uncle Shady, the always wide-eyed and expressive Khan has been the chief draw, a charismatic natural talent who can convey roguish swagger and buffoonery alongside real depth of emotion, often in the same scene.

Evocative of its setting in Small Heath, Birmingham, and of Pakistani-Muslim culture experienced through a working-class scrap for survival, Man Like Mobeen has ambitiously tackled issues such as knife crime, Islamophobia and the rise of the far right, as well as food-bank poverty, the masculine mental-health crisis and the deadening impact of prison incarceration.

Bolstering onscreen diversity in UK sitcom, the show has also pioneered greater representation behind the camera with a scheme that has since been adopted by other comedy productions. And while Khan’s outspoken support for Palestine may inhibit his nascent US career, it’s to be hoped that the ex-teacher now finally gets to make his long-mooted TV comedy set in a school.

Man Like Mobeen is available now on BBC iPlayer.