syal is an occasional singer, having achieved a number one record with gareth gates and her co-stars from "the kumars at no. 42" with "spirit in the sky", the comic relief single. she earlier (1988) provided vocals for a bhangra version of "then he kissed me", composed by biddu and with the pakistani pop star nazia hassan, as part of the short-lived girl band saffron. in june 2003 she appeared as a guest on bbc radio 4's "desert island discs" programme with a selection of music by nitin sawhney, madan bala sindhu, joni mitchell, pizzicato five, sukhwinder singh, louis armstrong and others. the luxury she chose to ease her life as a castaway was a piano.