Little Britain is a character-based sketch show first appearing on BBC radio and then television. It was written by and stars Matt Lucas and David Walliams. Its title is an amalgamation of the terms 'Little England' and 'Great Britain', and is also the name of a Victorian neighbourhood and modern street in London[1] (and is also the name of a street in Dublin). An American version of the series will be made for HBO by Lucas and Walliams in 2008.
Many of the characters on the show have their own often-repeated catchphrases. Many have become well-known in the United Kingdom, and the show has gained a mainstream following.
History
Most of the TV material was adapted from the radio version, but with more emphasis on recurring characters and catchphrases. As a result of its success, the first television series was repeated on the more mainstream channel BBC Two. Although reactions were mixed, many critics were enthusiastic, and the show was commissioned for another run.
The second TV series, featuring several new characters, began on BBC Three October 19, 2004. Because of its popularity, the scheduled repeats were "promoted" to BBC One, starting December 3, 2004, which guaranteed higher ratings. However, the episodes were edited for their BBC One run, as the material was deemed too offensive for the BBC One audience.
A third series began on November 17, 2005 on BBC One, and ended six weeks later. After its transmission, it was unclear whether there would be another, as so many sketches were given dramatic twists and "wrapped up" — (see individual character articles). Lucas and Walliams were reportedly in talks for a fourth series with the BBC. Furthermore, they admitted in an interview they preferred to "kill off" certain characters in order to make way for new ones. As part of Red Nose Day 2007, BBC One broadcast sketches recorded at the live stage show version featuring the real Dennis Waterman as well as supermodel Kate Moss in sketches.
Radio 4 began a rerun of all nine episodes in February 2004. Unusually, this overlapped with a rerun on digital radio channel BBC 7 of the first five, which began in mid-March. In June–July 2004, BBC 7 broadcast the remaining four.
All the episodes for the series were filmed at Pinewood Studios.
Cast
Matt Lucas and David Walliams play all the main characters in the show. Tom Baker narrates and Paul Putner, Steve Furst, Sally Rogers, David Foxxe, Samantha Power, Yuki Kushida, and Stirling Gallacher regularly appear as several different characters.
Other regular cast include: Anthony Head as the Prime Minister, Ruth Jones as Myfanwy, Charu Bala Chokshi as Meera, and Joann Condon as Fat Pat.
Guest appearances
Since its debut on television, Little Britain has featured many guest appearances from celebrities and television personalities playing characters. These include Rob Brydon as Bubbles DeVere's ex-husband Roman, Jamie Theakston as Prime Minister's old friend, Dawn French as Vicky Pollard's mother Shelly, Nigel Havers as the Leader of the Opposition, Patricia Kane as an elderly resident of Llandewi Breffi, Peter Kay as Dudley Punt's brother Les, Sally Hawkins as stage hypnotist Kenny Craig's girlfriend, and Ruth Madoc as Daffyd Thomas' mother.
Many have also appeared as themselves including: Tyson Reinhardt, David Baddiel, Jennie Bond, Ronnie Corbett, Paul Daniels and Debbie McGee (deleted scenes, they were too funny reportedly), Cat Deeley, Vanessa Feltz, Trisha Goddard, Keith Harris (deleted scenes Orville took a dump on Matt Lucas), Elton John, Derek Martin, Paul McKenna, George Michael, Richard Madeley, Judy Finnigan, David Soul, Les McKeown, Mollie Sugden, and Robbie Williams.
Main characters
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As a sketch show, Little Britain features many characters; most are played by Lucas and Walliams with varying degrees of costume and makeup.
Episodes
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As of December 2006, there are three series of Little Britain consisting of 20 episodes. Additionally, there is a separate pilot episode, two charity specials, and a two part Christmas special known as Little Britain Abroad, which was broadcast in December 2006. This makes a total of 25 episodes to date. There has also been the Little Britain Live show.
Charity
In 2005, to raise money for Comic Relief, David Walliams and Matt Lucas made a special edition of the show, dubbed Little, Little Britain. The episode included a variety of sketches with celebrities including George Michael, Robbie Williams and Sir Elton John. This was released on a limited edition DVD and was released in the United States as Little, Little Britain on the region 1 version of the Little Britain: Season 2 DVD.
A live Little Britain show was made for Comic Relief at the Hammersmith Apollo on November 22, 2006, and featured many guest artists and celebrities. This version was released in March 2007 and televised as part of Comic Relief: The Big One. Guests artists included:
Matt Lucas and Peter Kay, in the guise of their characters Andy Pipkin and Brian Potter, re-recorded the song "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" with its creators, The Proclaimers. This version was released as a charity single for Comic Relief on March 19, 2007.
Criticism
The series, and in particular its second and third season, have been criticised for their perceived treatment of minority groups. For example, Johann Hari, writing in The Independent, stated:
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"Little Britain has been a vehicle for two rich kids to make themselves into multi-millionaires by mocking the weakest people in Britain. Their targets are almost invariably the easiest, cheapest groups to mock: the disabled, poor, elderly, gay or fat. In one fell swoop, they have demolished protections against mocking the weak that took decades to build up."[3] |
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Similarly, Fergus Sheppard, writing in The Scotsman wrote:
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"The latest series of the hit BBC comedy Little Britain may be hauling in record viewing figures, but it has also sparked a previously unthinkable chorus of criticism, with claims that the show has lost its way, trading early ingenuity for swelling amounts of toilet humour in the search for cheap laughs, and becoming increasingly offensive."[4] |
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The programme has become increasingly popular with children, despite being shown after the watershed. There has also been criticism from teachers that the programme leads to copycat behaviour in the playground.[5]
Future of Little Britain
In 2007, Matt Lucas and David Walliams announced that the British Little Britain is over for them, however they are currently filming an American version of the show entitled Little Britain USA, which will feature both returning characters from the British series, and new American characters. [6]. According to David Walliams, the new show is "effectively Little Britain season four."[7]
Worldwide broadcast
| Region |
Channel |
 Argentina |
I.Sat |
 Australia |
ABC1, UK.TV |
 Austria |
ORF1 |
 Belgium |
Canvas, Be TV |
 Canada |
BBC Canada, Showcase Television, BBC Kids |
 Continental Europe |
BBC Prime |
 Denmark |
TV 2 Zulu, TV 2 |
 Finland |
Sub |
 France |
TPS Star (Channel does not exist anymore), Canal+ (English Week special) |
 Germany |
Sat.1 Comedy, Comedy Central Germany |
 Hungary |
Cool TV |
 Iceland |
Sjónvarpið |
 India |
Star World |
 Republic of Ireland |
RTÉ Two |
 Israel |
Yes |
 Italy |
Jimmy, MTV Italia, BBC Prime |
 Japan |
WOWOW |
 Malaysia |
Star World, BBC Entertainment (censored version) |
 Malta |
BBC Prime |
 Netherlands |
Nederland 3, VPRO |
 New Zealand |
C4, UKTV, (previously by Prime) |
 Norway |
NRK |
 Pakistan |
Star World |
 Philippines |
Star World |
 Poland |
TVP2 (censored version), and BBC Prime(uncensored) |
 Portugal |
RTP2, SIC Radical |
 Qatar |
Showtime Arabia |
 Romania |
TVR 2 |
 Russia |
TNT |
 Singapore |
Arts Central (censored version) |
 South Africa |
BBC Prime |
 Spain |
Canal+ |
 Sweden |
SVT |
 Switzerland |
SF zwei |
 Thailand |
Star World BBC Entertainment |
 United Arab Emirates |
Star World |
 United Kingdom |
BBC, UKTV Gold (no longer), Dave (TV channel) |
 United States |
BBC America[8] |
See also
References
Further reading
- Julia Snell (2006). "Schema theory and the humour of Little Britain". English Today 22: 59–64. Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/S0266078406001118.
External links
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