Little Britain

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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 (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.

Style and content

The format of the show is a compilation of short sketches featuring recurring characters, linked by narration from Tom Baker (most famous as the Fourth Doctor on Doctor Who). The voiceovers take a wry look at Britain, with comically absurd statements on the nation's character, such as, "Britain.... We've had running water for over 10 years, an underground tunnel linking us to Peru, and we invented the cat", or "Unlike other countries, Britain has people of two genders: women and men."

The style of Little Britain has evolved over the years. The radio series and first season on TV tended to consist of surreal concepts taken to logical extremes (such as a witch that employs contractors to build her gingerbread house, or the man leaving increasingly bizarre messages on his answering machine.) The sketches that caught the public's imagination, however, tended to be those which gave rise to memorable catchphrases.

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), Cat Deeley, Vanessa Feltz, Trisha Goddard, Keith Harris (deleted scenes), Elton John, Derek Martin, Paul McKenna, George Michael, Richard Madeley, Judy Finnigan, David Soul, Les McKeown, Mollie Sugden, and Robbie Williams.

Main characters

As a sketch show, Little Britain features many characters; most are played by Lucas and Walliams with varying degrees of costume and makeup.

Episodes

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, which features a plumber played by one of the dieters named Paul.

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. These included George Michael, Robbie Williams and 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:

Kate Moss as Vicky Pollard's twin sister.
Dawn French as barmaid Myfanwy in the Llandewi Breffi village pub. Also appeared in the 2006 Christmas special as Vicky Pollard's Mother.
Russell Brand as a cross-dressing plumber who comes out to "fellow cross dresser", Emily Howard.
Jonathan Ross as the celebrity guest that Judy vomits on at the village fête.
Chris Moyles as an overweight victim of Marjorie's Fat Fighters club.
Dennis Waterman as himself, complaining about his portrayal in the Dennis Waterman sketch, then proceeds to sing the theme tune to Minder.
Peter Kay as wheelchair-bound Brian Potter.
David Baddiel as a member of the audience brought onstage.
Jeremy Edwards as a raped contestant of Des Kaye's "Hide the Sausage" game
Patsy Kensit as a girl with hairy armpits who went to seek advice from Linda Flint.
Kate Thornton as the presenter of Stars In Their Eyes, introducing Anne.
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:

"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.

Similarly, Fergus Sheppard, writing in The Scotsman wrote:

"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.

The programme has become increasingly popular with children, despite being shown after the watershed; however, there has been criticism from teachers that the programme leads to copycat behaviour in the playground.

Future of Little Britain

Matt Lucas and David Walliams have recently signed a three-year deal with the BBC. The duo are currently planning a new show — one in which some of their best-known characters return, but it will be a "totally new and different series". However, it was revealed that Little Britain would return for a fourth series on the British Comedy Awards 2006. It is unknown whether this is related in any way to the new show.

A two part Little Britain Christmas special entitled Little Britain Abroad, aired over the 2006 Christmas season. Part one aired on Christmas Day, followed by part two on New Year's Eve. The special took the characters and put them into locations other than Britain. Themes included Vicky Pollard being caught drug-trafficking in Thailand, along with her equally repulsive mum (played by Dawn French); Ronnie Corbett being seduced by Bubbles DeVere in France; Carol Beer who has gone to lead a group tour in Spain; Lou and Andy becoming stranded on an island in the Atlantic Ocean while on their way to Walt Disney World; Marjorie Dawes of Fat Fighters going to Miami; and Peter Kay appearing in his caravan in Belgium as Dudley's brother, who had a Russian bride Julia Davis. These Little Britain Abroad episodes have now been filmed in Australia, sometime in 2007.

Lucas and Walliams announced that the British series was over for them. Lucas and Walliams are expected to produce a new series for the BBC as per their holding deal. Lucas was quoted as saying he "likes the idea of starting over again".

American version

Worldwide broadcast

Region	Channel
	I.Sat
	ABC1, UK.TV
	ORF1
	Canvas, Be TV
	BBC Canada, Showcase Television, BBC Kids
Continental Europe	BBC Prime
	TV 2 Zulu, TV 2
	Sub
	Sat.1 Comedy, Comedy Central Germany
	Cool TV
	Sjónvarpið
	Star World
	RTÉ Two
	Yes
	Jimmy, MTV Italia, BBC Prime
	WOWOW
	Star World, BBC Entertainment (censored version)
	Nederland 3, VPRO
	C4, UKTV, (previously by Prime)
	NRK
	Star World
	Star World
	TVP2 (censored version), and BBC Prime(uncensored)
	RTP2, SIC Radical
	TVR 2
	Arts Central (censored version)
	BBC Prime
	Canal+
	SVT
	SF zwei
	Star World BBC Entertainment
	Star World
	BBC, UKTV Gold (no longer), Dave (channel)
	BBC America

References

External links

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Last updated on Thursday March 13, 2008 at 12:46:20 PDT (GMT -0700)
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