GOOD BYEEEE (Little Britain)

Member Name: thehud

Product:	Little Britain
Date:	13/12/04 (1376 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Funny

Disadvantages: A little too repetitive at times

Matt Lucas and David Walliams have recently come to the offer as the latest cult comedy super heroes with the coming of their Little Britain radio series first to BBC Three, then BBC Two and finally prime time BBC One on a Friday night.

It’s easy to see why as well, with their surreal blend of the mundane, the ridiculous and the sharply satirical all linked together by the plummy voiceovers of the splendid Tom Baker ("Britain. Britain. Britain. Population one millions. Number of towns 11. Average height 30. Shoesize. But just who are Britain? Over the next twenteen weeks, we aim to find out - by following the lives of ordinary British folk. What do they? Who is them? And why?"). And best of all, Little Britain is just plain out and out funny, although it weaves the laughs in and out of pathos and melodrama, and leaves you actually feeling a little sorry for the main protagonists.

They’ve just completed their second series, with six shows this time rather than the eight of the first series a year ago, and have moved avowedly much closer to the knuckle, with the disgusting, aged, balding, obese Bubbles De Vere the most appalling piece of humanity which they have yet provided us with.

If you’ve not happened across Little Britain, then none of this will mean that much to you, and this could all strike you as so much Emperors New Clothes … it’s certainly achieved enormous acceptance with the chattering classes of late.

Lucas and Walliams take a very serious and sincere approach to their comedy, although that might just be them taking the rise out of themselves, but if you saw the Sky Active special off cuts and their own analysis of the LB magic, you could certainly be fooled into thinking that they take all this very seriously indeed.

Much like the Fast Show, Little Britain relies strongly on repetition and building things up with mundane ridiculousness for its appeal and it’s the familiarity and sympathy evoked by some of our favourites which gives LB its mysterious appeal, but Lucas and Walliams refuse to allow things to get too predictable.

The BBC website http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/tv/littlebritain/ind ex.shtml gives you links to all that you need to know about LB and features profiles on some of the show’s favourites, Vicky Pollard, Marjorie Dawes, Dafydd the only gay in the village, Emily Howard the naff transvestite and many more.

You can catch both series of Little Britain quite easily if you’ve got access to Sky or even just the Freeview BBC channels, and I’ve seen probably three or four reruns of the shows in the last month or so, so all pervading is it on the airwaves.

LB is so in yer face at the minute and popular that there is almost certainly going to be a massive backlash any day now, and the duo might be best advised to move onto other things quite shortly. Matt and David are undoubtedly talented and bring out the bets in each other. I don’t think they would be quite as good in another environment but for now Little Britain and its splendid talents will do quite well enough.

NIGHTY NIGHT…

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