Eh-Eh-Eh! (Little Britain)

Member Name: Morgenhund

Product:	Little Britain
Date:	03/01/05 (2481 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Eh-Eh-Eh!, Cever humour - can be appreciated on several levels

Disadvantages: Concept could rapidly become tired

Having heard so much about Little Britain recently, and seen the first series DVD for sale on Amazon, I was put out of my misery recently when my sister brought over recordings to Vienna of all the episodes she’d taped since it had been on terrestrial TV. I’m so far out of the loop nowadays regarding popular culture in the UK, that I thought I’d not like the programme – or possibly even not understand it.

My first impressions were that it was a very clever take off of the infinite amount of documentaries that are currently being shown on British TV - I say this given the amount of tie-in books that I was able to buy relatives for Christmas presents. Little Britain is written by, and stars, David Walliams and Matt Lucas. Matt Lucas is familiar to many as Baby George Dawes in Shooting Stars.

Previous programmes like Harry Enfield and Chums have been character-based, with each character being built up and a recurring joke and characteristic being the norm, but in Little Britain the characters seem to be an amalgam of the surreal, the weird and humorous with a garnishing of the mundane. Without the mundane element they’d be grotesque caricatures, but with the mundane aspect (e.g. a weight-watching instructor, a teenage mum etc.) they remain close to the truth, although one characteristic is often highlighted to the extreme.

The use of former Dr. Who, Tom Baker, as a narrator is a clever step, as it allows the viewer to get closer to the characters as well as gratuitously taking the mickey out of a lot of the narrators of real-life documentaries of the ilk that Little Britain is poking fun at.

As with Harry Enfield and Chums (Enfield and Paul Whitehouse), The Fast Show (Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson) or Newman and Baddiel, there is a character development amongst the characters, although the punchline at the end of the sketch is often repetitive, although never entirely predictable. However, given the voiceover/documentary style, and the surreal characters – they are not madcap or zany as has been the norm with some characters, but are in fact a genuine caricature of a lot of Britons, in particular the elements of society which seem afflicted with so many of the problems that face Britain nowadays. Similarly the weird world of "The League of Gentleman" has not been encroached upon - I found TLoG simply too weird that I couldn't laugh at it.

For example, Anne, the mentally disturbed character whose catchphrase “Eh-Eh-Eh!" is no doubt the bane of many offices and schools, is little more than a clever critique of care in the community, with the humour being in her schizophrenic behaviour – her mobile rings and she reverts to normality – with a polite excuse requesting to phone back as it is rude/inconvenient etc.

Vicky Pollard, replete in grubby pink shell suit is the archetypal chav – the shoplifting scourge of Britain, whose language skills seem to be utterly negligible. Marjorie Dawes, leader of a “FatFighters” class cleverly caricatures the diet clubs which have become so popular. Lou and Andy is a subtle examination of the trials and tribulations of a carer – albeit a somewhat limp-wristed and effeit one. I showed the sketches of the Barbara Cartland inspired Dame Sally to Austrians, who found it funny, as they had heard of Barbara Cartland’s literary “prowess” – the ability to toss off a book a fortnight.

The freaky element is catered for – for example Gary who fancies a mate’s grandma – a taboo subject in real life, and something very disturbing to say the least. To a certain extent there is a shock-value style to the humour – a lot of characters try to shock by being non-PC or doing bizarre things, which whilst working well, could ultimately end up curtailing the shelf life of the Little Britain concept. Ultimately the shock factor will not work ad nauseam.

At the other end of the scale there are the out and out parodies – the likes of Emily Howard – a hopelessly unconvincing transvestite – who is, as she frequently reminds us, a lady, as well as Dafydd, the Welsh gay wannabe - he claims to be gay, without having any gay experience, and is adamant that he is the "only gay in the village" - possibly both of these characters are cocking a snook at positive discrimination, and that in an open society such as Britain's that there is really no need to flaunt sexuality and being "different".

To date there have been two series – I ask myself whether this will be another two series wonder, or whether it will run and run, although the 12ew (twelve episode wonder) tag will not be applied to Little Britain, as there have been fourteen episodes to date.

The humour might not appeal to all – the character of Anne has doubtless caused much tutting in certain parts – especially given her antics munching goldfish, throwing loaves of bread at ducks (not just an About a Boy idea!) and defenestration of pets which will doubtless have triggered angry letters to the BBC from some quarters. I find the programme entertaining, although do doubt whether it will have a great deal of longevity - there are after all only so many times that something of this nature can be reprised.

The programme is currently being shown again on BBC2, with the second series being shown. I'll probably buy both series on DVD as a fan of having complete series and for the handiness of having them on DVD, but would be surprised if there is a third series. Well worth watching though it may be, the Little Britain concept shouldn't be overdone.

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