Comedy Series Review: Little Britain

Daffyd - The only gay in the village

Little Britain, the guide to Britain for the non-British is an award-winning comedy sketch show produced for the BBC by Matt Lucas and David Walliams and voiced by Doctor Who-star Tom Baker. The show focuses on “Great British institutions” which are mainly extreme parodies of normal
people and groups such as FatFighters (a WeighWatchers parody), libraries, (mental) health care, and the elderly. As with most British humour there is an awful lot of self-deprecation to the point where it became controversial with, mainly older, members of the public taking offense and the series was re-edited for release on BBC 1, after the original cuts had aired on BBC 3, which is aimed at a younger audience.

Although the series received some criticism for supposedly suppressing minorities in both the British and American version of the show, it has also received great critical acclaim and a following among the public.

'Lou' and 'Andy' two main characters

Something the show's creators get too little recognition for is the good they have accomplished with their show. Ever since its inception they have worked with Comic Relief to collect money for charity work around the world. They have created dedicated sketches, often together with celebrities, to raise awareness or to urge people to donate to Comic Relief.

Another charity effort, which has gained somewhat more recognition, is David Walliams' work for Sport Relief, another charity. His efforts include swimming the river Thames, swimming the Channel, swimming the Street of Gibraltar and (co-)hosting several Sport Relief telethons. He has raised millions of pound for Sport Relief with his activities.

Also both creators are advocates for gay rights, even though they often ridicule gay people in their show. Also David Walliams isn't gay and he is married to a Dutch female supermodel (Lara Stone). He has however stated that it shouldn't matter whether one is gay, straight, bisexual or whatever else, since he figures people fall in love with a person's character, rather than genitalia.

Nowadays both actors, although no longer working on Little Britain, have successful careers, with Lucas living in West-Hollywood and both actors working on different projects.