Little Britain

Caught this on BBC America and have been Tivoing it ever since. The characters are great, but some tend to do the same joke over and over again. So, though this may not be a wonderful show for extended viewing, the first few episodes you see will have you in stitches.

Overall, I've seen about 7 episodes and haven't gotten tired of it yet. The show draws its humor from a deep well of absurdity, a natural resource the British seem to have in abundance.

They tell me I'm required to put 10 lines of text in this comment, so for the rest of this message, I will make giraffe noises.

Thank you.

Ah Britain, the home of the gentleman, the birthplace of industrial, the home of football, the country that taught the world civilisation. But all is not well in Britain. Chavs have taken root deep in the culture, sexual practices have changed away from the norm even for those in high office while the old and infirm are allowed to remain within the wider population with inadequate controls. This is Britain. This is where we live.

And I suppose that is the best way to sum up how Little Britain began; a sketch show with exaggerated characters drawn from various aspects of life and blown up for effect. Whether it is the "ladies", the benefit fraud, the good-natured sop or the female teenage slag – all were here and all were good targets. The humour was rather crude and easy (surprisingly so for something that came from Radio 4 of all places) but once the characters were in place it was easy to enjoy it. This has changed a little bit over the course of three series and we now find ourselves with a series that has probably peaked and now seems to be desperately aping its better days in the hope for ongoing success. It was never so good that it would appeal to a mainstream audience (shown by the BBC editing it for repeat on BBC1) but it was snug on BBC2 with low However with generally good praise and lots of catchphrases comes more pressure and a key spot on BBC1. This has not been a good thing for a series that really shouldn't have gone beyond 2 runs on television. The mainstream audience has come for the catchphrases and they are being fed them over and over without anything really new added. The sketches are not cleverer or funnier, they are just louder or cruder than they were before. The old characters are in a rut and the new characters have settled into repetitive jokes with alarming speed. Relying on catchphrases and such is good for one series, maybe two, but it quickly gets old and, with nothing new coming through Little Britain has managed to outstay its welcome while ironically doing better in the ratings than ever.

With the new series even those that like the show will admit that things have gone for more base targets than before. Many of the characters now rely on physical and toilet humour (always the same jokes as well) and not enough of them are actually funny. Tom Baker's stuff remains funny because, although the approach is the same, his voice and his dialogue is funny. Lucas and Walliams are both funny but they can't totally carry it; given them good material (Orville was an example) and they can do it but ask them to just role around in fat suits and that is what they will do.

Overall this is quite a funny show but not one that is clever or funny enough to appeal to the audience share that it is currently vying for. Relying heavily on extreme characters, catchphrases and crudity is not sustainable and, although I enjoy it, I rarely sit to watch it because I started becoming aware long before series 3 started, that I had probably seen the vast majority of what it had to offer. After that, why watch it retread old ground?

I live in France, and I am virtually the only person at my school who does not have Sky. Therefore, I never saw Little Britain on television, but I heard everyone else at school talking about it and quoting it. So I decided to get this DVD.

Little Britain is possibly one of the smartest, funniest comedies I have ever seen. It was EVEN better than I expected it. If you aren't British, you will probably not understand all of the humor. Most of the stereotypes in the show are exaggerated, but actually real. In Britain, every town has loads of Vicky Pollards. Its hard to believe, but true.

Little Britain is absolutely Unmissable I give in 9.9 out of 10 (because nothing is perfect)

"Little Britain" is a wonderful comedy series starring the fantastic Mark Lucas and David Walliams. Taking an irreverent look at life in Britain, they tease and giggle their way through 30 min episodes poking fun at every one possible. The truly genius thing about the series is, we all know at least one of the characters.

The unruly chavette girl who thinks everyone is a slag (Vicky Pollard), The mean (and fat) leader of the "Fat Fighters" (Marjorie Dawes), "the only gay in the village" (Daffyd) and many others...

Meet the very bad transvestite Emily Howard, who swears she is a lady (but have you seen the hair on her legs?!) Sebastian, the Prime Ministers assistant, with an unhealthy lust...

The script writing is fantastic, the comedy timing is amazing, and it works so well. There is not one thing that I could say was wrong with this, except that maybe its too short? And we need some more Vicky Pollard! The new series is set to be even better than the first with many new and amusing characters. The long and the short of it? Its the dogs *ahem*...

Don't give me no evils!

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs

Comedy duo Matt Lucas and David Walliams portray a series of eccentric or satirical characters roaming modern day Britain and how the rest of society is faltering at the course of their actions.

When this show first came about,I was unable to show much interest in it.It was only until I sat down and really watched a few episodes that it began to grow on me (really so) and I began to see that,along with The Office,it was probably the only modern day comedy that could really be described as truly funny.

Like The Office,there's talent behind it,although like a modern show such as Bo Selecta!,which does tend to rely on just being really crude and vulgar as opposed to really being funny in any way,a fair bit of the humour on display is rather gross-out and rude.But therein lies the biggest irony:it's an interpretation of modern British society,which is vulgar and tacky.Who,when walking through some run-down council estate or local park,has't walked across some nonchalant,monosyllabic,incoherent trollop like Vicky Pollard?!?How many of you have come across some bitchy,condescending person like Marjorie Dawes when attending a weight-loss therapy session?How many Lou and Andys do we cross?

Lucas is the star of the show for me.I can't think of a character he does who I don't like.Walliams isn't bad,it's just one or two of his characters I can't stand (that 'eh eh eeeeeh' thing he does does my head in-I'd be liable to punch anybody who did it by me!).His 'I'm a laaaaaaaaaay-dee' thing is a little irritating too.He's good support to Lucas,but on his own,he ends up detracting from the show a little.

Okay,so it's a good realization of the people currently living in Britain.The thing is,the show's come on quite a way now,and it still seems to be very one-joke!In every episode,in every sketch,despite the show's continuity and its ability to be funny,it does still seem to be the same joke repeating and repeating itself in relation to every character.Pollard's 'yeah-but-no-but-yeah-but-no-but' thing is very true (it's how these common tarts speak!) but it is the same thing every episode,just done in a different context.It's not that it's necessarily bad because of this,on the contrary it's consistently funny every episode,but I can just see it being one of those shows where the gimmick will wear off rather quickly and the last episode will be screened in maybe two years time instead of lasting as long as,say,The Simpsons or Only Fools and Horses.

Having said all that,though,it's certainly one of the best shows around at the moment,and well worth seeing now if you haven't already seen an episode.****