A Small Problem

In the 1980s opposition to Apartheid in South Africa was reaching a crescendo.

A new wave of comedians emerged with the 'Alternative comedy' tag. They were in opposition with the mainstream comedians who picked on easy targets such as women, gays, ethnic minorities etc.

A Small Problem was a BBC sitcom that was intended to be a satire on prejudice and especially racial prejudice.

Unfortunately many people missed the point of the satire altogether and thought the series was picking on short people and getting easy laughs at their expense.

The show was based in a vision of Britain that practised a form of apartheid based on people's height. Anyone below 5 foot were moved to a ghetto south of the River Thames.

The main star was Christopher Ryan, more famous as Mike from The Young Ones. The series really did not take off because it was weighed down by the controversy of its subject matter.

The writers, one of them being Tony Millan was also famous as a sitcom actor. He tried to explain that the series was a satirical allegory but to no avail. It was sporadically funny and a brave attempt to do something different.

Fortunate enough to have been in the audience for one episode. Funny but sadly, never really took off.

In general there small people where ghettoised and the main protagonist insisted that he wasn't a "small" because when they shifted from Imperial to Metric, he no longer made the cut. This was the point where any comparison to a real discriminatory situation ended. An arbitrary decision could alter the line. Like being a "bit" gay or a "bit" black or a "bit" Muslim. Didn't quite make sense. I'm sure the idea was to make the view feel like they could easily be discriminated against but it didn't quite make it. It was supposed to be a bit more cutting than it actually was but then I was only 11 so what did I know.

I particularly remember the theme.

They're the lowest of the low. They refuse to grow you know. They like it down there.

I loved this show and found it hilarious - also an imaginative and intelligent script. I'm small, and I can't believe people complained. Although funny, it gave a bit of an idea of what it must have been like under the Nazis - what with internment camps for small people, the book 'Little Women' being burned, short people having to hide with sympathisers (relatives) and being betrayed etc. I remember there was an 'undergroud' movement which was actually below a block of flats, where they would plan how they could survive. Another part was that everything was designed for taller people, making everyday life very difficult. Sounds about right! The whole thing was very thought-provoking. Wish I could see it again.

I think it was taken 'off air' as there was a hint that it may have been making fun of 'small people' The politically correct brigade were around at that time too!!

I always remember the guy who used to be a 'tall' then he was banished to the ghetto after they changed to metric :-) I've tried everywhere to buy a copy of the complete series without success. If anyone knows where I could locate one then I would be most grateful Also starred David Rappaport I believe. His 'student card' picture was of the top half of his head only, as the chair in the photo booth only wound up so far