TV Sets And The City

By london_mecca Last edited 232 months ago
TV Sets And The City
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Little Britain Goes Terrestrial

In the middle of a particularly long first (and I'm sure last) date, last Friday I discovered that the only thing that me and date had in common was a liking of Little Britain.

So we were able to spend the next half hour or so saying "yeah, but no, but yeah, but no, but shut urp" or "I'm a Laydeee", or "I want that one" to each other.

I had seen very little of the new series on BBC3 as it started when I was on holiday, but luckily this Sunday there's going to be a Little Britain Day, as the series ends on Saturday. So from Sunday 9pm you'll be able to sit back and watch the entire new series and find our what's going to shock a fair few viewers when it goes onto "mainstream" TV - BBC1 amazingly from the 3rd of December.

It's a fairly brave move from the Beeb to take it to BBC1 and when I heard it was moving, I thought, "Ah, they're going to dumb it down a bit now". But quite the contrary it's become even more shocking. However, I'm sure the BBC know what they're doing as a record 1.8 million viewers tuned in to BBC Three to watch the first episode of the new series, smashing the channel's previous record for ratings.

Little Britain manages to combine a fantastic shock value with humour. It's the sort of humour where you know you shouldn't really be laughing as the characters are very near the knuckle. You shouldn't really be laughing at people in wheelchairs - but you can when you know they can really walk and are totally obnoxious.

The BBC1 version will be slightly edited, so it will be interesting to see which characters are going to be dropped completely or toned down. Politically incorrect old ladies, Judy and Maggie, who literally throw up when they see gay people or racial minorities, I think might be in for the chop.

The character who wants "Bitty", is also going to raise a fair few eyebrows. "Bitty" to the uninitiated is "breast feeding", and in the last episode of the series, the character "Harvey Pincher" is about to get married and decides he wanted "Bitty". So his wedding is stopped while he, well, has a little err... snack at his mum's breast. Harvey goes back to the alter with a milk moustache, his surprised bride is asked whether she will take "This.......errrrrrr.......man???" (says the vicar). Bride's parents shake their heads rapidly. Surprised bride says "errrrr.....yes" and fortunately Harvey has the grace to wipe of his moustache before kissing the bride. It'll take a brave programmer to move this to BBC1 but we will see.

The last episode is also worth watching so you can actually catch on what, fast talking, gum chewing, track suit wearing chav Vicky Pollard is talking about. Vicky is arugably one of Little Britain's most popular and accessible cult characters. But talks at a rate faster than the speed of light. So it's fantastic in this episode where she has a new black boyfriend "Jermaine", has become very laid back and does her "yeah but, not but, yeah but, listen" in a slowed down Jamaican accent. Must have been a fantastic relief to the actor Matt Lucas.

Last Updated 26 November 2004