Created by
Matt Lucas and David Walliams
Cast
Matt Lucas
David Walliams
TomBaker ………. Narrator
Anthony Stewart Head ………. The Prime Minister
Run Time: App. 745 minutes
Unrated
DVD Release date: November 20, 2007
A typical episode of Little Britain opens with the show’s narrator (and Doctor Who number 4) Tom Baker reciting something along the lines of:
Britain, Britain, Britain! Here are some facts about Britain that you might not know: Number One: Britain is a country. Number Two: Britain is called Britain. Number Five: Britain!
Occasionally, the pure oddness of these openings is evocative of the late Douglas Adams, such as:
Britain, Britain, Britain! Land of technological achievement! We’ve had running water for over ten years, an underground tunnel that links us to Peru and we invented the cat!
This absurd narrator ties together the characters of Little Britain, the sketch comedy show which alleges to follow the lives of everyday British folk. These folk include: self-professed homosexual Dafydd Thomas, who believes himself to be “the only gay in the village” despite all evidence to the contrary; the fast-talking yet completely ineloquent juvenile delinquent Vicky Pollard; “rubbish transvestite” Emily Howard, who often proclaims “I’m a lady!”; and Sebastian, the fawning, lovesick assistant to the Prime Minister. All the above characters, save Anthony Stewart Head’s Prime Minister, are portrayed by the show’s creators Matt Lucas and David Walliams. Both are effective chameleons, with Lucas fairly convincing as a woman. (He’s not as pretty as David Foley mind you, but probably more passable.)
Unlike Saturday Night Live and most other sketch shows, Little Britain contains no bogus commercials, movie parodies, nor fake talk shows set to showcase celebrity impressions. In fact, the only noticeable celebrity impression is that of Dennis Waterman in a re-occurring sketch, an impression described by Walliams and Lucas as being nothing like the actual Dennis Waterman.
Because it doesn’t rely on satirizing pop-culture trends, the humor of Little Britain is derived from it characters. Most characters are re-occurring, some getting a couple of segments over the course of a series, others getting a couple of segments nearly every episode. Despite an abundance of broad humor (there are both a vomiting and a urinating old lady characters), these characters are drawn quite specifically. The characters tend to have storyline arcs over the course of a season, which is quite different from what normally sees from a sketch show. It is almost like watching a number of very short sitcoms in succession.
At times the show can be repetitive. Characters tend to do about the same thing each time around. (Though I enjoy them, each Mr. Mann sketch is essentially identical.) There is a reliance on catchphrases that the snobbish will find off-putting. In the end though, the show is funny more often than not. Lucas and Walliams are both charming and perfectly willing to make themselves as repulsive as possible for the sake of comedy. Though bawdy, it is never mean-spirited, and it is never afraid to be either too broad or too subtle. Each half-hour show is jam-packed with jokes ranging from quick interstitial gags like “the literal mime” to the grotesque scenario of the full grown man who still breast-feeds.
Whether you are a fan of Monty Python or Benny Hill, Little Britain is worth checking out.
(Obvious caveat: I wouldn’t recommend buying an 8-disc set for any show that one hasn’t seen.)
The DVD set
Audio and Visual
Everything looks and sounds as good as it should. That is, except for one set of “live sketches” from the Teenage Cancer Trust show. Even then, the disc warns you that the audio quality is substandard.
The DVD Set-up and extras
I’ve had this set for a long time, and I’ve still many extras left. One interesting feature worth noting is that each disc contains Character Playlists. With this extra, one can click on a specific character, and all of that character’s sketches contained on that disc will play consecutively.
Series 1:
The first series is split up on the first two discs. It is 8 episodes long. Each episode has commentary by Lucas and Walliams, with producer Myfanwy Moore chiming in on the first 4 and director Steve Bendelack joining on the last 4.
The first disc includes the original pilot for Little Britain, most of which was subsequently cannibalized for other episodes. There are a number of deleted scenes with optional commentary. These are pretty funny. Some expand the stories of less popular characters, while others feature characters that wouldn’t be seen until series 2. There is an interview with Lucas and Walliams by Jonathan Ross. Finally the first disc also contains the show’s BBC 3 Idents.
Disc 2 contains something called What Does Britain Mean to You?, a short featurette in which the characters of Little Britain answer that title question. There is also the Best of Rock Profile. Prior to Little Britain, Lucas and Walliams collaborated on Rock Profile, a fake interview show which featured their absurd “unimpressions” of various musicians. There is a 36-minute “Making of” featurette called How to Make a Little Britain which also documents the series adaption from radio show to television series. There are 4 live sketches from the Teenage Cancer Trust and a Radio Interview with Lucas and Walliams (which an accompanying photo gallery).
Series 2
Disc 3 contains all 6 episodes from series 2 with optional commentary. Clicking on one spot results in an audio clip of “DVD says no.”
Disc 4 contains extras, extras and more extras. The first is Little Documentary, a 43-minute behind-the-scenes featurette on the making of series 2. It could really use some chapter breaks. There is a 23 minute Comic Relief episode of Little Britain, featuring guest stars like George Michael and Elton John. They have trouble keeping straight faces. Also included are 3 minutes of outtakes from that special.
There are a number of interviews with Lucas And Walliams from a bunch of different talk shows, an extra Dafydd sketch and 50 minutes worth of deleted scenes with optional commentary. Most are funny, and were deleted from the series for either tone or redundancy.
Series 3
Disc 5 contains all 6 episodes from series 3, with optional commentary. The menus for this series have a viewmaster theme and are a little harder to navigate than the previous series.
Disc 6 contains the Extras for series 3. There are 44 minutes of Deleted Scenes this time around (with optional commentary).
The South Bank Show Special is 50 minutes long,and is basically a behind-the-scenes promo piece.
There are 36 minutes of highlights from BBC’s Little Britain Night; it’s a combination of interview/host segments/ sketches.
Also contained within is the trailer for Little Britain Live, an interview with the creators on Richard & Judy, a ten minute interview with David Walliams on Top Gear, and a “Heresy” Radio bit which lasts about 30 minutes.
Little Britain Abroad
Disc 7 contains Little Britain Abroad, a two-part special in which the series’ characters travel outside of Britain. There is an optional commentary.
The disc’s extras include Little Britain Down Under, an hour-long documentary of Little Britain‘s tour of Australia. There is some commentary here as well.
There is also a 45-minute long Little Britain Live does Comic Relief special. It’s pretty much the same show as Little Britain Live on disc 8, save with special guest stars like Jonathan Ross, Dawn French (filling in for Myfanwy), and the REAL Dennis Waterman.
Finally, there are 5 minutes worth of deleted scenes (with commentary) and a Comic Relief Trailer with Andy and Lou.
Little Britain Live
Disc 8 contains the special Little Britain Live.
We also get the hour-long Little Britain’s Big Swim with deleted scenes. This documents David Walliams’s successful attempt to swim the English Channel. It is narrated by Matt Lucas.
The extras contain a 14 minute making of doc which covers the logistics of planning the live tour. There is also a 12-minute doc on the making of the DVD.
There are some sketches with Lou and Andy in Blackpool. It’s about 2 minutes long and has optional commentary. Also 2 minutes long is an extra Fatfighter’s Sketch.
Finally there are 15 minutes worth of deleted scenes with commentary.
The Inside Pulse
Let me tell you that the term “Complete Collection” is no misnomer. Such a collection does invite itself to some redundancies, but if you are a fan of Little Britain, there is plenty here to covet.
