Starring David Walliams, Matt Lucas, Anthony Stewart Head, Tom Baker
Written By: David Walliams, Matt Lucas
Directed By: Steve Bendelack, Gareth Carrivick
Studio: BBC/Warner
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First off, I’m obsessed with this show! I couldn’t have been happier when this arrived for review. I first discovered this on a Virgin Airline flight to London as this was the actual season being offered to passengers. Great plug eh? I couldn’t contain my laughter on the flight as everyone else is sleeping. The first skit that had me in tears was the “Bitty” sketch. If you don’t know what “Bitty” is, you will once you see the second series of Little Britain!

Little Britain was first created for radio, with stars Matt Lucas and David Walliams, and went on to the BBC as a sketch comedy show. Due to overwhelming popularity and success, BBC moved it up the network to BBC One during the second season. A big move for a show that is very risky with gross and sexual humor. The series revolves around several characters created by the stars, and places them in different situations and locales across the UK. I hear many people can relate to some of the characters, like the motor mouth teen, Vicky Pollard. There are also fan favorites, Lou and Andy. They are friends but Lou is Andy’s caretaker. Andy pretends to be in a wheelchair without Lou ever knowing it. Who could exclude uber-homosexual, Daffyd, the only gay in the village? A lot of the show’s characters revolve around just Lucas and Walliams, and for the most part, they are dressed up in ladies clothing. David and Matt surround themselves with great actors as well like Anthony Head, known for his role in the U.S. on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Anthony Head is a recurring character on the series as plays the Prime Minister of England. A brilliant choice as he works great with David Walliams’ character Sebastian, who is the Prime Minister’s aide. You see, Sebastian has a slight crush on his boss and makes for some of the best sketches on the series. The ladies love Sebastian I hear as well.

What I also love about the series is The Narrator, the legendary Tom Baker from Doctor Who, who throws in complete and utter nonsense as transitional material from one sketch to another. I also found the process of the show to be great. As you learn in the documentary and the commentary, the show is first rehearsed in London, and then shot on location featuring exterior and interior shooting. That is followed by filming in front of the live studio audience, which provides the laughs, not a silly laugh track. I always prefer it that way. Another thing I really enjoy about the series is how the characters from the first season are back, though some did not come over to series two or series three. For the most part, the major characters like Lou & Andy, Vicky Pollard, Daffyd, Marjorie and the fat fighters, Sebastian, and Carol “Computer Says No” Beers have been through the entire series run. Each series, David and Matt write some new characters and sketches but usually don’t recur as much as the main sketches.

One of the characters that debuts this season was the extremely racist college secretary Linda. The sketch starts out with a student coming in to speak with her, she calls up the professor or the head of the school. Explains why this person is there and describes the person to him. The first description isn’t the punchline but everything after that is because she’s so mean! She pretty much states the obvious and says what others are afraid to. Another sketch I always like is Mr Mann. This creepy afro headed man that enters some sort of shop and asks these really weird, and random questions to the clueless shop owner. The skit never gets old for me. But like I said above, the sketch that stood out in my mind this season that was just over the top and hilarious at the same time, was the “Bitty” sketches. I won’t go into too much detail but it involves a grown man and breast feeding. The character Anne took awhile to get used to, but after seeing the series over and over; she is one of my favorites! There isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t do a “eh, eh, eh” at someone. This comedy series is so funny & brilliant; it’s really easy to catch on and start quoting characters left and right. Once you see the show as much as I have, you can perfect the impressions pretty damn good. My brother always calls up my parents and starts doing Lou & Andy impressions on their answering machine. It’s quite comical. But anyway….

You couldn’t ask for better extras on this set. Featuring a great documentary that isn’t some polished fluff, it’s a guy with a camcorder and following the actors pretty much. They provide some good laughs on this as well. I would watch the series first though. It might spoil the fun. Also, a special Comic Relief episode was included on the set that the show did with a little help from celebrities Elton John, George Michael and Robbie Williams. Some of my favorite sketches are on this episode so it was great to see them included. Outtakes from the episode are also featured as well as TV and Radio interviews with popular talk shows in the UK. If you really want to get inside the series, listen to the commentaries with David Walliams and Matt Lucas as they break down that third wall. Just like the documentary, enjoy the series first then the extras.

It’s tough to go over each sketch but for me, Series Two was what pulled me into the show. It takes a little warming up to with the characters, but after that, you will be wetting yourself. I have turned on my whole family and friends to the series, and keep spreading that virus that is known as Little Britain. Now if we could get a few more series out of them, than that would be awesome. EH EH EH!!

Features:
-Commentary on All 6 Episodes by David Walliams, and Matt Lucas, along with Geoff Posner
-45 minutes of deleted scenes (put together as one big episode)
-Comic Relief Episode featuring George Michael, Elton John and Robbie Wiliams
-Comic Relief episode outtakes
-TV and Radio Interviews with stars David Walliams and Matt Lucas
– Little Documentary (45 minutes)

Audio:
-English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)

Video:

Subtitles:
English, Spanish

Favorite Scenes: Anything with Lou and Andy, Anne feeds the ducks, Sebastian vs. the Us Aid, Mr Mann buys a card, BITTY!, Computer Says Noooo. Martin, its Linda
Rating: NR
Running Time: 180 minutes
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating: