Little Britain, Series Three

Since I first saw the pilot of Little Britain on the opening night of BBC3, I knew I was going to love it. The first series shocked and delighted me all the way through. Catch Phrases and friends were made - a job well done.

Along came series two and the emphasis fell more to the grotesque. Every character seemed to be ugly and horrible in some way. Greedy Bubbles, Selfish Andy, Disgusting Bitty Man and many others. I rarely laughed. The magic had gone.

So what of series three?  Well, after two episodes I already think it is doing pretty well. The first one only raised a smile, but this last one has made me chuckle a fair bit. The Andy character is going somewhere, not just the same joke over and over again. That said, the weaker characters are the ones that just do their disgusting behaviour each time.

I mean - how many times is it funny to see an old lady lose a bladder full onto the floor whilst chatting to an acquaintance? How often, by the same token, should we laugh at a smarter old lady spewing projectile vomit across the room? These are single joke characters. Either develop them into something bigger, or only use them sparingly.

So, they are learning some lessons now, but many of the sketches are governed by the expense of the props. Those two huge fat suits cost a packet, and so they are re-using them a lot. It's a shame that the joke is only funny once.

Lucas and Walliams are very smart people, and full of comedic fun. I enjoy them, I like their grotesque humour. I know it's asking a lot, but the audience needs to be constantly wow'ed in order to keep it all fresh.

If series four is deemed necessary, I hope they really go to town and create something new. In the meantime, the present characters are like well-worn gloves. I enjoy them, but rarely laugh.

Comments

[Frank]

Agh! I was half way through writing an eerily similar entry on my blog when I read this! In essence, I agree with you 100%. I barely raised a smile with the first episode, although the second did warrant the odd snicker. Sometimes too much of a good thing is indeed bad. Look at Fawlty Towers - screamingly funny and now a part of our culture, yet only 12 episodes in existence. The Little Britain backlash starts here, and it's all your fault, Andy :-)

[Jason]

Yes Andy, I admit to having the same reaction to well worn gloves as you do - they are't funny, but keep your hands warm.

[Jason]

Unless of course they're so worn that some of the finger ends are holed, or there's a split somewhere in the side, or something like that. Sorry - I didn't make my last comment clearly enough.

[Rebecca]

I must not share the same sense of humour as I would be glad if they just disappeared all together.

[Frank]

Musn't share the same sense of humour as the other 10,000,000 viewers either, then :)

[AndyC]

The success of a comedy program and its intrinsic funniness are, sadly, not as causally related as we might wish.

[Ian]

Thankfully yes Frank, I like that feeling of being just a little bit special and not being part of the common denominator :)

[Frank]

Hey, 50 million dung beetles can't be wrong, either :)

But on the other hand, I agree with you - whatever happens to be popular usually irritates the life out of me as well.

[Jac]

At the risk of being 'populist' or 'antipopilist'- I am with Rebecca- I smile not at their antics. Lots of anties here.
Yours
Autie Jac

[Jac]

At the risk of being 'populist' or 'antipopilist'- I am with Rebecca- I smile not at their antics. Lots of anties here.
Yours
Auntie Jac

[Jac]

Oh dear - I seem to be in stereo. Sorry. :-(