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| Little Britain - Series 1-3 | 
 enlarge | Director: Steve Bendelack
Actors: Matt Lucas, David Walliams, Rob Brydon, Estelle Harris, Tony Head
Studio: 2 Entertain Video
Category: DVD
List Price: £39.99
Buy New: £10.39
You Save: £29.60 (74%)
Buy New/Used from £10.39
Avg. Customer Rating:  (14 reviews)
Sales Rank: 3626
Format: Anamorphic, Box Set, Pal
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Media: DVD
Running Time: 571 minutes
Number Of Items: 6
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.5 x 1.9
EAN: 5014503210120
ASIN: B000IJ7GWI
Release Date: November 13, 2006
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 9 more reviews...
 Silly, bawdy, brutal, clever, satiric, surreal, lewd and funny November 12, 2008
Says our dignified narrator and guide, "Britain...Britain...Britain...land of tradition...fish and fries...the changing of the garden...trooping the colours. Have you ever wondered about the people of Britain? Nor have I..."
And with that, Matt Lucas and David Walliams take us into a Britain far removed from Jane Austin. Lucas is short, fat and hairless, something like a pink, soft kewpie doll. Walliams is tall, hirsute (hair suit?) and, depending on the occasion, wolfish or just showing a lot of teeth. They are the creators, writers and performers of Little Britain, a sketch comedy series centered on the lives of a dozen or so worst examples of British human life. Want an obnoxious, trouble-making teen with a thick accent and an excuse for everything? Try out Vicky Pollard. How about the effeminate assistant to the Prime Minister, who invariably finds excuses to fall to his knees directly in front of the man. Or the fat, wheelchair-bound Andy Pipkin, who mumbles and lolls, and is just too lazy to walk. And there's plump Daffyd Thomas, young Welsh lad who dresses in tight, bright polyester and is the only gay in his village...and is determined to keep it that way. And more and more. We visit them often, usually in places like Kelsey Grammar School and St. God's Hospital. Since Lewis and Walliams play all of them (backed up by a small cast of straight-faced actors), the old tradition in Britain of men wearing dresses is alive and well.
There's nothing like it in the United States, and probably never will be. The FCC would have a fit, and so would most U.S. social service agencies. Little Britain is ferociously un-PC. If you think it is terrible taste to make fun of homosexuals, old ladies, the mentally disturbed, the fat, minorities, or any number of other groups (politicians and teenagers, of course, excepted), this is not the show for you. ("Are you fat because you're a lesbian or are you a lesbian because you're fat?") Matt Lucas and David Walliams have created a world (and a series) that is silly, bawdy, brutal, clever, satiric, surreal, lewd and funny. It's best watched in small doses. Little Britain was so popular in Britain that it just about became an empire...Christmas specials, performances for charity, a try at transplanting to America, interviews and awards. Of course, the pecksniffs and self-appointed moral guardians are always on the alert. Said one British critic, "Little Britain has been a vehicle for two rich kids to make themselves into multi-millionaires by mocking the weakest people in Britain. Their targets are almost invariably the easiest, cheapest groups to mock: the disabled, poor, elderly, gay or fat. In one fell swoop, they have demolished protections against mocking the weak that took decades to build up."
Perfectly true. Shame they're so funny.
 Synopsis: Write one joke, repeat endlessly over three series. October 15, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Mash & Peas and Rock Profile showcased what genuine talents Lucas and Walliams are. Little Britain is the tagic, wasted opportunities both have become. While season one was sporadically enjoyable, two and three descended into the very worst kind of British comedy, pandering to the lowest common denominator (sadly now the majority) with catchphrase-comedy - cheap, lazy writing essentially portraying exactly the same joke with next to no progression or development, just minor situational alterations in each episode. Just to exacerbate things, many of the jokes aren't in the least bit funny in the first place, and several are actually quite dubious and one could argue racist. Irony is an art, not an excuse. When all else fails, Lucas and Walliams opt for bad language to get the inevitably laugh from their audience, most of whom wouldn't know well written, sophisticated comedy at all.
Little Britain is a waste of two very funny people and further adds to the decaying state of British comedy. That it became so popular says it all.
Whatever October 10, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The first time we meet the various characters and situations created by Walliams and Lucas there is some humour and originality. The first couple of episodes are pretty funny, shocking and outrageous. And then.... every scene is just repeated. So it's the same jokes, the same catchphrases and after a while it dawns on you that these guys are not original and clever they are just crude and have no scruples regarding the offense they will cause. The first time we see someone piss themselves, or ask for "bitty" or say "yer but no" or jump out of a wheelchair it shocks and sometimes causes humour. But by the 20th time?
Watch 2 or 3 episodes and then don't bother.
Like so many programmes that were initially on the raido... May 7, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This initially was on Radio 4, and if you track down the cd of it, it is really very funny. Why the tv series caught the imagination of the country in such a potent way is something of a mystery to me. It is very repetitious, but where something like The Fast Show was similar, that was basically much funnier, and kept re-inventing itself. This reminds me of latter Python, and the thoughts at the time of Terry Gilliam; 'when you set out to shock people, after they have got used to being shocked, where do you do with it?', and I think he's right. It's highlights are some of the central characters that have been (by series 3) done to death and the wonderful leathery voice of Tom Baker, but by half way through series 2 you feel like you've eaten a box of mars bars.... enough! I am glad to see it seems to have croaked it's last (after milking it in America), remeber it was it was when it was fresh; it now feels like it's stinking the place up!
Very, very good March 18, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you like the "politically correct" discharge it.
But if you like old style "hard" british humour, i.e. non "polished" like Mr Bean don't miss it
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