“Times have changed,” say the BBC.
Little Britain, the popular BBC comedy starring David Walliams and Matt Lucas, has been pulled from major streaming services such as BBC iPlayer and Netflix.
The sketch comedy show regularly featured the two lead actors playing characters while wearing blackface, as well as a character who feigned disability. During its original run, the show was also criticised for its portrayal of other vulnerable groups, such as working class people, transgender people and women.
The show ran for four seasons and 44 episodes between 2003 and 2007, with both actors reprising well-known roles from the show for special events such as Comic Relief.
A spokesman for the BBC said:
“There’s a lot of historical programming available on BBC iPlayer, which we regularly review. Times have changed since Little Britain first aired so it is not currently available on BBC iPlayer.”
Come Fly With Me, another series starring both actors, has also been removed from the relevant streaming services — having also featured white actors dressed and made-up as people from other ethnic backgrounds.
In recent years, Lucas has acknowledged mistakes in the creation of the show, having in 2017:
“Basically, I wouldn’t make that show now. It would upset people. We made a more cruel kind of comedy than I’d do now. Society has moved on a lot since then and my own views have evolved.”
