British comedy Little Britain has been pulled from all streaming platforms because ‘times have changed’.
The show, written by and starring Matt Lucas and David Walliams, has been stripped from BBC iPlayer, Netflix and BritBox in the UK as objections resurfaced to some of the characters. Their other comedy series Come Fly With Me was also removed.
Both shows portray characters from different ethnic backgrounds, including Desiree DeVere, a woman played by Walliams in full blackface, the ‘I’m a lady’ sketches and Ting Tong the ‘Thai bride’.
“There’s a lot of historical programming available on BBC iPlayer, which we regularly review,” a BBC spokesperson said. “Times have changed since Little Britain first aired so it is not currently available on BBC iPlayer.” The show has come under fresh criticism during the Black Lives Matter movement. Walliams and Lucas have previously apologised and expressed regret about performing blackface characters.
“If I could go back and do Little Britain again, I wouldn’t make those jokes about transvestites. I wouldn’t play black characters,” Lucas said 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.”
Walliams recently said he would “definitely do it differently” today.
The news comes as other titles have also been removed from Netflix, including Chris Lilley’s Summer Heights High, Jonah From Tonga, and Angry Boys due to their inclusion of blackface, and scene from Friends where Ross asks a Puerto Rican technician to “look like him” has also been pulled.
Gone With The Wind has also been yanked, however will reportedly return “with a discussion of its historical context”.
Earlier this week, HBO Max announced that Looney Tunes characters like Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam will not have any guns in the streaming service reboot.
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