Little Britain: Difference between revisions
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Famous and popular Britcom, a character-based sketch show produced in Great Britain, written and performed by Matt Lucas and David Walliams. The show was broadcast in Britain from 2003 to 2006, due to its huge domestic success it was eventually adopted by several international production studios to find its way to an audience all over the world. | Famous and popular Britcom, a character-based sketch show produced in Great Britain, written and performed by Matt Lucas and David Walliams. The show was broadcast in Britain from 2003 to 2006, due to its huge domestic success it was eventually adopted by several international production studios to find its way to an audience all over the world. | ||
Famous and popular Britcom, a character-based sketch show produced in Great Britain, written and performed by Matt Lucas and David Walliams. The show started off as a radio program and was turned into a TV-show and broadcast in Britain from 2003 to 2006, due to its huge domestic success it was eventually adopted by several international production studios to find its way to an audience all over the world. | |||
== Characters == | |||
The fictional characters of the show display a great variety of British, Welsh and Scottish stereotypes and clichés of social, sexual, and political topics, which is typical for sketch comedy in Britain. The show is a satire of British society, culture and various traditions of Great Britain. The targets that are satirized are diverse and include people of all ages, ethnicities, and social positions. The show is guided by a narrator, Tom Baker. This narrative frame seems to be the basis for the educational character, which is to explain Britishness to foreign people. | |||
Vicky Pollard is one of the most popular characters in the World of Little Britain. She impersonates the stereotype of a working-class teenage girl, in slang chav, with a very specific look, language and social manners. Her standard response begins with the catchphrase “yeah, but no, but yeah”, which exemplifies the show’s great impact on contemporary language use, being a well-known saying in British society, today. | |||
== The Show’s Humour == | |||
The creators do not flinch from ridiculing the underprivileged, the disabled, the overweight or any other minority for the sake of humour. Moreover they are mocking political correctness, a concept, which seems to be ubiquitous in British society. Furthermore, the producers criticize the concept of an alleged core culture representing Britishness. The name of the show derived from the term ‘Little Englander’, which is used to describe a group of English nationalists, who are considered to be narrow-minded and xenophobic. Combined with ‘Great Britain’ the satirical character of the show becomes apparent. | |||
== References == | |||
1. Mills, Brett. “’I’m Anti-Little Britain, and I’m Worried I Might Start Laughing’: Audience Responses to Little Britain.” Reading Little Britain: Comedy Matters on Contemporary Television. Ed. Sharon Lockyer. London: IB Tauris, 2010. 147-170. | |||
2. Mowatt, Ian. “Analysing Little Britain as a Sketch Show.” Reading Little Britain: Comedy Matters on Contemporary Television. Ed. Sharon Lockyer. London: IB Tauris, 2010. 19-33. | |||
3. Sedlmayr, Gerold. “’Yeahbutnobutyeahbut’. The Dismantling of Britishness in Little Britain.” Journal for the Study of British Cultures: Transcultural Britain. Ed. Rainer emig et al. Vol. 15, Issue 1 (2008). Tübingen: Gunter Narr. 11-23. | |||
Revision as of 09:03, 4 July 2017
Famous and popular Britcom, a character-based sketch show produced in Great Britain, written and performed by Matt Lucas and David Walliams. The show was broadcast in Britain from 2003 to 2006, due to its huge domestic success it was eventually adopted by several international production studios to find its way to an audience all over the world. Famous and popular Britcom, a character-based sketch show produced in Great Britain, written and performed by Matt Lucas and David Walliams. The show started off as a radio program and was turned into a TV-show and broadcast in Britain from 2003 to 2006, due to its huge domestic success it was eventually adopted by several international production studios to find its way to an audience all over the world.
Characters
The fictional characters of the show display a great variety of British, Welsh and Scottish stereotypes and clichés of social, sexual, and political topics, which is typical for sketch comedy in Britain. The show is a satire of British society, culture and various traditions of Great Britain. The targets that are satirized are diverse and include people of all ages, ethnicities, and social positions. The show is guided by a narrator, Tom Baker. This narrative frame seems to be the basis for the educational character, which is to explain Britishness to foreign people.
Vicky Pollard is one of the most popular characters in the World of Little Britain. She impersonates the stereotype of a working-class teenage girl, in slang chav, with a very specific look, language and social manners. Her standard response begins with the catchphrase “yeah, but no, but yeah”, which exemplifies the show’s great impact on contemporary language use, being a well-known saying in British society, today.
The Show’s Humour
The creators do not flinch from ridiculing the underprivileged, the disabled, the overweight or any other minority for the sake of humour. Moreover they are mocking political correctness, a concept, which seems to be ubiquitous in British society. Furthermore, the producers criticize the concept of an alleged core culture representing Britishness. The name of the show derived from the term ‘Little Englander’, which is used to describe a group of English nationalists, who are considered to be narrow-minded and xenophobic. Combined with ‘Great Britain’ the satirical character of the show becomes apparent.
References
1. Mills, Brett. “’I’m Anti-Little Britain, and I’m Worried I Might Start Laughing’: Audience Responses to Little Britain.” Reading Little Britain: Comedy Matters on Contemporary Television. Ed. Sharon Lockyer. London: IB Tauris, 2010. 147-170.
2. Mowatt, Ian. “Analysing Little Britain as a Sketch Show.” Reading Little Britain: Comedy Matters on Contemporary Television. Ed. Sharon Lockyer. London: IB Tauris, 2010. 19-33.
3. Sedlmayr, Gerold. “’Yeahbutnobutyeahbut’. The Dismantling of Britishness in Little Britain.” Journal for the Study of British Cultures: Transcultural Britain. Ed. Rainer emig et al. Vol. 15, Issue 1 (2008). Tübingen: Gunter Narr. 11-23.