Line #17 Series/LittleBritain


1	[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/littlebritain_7497.png]]
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3	->''"Britain, Britain, Britain. Land of technological achievement. We've had running water for over ten years, an underground tunnel that links us to Peru, and we invented the cat."''
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5	Cult British SketchComedy show with an array of bizarre characters. Performed by Creator/MattLucas and Creator/DavidWalliams, with narration by former ''Series/DoctorWho'' star Creator/TomBaker. It began life as a radio series, and the TV version ran between 2003 and 2005. There was also a two-part Christmas special in 2006. A [=US=] version was broadcast on [=HBO=] and the [=BBC=] in 2008, featuring a number of new characters along with familiar faces from the original show. During its time on air, it was supplemented by special sketches for Comic Relief. A special one-off radio edition named ''Little Brexit'' was broadcast in 2019, which featured a number of sketches based around the theme of Brexit, and a series off sketches were produced for the BBC's ''Big Night In''.
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7	Noted for its excessive use of the CatchPhrase and various stereotypes, most of the humour comes from running gags related to each of its ''many'' quirky characters, almost all of which are played by Lucas and Walliams in varying degrees of make-up. See the character sheet for more information.
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9	Best-known sketches:
10	* Vicky Pollard, [[LowerClassLout chavvy]] teenage mother, is visited at home by a social worker and admits that she swapped the baby for a Music/{{Westlife}} CD. The horrified social worker exclaims "How could you do such a thing?" and Vicky says "I know. They're rubbish!"
11	* Lou and Andy visit a swimming pool.
12	* A man discovers that his mail-order Thai bride is in fact a "ladyboy".
13	* Sebastian, in love with the Prime Minister of Britain (who is his boss), serenades him in the House of Commons with "Beautiful" by Music/ChristinaAguilera.
14	----
15	!!Features tropes galore, including:
16	* AccidentalMisnaming: Type A. Marjorie frequently mangles the names of people in her slimming class - Meera ("Moira", "Mary"), Dave ("Johansen") and Jenny ("Julie"). Andy has occasionally addressed Lou as "Len."
17	* ActorAllusion:
18	** The Narrator reminded us once that we weren't watching the real Prime Minister, but "[[Creator/AnthonyHead that guy]] out of ''[[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffy]]''."
19	** The Narrator also remarks once that "he had a book once. It was called "Who On Earth Is Creator/TomBaker?""
20	* AdamWesting: The Narrator occasionally hints at his true identity: "With nothing to watch but repeats on the telly of ''Series/DoctorWho'', ''Medics'' and that episode of ''Series/{{Blackadder}} II'' I'm in..." The Narrator character is something of an exaggeration of Creator/TomBaker's real-life eccentric personality (albeit as "an old fascist," according to the creators).
21	* AnimalGoesToSchool: Played with in the first series of Little Britain. As a RuleOfThree gag, a school teacher tells the class that they have a new boy with them today. The first "new boy" is a grown man; the second is a boy in aristocratic period costume; and for the third, the teacher orders the class not to treat him any differently; the pupil is a dog wearing a tie. The teacher wearily adds, "Yes, he's a dog".
22	* AttentionWhore: Daffydd, although he wouldn't be the first to admit it. He prides himself on being the only gay man in his village and claims that he feels lonely, yet he feels threatened whenever another gay person arrives in the village and gets along with the locals better than he can. StatusQuoIsGod means that the new gay character won't reappear in the next sketch but one could reinterpret it as Daffydd's unpleasantness (and internalised homophobia) scaring them off. After a while it became apparent that pretty much everyone in the village is openly gay, he's just selectively oblivious.
23	* BackForTheFinale: All the students Linda insulted (even ones from deleted scenes) show up in the Series 3 finale.
24	* {{Blackface}}: Quite a lot and often done unironically. Weirdly enough, the first series had a recurring sketch where minstrels (who are characterised as wearing a very exaggerated form of blackface), are treated like a persecuted minority by the rest of British society. The joke was most likely that they could avoid being discriminated against if they just stopped wearing blackface.
25	* BlandNameProduct: The "vomiting ladies" sketches received complaints from the Women's Institute, who did not want their logo associated with a character portrayed as a right-wing bigot (and her put upon friend). From then on, the characters belonged to the fictional "Women's Association".
26	* BornInTheWrongCentury: The transvestites attempt to dress and act as Victorian "ladies".
27	* BreakingTheFourthWall: The narrator occasionally does this, the most notable moment being when he encourages upset viewers to write down the names on the credits as they play (even pointing out his own) and make obscene phonecalls to them, [[HilarityEnsues someone does.]]
28	* BrickJoke: When Vicky Pollard is in court for shoplifting, the court stenographer tries desperately to keep up with her MotorMouth way of talking. The same gag is used when Vicky and her mother appear in court in Thailand (just north of Shirtland).
29	* BritishBrevity: Three series plus a two-part Christmas special and a USA spin-off series, 28 episodes altogether.
30	%%* BritishStuffiness
31	* CatchPhrase: By the truckload. "Yeah, but, no, but ...", "I am the only gay in the village," "But I'm a lady!", "I want that one," "What a kerfuffle!", "Computer says no", "Look into my eyes ...", "Write the feem toon, sing the feem toon ...", "Bitty", "Margaret? Margaret?"
32	* CampGay: Dafydd Thomas is a caricature of this.
33	* ChristmasEpisode: Though it showed all the characters in foreign locations, and made no reference to Christmas.
34	* ChubbyChaser: Bubbles [=DeVere's=] ex-husband Roman is one. He apparently divorced her because she lost a lot of weight, and when she gets into fights with his current wife Desiree he's often eager to watch from the sidelines.
35	* CouchGag: The Narrator's opening and closing spiels are different in every show (and in the third season, many of the opening spiels quote rap lyrics).
36	* CouldntFindAPen: The reason for the narrator not writing a book.
37	--> '''Narrator:''' I'd love to write a book, but unfortunately I don't have a pen.
38	* DifferentForGirls: Emily/Eddie Howard.
39	* TheDogBitesBack: During the 2015 Comic Relief Sketch, [[spoiler:Creator/StephenHawking]] gets fed up with two characters mistaking his disability as deafness, so he shape-shifts into a HumongousMecha and [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment vaporizes them]].
40	* DoItYourselfThemeTune: InUniverse, in the Dennis Waterman sketches, whenever he wants to get a role, he wants to sing and write the theme tune of the tv program/film as well.
41	* EEqualsMCHammer: In one episode, a class of students is asked to determine "the square root of ''Franchise/{{Popeye}}''".
42	* {{Expy}}: Marjorie actually originated as one of Matt Lucas's characters on Shooting Stars - she was George Dawes's mum.
43	* ExtremeDoormat: Lou will give into Andy when he asks for something he doesn't like. He will then rectify the situation (most of the time) when Andy then says that he does not like what he asked as for.
44	* FailedASpotCheck: In the first series, each episode ends with somebody trying to beat a world record, but every attempt fails on a small practicality.
45	** When becoming the "tallest man", he is told that they're only measuring from the top of the head down; he is wearing an extremely tall hat.
46	** When building the biggest house of cards, he is told (having built an enormous house of cards) that he is not allowed to use sticky tape.
47	** When lying in a bath of baked beans, they only have one tin of baked beans.
48	** When making the largest pie, it is too big to fit in the oven.
49	** The "world's smallest ant" cannot be found.
50	** Trying to eat a bowl full of eggs as quickly as possible hits a snag when the spotter hits the wrong button on his timer and erases the recorded time.
51	* FanDisservice: Bubbles gets naked everytime she's onscreen.
52	%%* {{Flanderization}}
53	* FinishDialogueInUnison: When Vicky Pollard and Jackie Hayes have simultaneous MotorMouth rants, they finish with "Don't listen to her because she's gone all lezzy".
54	* FlippingTheTable: Marjorie (Fat Fighters) does this when she finds the table laid out with really fattening food for the class participants, for an engagement party to which she is not invited.
55	* FramesOfReference: Andy wears enormous thick-framed glasses, which possibly make him look even more gormless. (Lou wears more modestly-framed ones.)
56	* FunWithAlphabetSoup: There is a passing mention of "Alphabetti Spaghetti", from which Lou has to remove all the K's, for the fussy Andy.
57	* HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday: The Sir Norman Fry MP sketches from series 3 involved the aforementioned Fry meeting a group of journalists outside his house and telling them how he [[BlatantLies "accidentally" fell into said other gentleman.]]
58	* HaveIMentionedIAmGay: Dafydd will have to remind you that he's the only gay in the village. He's actually not -- see Everyone Is Gay above; his village is quite literally Wales' answer to Provincetown -- but don't ever tell him that. It's kind of questionable if he ''is'' gay, since he reacts with anger and disgust when men hit on him.
59	* HeterosexualLifePartners: Lou and Andy.
60	* HiddenDepths: Andy makes some very poetic statements off screen.
61	* TheHilarityOfHats: Somebody tries to win the world record for the tallest man by wearing an extremely tall top hat, until he learns that they're only measuring from the top of the head down.
62	* HypocriticalHumor: At one point Tom Baker says that old people who don't kill themselves are selfish. Tom Baker was 69 when the first series aired and doesn't seem to regard that as old.
63	* IHaveBrothers: Parodied in an Emily sketch.
64	* JerkAss: Vicky, Andy, Marjorie, Sebastian and Maggie.
65	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Bubbles [=DeVere=] is a notorious gambling addict, skips on her bills, and is often enough too eager to get to know a man without any respect for his personal space. Beyond that she's fairly easygoing and amicable around everybody else.
66	* LowerClassLout: Vicky Pollard plays the chav stereotype for laughs.
67	* ManChild: Harvey Pincher, who still insists on being breastfed ('bitty') by his mother, despite being in his twenties or thirties.
68	* MinorWithFakeID: When Vicky Pollard tries to buy alcohol, one of her mates holds up a scrap of paper saying "Vicky is definly 18".
69	* NamesakeGag:
70	** According to the narration, transvestism was invented by Dr. Neil Transvestite.
71	** Additionally, tennis was invented by Sir Jonathan Tennis, who wanted to fuse badminton and swingball.
72	** Also, the fancy dress party was created by Ian Fancydressparty.
73	* {{Narrator}}: Links together the otherwise unrelated skits... sort of.
74	* NiceGuy: Lou, who is arguably the only truly nice character in the show.
75	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Quite common in the 10 Downing Street sketches, with an stand-in for UsefulNotes/TonyBlair being the most prominent, stand-ins UsefulNotes/PeterMandelson and UsefulNotes/GordonBrown appearing a few times, and even a stand-in for [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg John Prescott]] being present in the background of one episode.
76	** However, this is averted with Vanessa Feltz, who plays herself, and is [[SpitefulSpit spat on]] by Marjorie Dawes.
77	* NoPeripheralVision: Lou, when he goes to talk to somebody else: Andy will get out of the wheelchair to ride on a horse, or to dive into a pool from the top diving board, with Lou completely unaware.
78	* ObfuscatingDisability: Andy.
79	* OddCouple: Lou and Andy.
80	* OnlySaneMan: Judy, who is horrified whenever Maggie vomits.
81	* OppressiveImmigrationEnforcement: In one recurring sketch, David Walliams plays a bigoted and unpleasant immigration officer at a major airport who considers his job to be all about turning away illegal entrants into Britain.
82	* OverlyLongGag: Later Mr. Mann sketches would drag on and on with the gap between "Margaret? Margaret?" and "Yes?"
83	* PantsFree: The police are checking invitations to a royal garden party, and they politely turn away a young man, apparently normally dressed, who is obsessed with Princess Anne. The policeman advises him to go home, and adds "and put some trousers on, will you?". It is then revealed that he is not wearing any.
84	* PlanesTrainsAndImbeciles: A recurring sketch involves a rude travel agent discussing customers' holiday options, only to process them in a program and answer "computer says no."
85	* {{Pun}}: Some of the voiceovers by Tom Baker contain puns.
86	--> In Thailand, just north of Shirtland...
87	* PuttingThePeeInPool:
88	** When Vicky Pollard is in a pool and is ordered by a lifeguard to go and get changed, she says she'll just have a wee first; which she does right there and then, in the pool.
89	** Andy pees in a hotel swimming pool in Little Britain USA.
90	* RecycledPremise: The show has been criticized for ripping off the surreal and grotesque humour found in ''Series/TheLeagueOfGentlemen'', of whom Lucas and Walliams are both fans and friends. That said, ''League of Gentlemen'' member Creator/MarkGatiss served as one of the co-writers on series 1.
91	* ReluctantGift: Played with. One RunningGag is the tricky customer Mr Mann, who is unsatisfied with every item he would buy in Roy's shop, for spurious reasons such as a book having 312 pages instead of 306. When he is finally satisfied with a picture of a disappointed horse, Roy hands over the picture at the exact same moment as Mr Mann hands over the money; they tussle simultaneously, each reluctant to let go.
92	--> '''Mr Mann:''' (As an afterthought, as he is leaving) I can't help thinking that that horse looks disillusioned rather than disappointed.
93	--> '''Roy:''' Get out of my shop or I will strangle you.
94	* RunningGag: Sometimes criticized as OverusedRunningGag.
95	* SelectiveObliviousness: Daffydd simply ''refuses'' to acknowledge that [[NonHeteronormativeSociety everyone is gay]] in Llandewi Breffi.
96	* SelfDeprecation: When Walliams and Lucas brought the show back for the BBC's ''Big Night In'', the pair reprised their roles on the transvestite ladies, where Lucas remarks that he isn't sure if they should still be doing the sketch.
97	* ShoutOut:
98	** Several to classic ''Series/DoctorWho'' - one character was named Matthew Waterhouse (after the actor who played Adric), Andy once flew into a rage when some bullies called him Davros, and, naturally, there's a reference or two in Creator/TomBaker's narration.
99	** Godzilla and Godzooky, of all things, gets one in series 3.
100	* SoundToScreenAdaptation: Started off as a radio show before going being made for television. Some sketches, such as the authoress who has trouble having long books written began on radio that were adapted for television.
101	* SpecialGuest:
102	** Included Creator/PeterKay, Creator/DawnFrench, Creator/RuthMadoc, Nigel Havers, Kate Moss. and Music/RobbieWilliams in roles on the show or in the live stage show. Creator/DavidSoul, Les Mackeown, Creator/MollieSugden, Music/EltonJohn, Cat Deeley, Vanessa Feltz, Paul [=McKenna=], Music/GeorgeMichael, Ronnie Corbett, Creator/JonathanRoss, and Trisha Goddard have all appeared as themselves. Dennis Waterman crashed one of the Dennis Waterman sketches, ripping into the creators about how innacurate his portrayal was... before he sang the feem toon.
103	** Rosie O'Donnell, Creator/PaulRudd, and Music/{{Sting}} appear in ''Little Britain USA'' with [[Series/{{Scrubs}} Sarah Chalke]] in a deleted scene.
104	* {{Spoonerism}}: Occasionally used by MotorMouth Vicky Pollard.
105	--> He tried to nick my brand new Reebok trainers, so I well reckon I should get ''consenpation'' for that as well.
106	* StageMum: Sandra Patterson, with her son Ralph being the child she wants to make famous at any cost.
107	* StaircaseTumble: Lou takes Andy to meet a woman who is also in a wheelchair. Andy dislikes her on sight, because she is in a wheelchair. When Lou's back is turned, Andy gets out of his own chair, and pushes the woman away, so that she rolls down a long flight of steps in her chair.
108	* StalkerWithACrush: Sebastian, who is infatuated with the Prime Minister.
109	* StealthPun: Dennis Waterman's size-related gimmick may seem inexplicable until the remember the old adage: ''there are no small parts, only small actors'' - Dennis in a nutshell.
110	* StopBeingStereotypical: One Dafydd Thomas sketch involve him encountering a group of normal gays and lesbians that calls him out for being a caricature.
111	* TheUnintelligible: Inverted in the Fat Fighters sketches. Meera speaks perfect English with an Indian accent, despite Marjorie pretending not to understand her.
112	-->'''Marjorie''': Do it again?
113	* TranslationYes: When Vicky Pollard is paralysed and only able to communicate by moving her eyes, she is connected to a machine which translates her eye movements to words. Most of her replies are her usual motor mouth gibberish, but one long sequence of eye movements translates to a simple "no".
114	* {{Transvestite}}: Emily Howard and her friend Florence, who are men who dress as ladies.
115	* UnsatisfiableCustomer:
116	** Mr Mann, whose Pirate Memory Game (suitable for ages four to eight) is too pirate-y.
117	** When Roy ''does'' have a book on "[[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment Medieval English music between the years 1356-1390]]", Mr Mann has a moment of StunnedSilence, then complains that its ''6 pages too long''. And that he's ''[[BlatantLies blind.]]''
118	* TheVoice: Margaret, in the Mr Mann sketches. She is never seen, only heard.
119	* VomitIndiscretionShot: Maggie, the conservative old woman who vomits whenever she finds out the food she ate was made by someone not white, British, straight or just different in general -- much to the horror of her friend, Judy.
120	* YoungerThanTheyLook: One sketch involves an elderly grandmother discussing with her grandson all the drugs she used to do back in the day, citing "we didn't know it was bad for you!" [[spoiler: She's 28 years old.]]
121	* YourSizeMayVary: Dennis Waterman is small. How small depends entirely on RuleOfFunny and what props the production team has at hand.
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Context Series / LittleBritain