Reading Little Britain Comedy Matters on Contemporary Television

by Lockyer, Sharon

• ISBN13: 9781845119393
• ISBN10: 1845119398
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-06-15
• Publisher: Bloomsbury

Summary

Little Britain was an instant hit when it first appeared on British television in 2003. Written and performed by Matt Lucas and David Walliams, this satirical character-based sketch show, which grew out of a radio comedy series, introduced audiences to an assortment of contemporary characters from Daffyd 'I'm the only gay in the village' through to Thai mail-order bride Ting Tong Macadangdang. It moved from cult-comedy status to become a mainstream award-winning show and from a national to an international television comedy phenomenon. Although hugely popular, Little Britain has been criticised for pushing the boundaries of taste too far, for being grotesquely politically incorrect and for engaging in the 'humour of humiliation'.

Author Biography

Sharon Lockyer is Lecturer in Sociology and Communications, Brunel University. She is co-editor (with Michael Pickering) of Beyond a Joke: The Limits of Humour (2005).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. vii
Notes on Contributors	p. ix
Character List	p. xiii
Introduction: Britain, Britain, Little Britain…	p. 1
Narrative, Genre and Comedic Techniques
Analysing Little Britain as a Sketch Show	p. 19
Little Britain Live	p. 35
'Yeah but No but yeah': A Linguistic Perspective on the Humour of Little Britain	p. 53
Little Britain and Identity
How Little Britain Does 'Race'	p. 75
Chavs and Chav-nots: Social Class in Little Britain	p. 95
'Mischief and Monstrosity': Little Britain and Disability	p. 111
'The Only Feminist Critic in the Village?': Figuring Gender and Sexuality in Little Britain	p. 127
Little Britain and Inter/national Audiences
'I'm Anti-Little Britain, and I'm Worried I Might Start Laughing: Audience Responses to Little Britain	p. 147
Little Britain: An American Perspective	p. 171
	p. 183
Postscript: Little Britain USA	p. 209
Film, TV and Radio Guide	p. 215
Bibliography	p. 219
Index	p. 237
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