Little Britain to return oh great.

[paruses]

he's a fucking cunt

If he's ever mentioned on The The One Show Show then John Holmes strongly supports this.

Also - he has that air about him anyway, doesn't he?

[Barry Admin]

Vaguely recall Mark Heap being really fed up with Walliams on the Spaced commentary track. Something to do with an overzealous performance where he actually accidentally physically hurt Heap?

[the]

Vaguely recall Mark Heap being really fed up with Walliams on the Spaced commentary track. Something to do with an overzealous performance where he actually accidentally physically hurt Heap?

Walliams pulled Heap's tongue, which is on an outtake. I can't remember Heap's demeanour on the Spaced commentary (I don't think I could stomach relistening to that these days), but I do remember Heap getting fed up on the Big Train commentaries, I think because everyone was being boisterous and speaking over him. (Not relevant to this, I know.)

[dr_christian_troy]

Did I ever tell you about the time I saw Little Britain live when they were touring Australia?

It was in a venue resembling a gym hall, in Perth. It was Matt Lucas's birthday so they seemed half cut throughout the evening and didn't seem to care that they fucked up the lines.

I don't know what the protocol is in Australia when it comes to age-restriction, but there families with children and teenagers there - and for a fair proportion of the audience in attendance, the show was deeply inappropriate.

Especially when Walliams played his Des Kaye character and invited people to come on stage to play "Hide The Sausage" - which culminated in Walliams successfully pulling the trousers down and then attempting to pull the underwear down on a teenage boy from the audience. The audience were initially laughing and then kind of just...stopped. The boy then went with them backstage and then his family were sent to join him by security, and they didn't return for Act 2. It was pretty fucking appalling.

[neveragain]

That part of the live show was a rip-off of Herr Lipp's bit in the League's first live show, but the League were sensible enough to pick on older 'boys'.

[dr_christian_troy]

That part of the live show was a rip-off of Herr Lipp's bit in the League's first live show, but the League were sensible enough to pick on older 'boys'.

Spot on. It's interesting to me that Herr Lipp's version seems far more restrained and generally way more respectable of its audience than the Walliams version.

[bgmnts]

This.
I still quote the Shirley Bassey

You haven't got the range.

[Shit Good Nose]

Walliams pulled Heap's tongue, which is on an outtake. I can't remember Heap's demeanour on the Spaced commentary (I don't think I could stomach relistening to that these days), but I do remember Heap getting fed up on the Big Train commentaries, I think because everyone was being boisterous and speaking over him. (Not relevant to this, I know.)

Nothing against Heap, but I've always got the impression he gets very easily annoyed.  I've seen more than one interview over the years where he's kept looking at his watch and given really half-assed answers, even when the interviewer was properly clued up.

Maybe he's just one of those that doesn't like to do things like interviews or promotion.

Did I ever tell you about the time I saw Little Britain live when they were touring Australia?

It was in a venue resembling a gym hall, in Perth. It was Matt Lucas's birthday so they seemed half cut throughout the evening and didn't seem to care that they fucked up the lines.

I don't know what the protocol is in Australia when it comes to age-restriction, but there families with children and teenagers there - and for a fair proportion of the audience in attendance, the show was deeply inappropriate.

Especially when Walliams played his Des Kaye character and invited people to come on stage to play "Hide The Sausage" - which culminated in Walliams successfully pulling the trousers down and then attempting to pull the underwear down on a teenage boy from the audience. The audience were initially laughing and then kind of just...stopped. The boy then went with them backstage and then his family were sent to join him by security, and they didn't return for Act 2. It was pretty fucking appalling.

I saw them in Bristol.  I don't know if it was the same tour, but that sketch wasn't featured.  What was featured was verbatim performances of sketches from the shows - no improv, nothing new, not even any intentional "fluffs" to entertain the audience.  Just sketches lifted direct from the show re-done live.  I saw a lot of disappointed faces that night.  On the other hand, plenty of people seemed to love it anyway.

You haven't got the range.

YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE RANGE!

[JesusAndYourBush]

Still the best thing Walliams has ever done - https://youtu.be/M0Ffca4xU7E?t=26

The best thing they did as Mash & Peas was their appearance on Dom & Kirks Night O Plenty.  They just pissed about and Dominik Diamond (Lucas's hatred of him was palpable) got more and more angry and they ended up trashing the studio (well, overturning a table).

[the]

The best thing they did as Mash & Peas was their appearance on Dom & Kirks Night O Plenty.  They just pissed about and Dominik Diamond (Lucas's hatred of him was palpable) got more and more angry and they ended up trashing the studio (well, overturning a table).

You missed out the bit where Walliams threw a dart that narrowly missed Diamond's head, and he consequently threatened to kick the shit out of him. I don't know about you but I'm with Dom on that one.

[Shit Good Nose]

The best thing they did as Mash & Peas was their appearance on Dom & Kirks Night O Plenty.  They just pissed about and Dominik Diamond (Lucas's hatred of him was palpable) got more and more angry and they ended up trashing the studio (well, overturning a table).

That was just arsey off-the-cuff hi-jinks and not scripted comedy, though.


When that incident was talked about on here a few years ago, I seem to remember someone posting something from a third party onlooker who said that it was actually Walliams and Lucas who were being the real pricks, and Diamond's anger was more than justified.

Anyone else remember that?

[JesusAndYourBush]

Yes they were definitely being pricks, it's still funny though.
I won the limerick competition on that show.  I still have the t-shirt and mug.

[momatt]

You haven't got the range.

All the hits dahhhhling.

[bgmnts]

THUNDABAWWWWLLL

Genuinely funniest thing they've done.

[ian01604]

That was just arsey off-the-cuff hi-jinks and not scripted comedy, though.


When that incident was talked about on here a few years ago, I seem to remember someone posting something from a third party onlooker who said that it was actually Walliams and Lucas who were being the real pricks, and Diamond's anger was more than justified.

Anyone else remember that?

It was definitely Lucas and walliams being out of order. It was amusing live tv at the start (repeatedly singing gary glitter's it's good to be back, when they were inroduced) which Diamond and the stand in presenter Eunice the stuntwoman from Gladiators took in good humour. 

Towards the end one of them was bragging on camera about having their finger up Dominik's bum while he tried to do a link. The dart incident was the final straw and made you sympathise with Diamond.

Incidentally, I didnt see the incident until YouTube and found out about it at the time on paramount text's mailbox pages where people called in to ask what had gone on and if it was staged.

[jobotic]

This.
I still quote the Shirley Bassey and Take That sketches to this day.  I've largely forgotten Little Brtiain (though some of it is still ok I'm sure).

Hasn't got the range darling? and that Andy Peters song?

[evilcommiedictator]

It was my understanding that Walliams on tour tried to fuck everything that moved and Lucas tried to do right by the fans?

[Cloud]

The comeback no one asked for.

I found it funny for the first series and then it just got repetitive and boring.  lol the seemingly dimwitted guy in the wheelchair is actually perfectly intelligent and able bodied... we get it... 50th time and it wears a bit thin...

[ajsmith2]

The comeback no one asked for.

I found it funny for the first series and then it just got repetitive and boring.  lol the seemingly dimwitted guy in the wheelchair is actually perfectly intelligent and able bodied... we get it... 50th time and it wears a bit thin...

As I recall it, the change between the likeable and rib tickling whimsy of Series 1 and the genuinely entirely laugh-free punching down gross out fest of series 2 and beyond was stark, immediate and permanent. I just remember looking forward to S2 E1 and never being more disappointed by a second series premiere of anything I liked before ever. Everything that made Se1 good was instantly gone, and never did I laugh at LB again (apart from at one line in their Comic Relief George Michael interview).

[ajsmith2]

Just looking at Wikipedia and apparently David Schwimmer co-directed the 4th series in 2008? WTH???

Less surprisingly, forum fave Graham Linehan directed the TV pilot episode. Which, you'll be interested to note, featured the visual debut of Emily Howard.

[Petey Pate]

Especially when Walliams played his Des Kaye character and invited people to come on stage to play "Hide The Sausage" - which culminated in Walliams successfully pulling the trousers down and then attempting to pull the underwear down on a teenage boy from the audience. The audience were initially laughing and then kind of just...stopped. The boy then went with them backstage and then his family were sent to join him by security, and they didn't return for Act 2. It was pretty fucking appalling.

This is one problematic aspect of Little Britain that I'm surprised doesn't get mentioned more often. There's a few videos of the Des Kaye live act on YouTube (coincidentally this one is also in Australia) and it does basically amount to assaulting random audience members.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AG6nhXYRDSE

By Walliams' own account, he once nearly blinded Sean Lock when throwing lollipops at the audience when playing Des Kaye at a pre-Little Britain Edinburgh Fringe show. Supposedly Lock's frosty treatment of Walliams on panel shows stems back to this incident.

[ajsmith2]

Des Kaye was good in the first series when he was a just a tragic ex-celeb. Admittedly a sub-Les McQueen creation, but Walliams controlled camp ('I'm just having an Option') gave him his own flavour.

Sadly (as was endemically true of anything about LB that was good) they didn't develop him one whit, and for all future appearances he became the most brainless kind of 00s 'Kiddies entertainer = comedy paedo!!!!' cliché, half a decade before Savile et al complicated such 'innocent' laffs. Oh yeah, and as you said, the live version was pretty much just comedically figleafed sexual abuse.

[Petey Pate]

A large number of the minor characters in the radio version and first TV series were tragic ex-celebs weren't they? Sir Bernard Chumley, Peter Andre (former Royal Correspondent for the BBC), Denver Mills (ex-Olympic silver medalist) and Des Kaye. I suppose their ersatz version of Dennis Waterman could be considered in this camp too. As you say, this type of character does seem influenced by The League of Gentleman's superior Les McQueen (where there was real pathos to the character), and perhaps to a lesser extent, Alan Partridge. 

[Phil_A]

You missed out the bit where Walliams threw a dart that narrowly missed Diamond's head, and he consequently threatened to kick the shit out of him. I don't know about you but I'm with Dom on that one.

I think Diamond had got them on as a favour to Walliams as they were old mates, and then Walliams proceeded to throw it back in his face by twisting the knife throughout the whole show - eg making a reference to Diamond being sacked from Gamesmaster (he wasn't, he'd quit in protest at their McDonalds sponsership). The atmosphere just got nastier and nastier.

[marquis_de_sad]

A large number of the minor characters in the radio version and first TV series were tragic ex-celebs weren't they? Sir Bernard Chumley, Peter Andre (former Royal Correspondent for the BBC), Denver Mills (ex-Olympic silver medalist) and Des Kaye. I suppose their ersatz version of Dennis Waterman could be considered in this camp too. As you say, this type of character does seem influenced by The League of Gentleman's superior Les McQueen (where there was real pathos to the character), and perhaps to a lesser extent, Alan Partridge.

They're all basically Rock Profile characters, aren't they. As has been said, it's the best thing they do (together, I mean, Lucas on his own has a lot more range, darling).

[imitationleather]

I recently rewatched some Rock Profiles with my girlfriend (who'd never seen or heard of it before) and she pointed out within five minutes that Walliams only ever does his characters as either gay or mentally handicapped.

It's pretty true and makes watching anything they've done together very difficult for me now.

[marquis_de_sad]

Walliams only ever does his characters as either gay or mentally handicapped.

You're forgetting bitter.

[Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse]

Anthony Head as the Prime Minister was the best thing about the show.

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

They're all basically Rock Profile characters, aren't they. As has been said, it's the best thing they do (together, I mean, Lucas on his own has a lot more range, darling).

That's true enough. LB's Lou and Andy began life as Lou Reed and Andy Warhol on "Rock Profiles", of course.
David Walliams can't actually do any voices. Even when he was being Bono on RP, while Matt Lucas was giving it the old Oirish accent as The Edge, Walliams was doing Bono with his David Walliams voice.

[Captain Z]

Let me tell you a little bit about David Walliams...