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Daily Record
Daily Record
Entertainment
James Brinsford & Siobhan Macdonald

Little Britain returns to BBC with 'racist and bigoted' sketches kept in

Little Britain is back on BBC iPlayer and viewers are unhappy that some 'racist and bigoted' sketches left in.

The David Walliams and Matt Lucas comedy sketch show was a huge hit when it first aired but has since come under fire for the controversial content of the show.

The BBC previously removed the series from its streaming service after episodes were criticised over the use of blackface.

Matt, 48, and David, 50, have seen the show return to iPlayer but numerous characters have been cut from episodes as freshly edited versions will air.

As reported in The Mirror, Thai bride Ting Tong Macadangdang, played by Matt, and Pastor Jesse King and Desiree DeVere, which saw David do blackface for both characters, have been axed from the comedy show's return.

Little Britain returns to iPlayer (BBC)

Despite this and Auntie Beeb's assertion that the comedy "reflects the cultural landscape", there are many who believe that Little Britain should be consigned to comedy history, alongside 'racist' shows like Love Thy Neighbour from the 70s.

There are still many 'bigoted and racist' moments left in the edited versions of the shows and a BBC spokesperson has defended the decision to make the sketch show available again.

They said: "Little Britain has been made available to fans on BBC iPlayer following edits made to the series by Matt and David that better reflect the changes in the cultural landscape over the last twenty years since the show was first made.”

The half hour episodes have been cut to around 23 minutes in some circumstances and there will be a warning message before some episodes which will tell viewers there could be "discriminatory language".

There were some viewers who believe these cuts have not gone far enough and taking to Twitter, one wrote: “Can we just leave Little Britain in the comedy bin where it belongs next to Love Thy Neighbour? Or condense the episodes down including the genuinely good sketches and leaving out all the racism and transphobia.”

Among the tweets of disgust, there were a few who feel that the comedy is a reflection of the UK being "a multi-ethnic nation".

The Twitter user wrote: "I’m glad Little Britain is back but don’t agree with editing art to match modern standards of political correctness.

"(They) show our progress as a multi-ethnic nation and are part of our history.”

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