Reading Little Britain: Comedy Matters on Contemporary Television(Reading Contemporary Television)

'Little Britain' arrived on British TV in 2003 - and was an instant hit. Matt Lucas and David Walliams wrote and performed, and their sharp satirical genius created this character-based sketch show - Vicky Pollard, Dafydd 'I'm the only gay in the village', Ting Tong Macadangdang are hard to forget. Its huge popularity as cult-comedy on radio, then television, with its success as mainstream award-winning comedy and as a national and international TV phenomenon, have been tempered by criticism. It's pushed the boundaries of taste too far, some have claimed; it's grotesquely un-politically correct, mocks social groups and participates in the 'humour of humiliation' say others. Timely and comprehensive, this must-read book on 'Little Britain' for fans and scholars is the first to provide lively critiques of the show by leading writers, who explore its appeal and dissect its controversies. They look into representations of gender, sexuality, race, disability and class, into sketch-show conventions, the art of the comedy catchphrase, audiences' responses and still more. It provides too a Film, TV and Radio Guide.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements Notes on Contributors Character List Introduction: Britain, Britain, Britain (Sharon Lockyer) PART 1: Narrative, Genre and Comedic Techniques 1) Analysing Little Britain as a Sketch Show (Ian Mowatt) 2) Little Britain Live (Stephen Lacey) 3) 'Yeah but no but yeah': A Linguistic Perspective on the Humour of Little Britain (Julia Snell) PART 2: Little Britain and Identity 4) 'I can't believe you just said that': Figuring Gender and Sexuality in Little Britain (Deborah Finding) 5) How Little Britain does 'race' (Sarita Malik) 6) 'Mischief and Monstrosity': Little Britain and Disability (Margaret Montgomerie) 7) Chavs, Chav-nots and Anyone-in-between: Social Class in Little Britain (Sharon Lockyer) PART 3: Little Britain and Inter/national Audiences 8) 'I'm anti-Little Britain, and I'm worried I might start laughing': Audience Responses to Little Britain (Brett Mills) 9) Little Britain: An American Perspective (Arthur Asa Berger) 10) 'In English please!' Lost in Translation: Little Britain and Italian Audiences (Delia Chiaro) POSTSCRIPT: Little Britain USA (Kim Akass) Figure 1: Comparison of Anderson's (1997) results with the speech of Vicky Pollard Film, TV and Radio Guide Bibliography Index

About the Author :
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).