Customer Reviews

Little Britain: The Complete Collection

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If you're looking at this product page, you've likely seen "Little Britain," so I'll skip reviewing this brilliant and hilarious show and instead address the DVDs themselves. This box set includes all three series of "Little Britain," plus the "Little Britain Live" and "Little Britain Abroad" specials. All of these DVDs are excellently produced and must-haves for fans of this program. The picture and sound are phenomenal, but best of all are the extensive extras.

Each DVD set includes episode commentaries from stars Matt Lucas and David Walliams, deleted scenes, interviews, talk show appearances, behind-the-scenes documentaries, and more. The included documentaries aren't the short featurettes found on many DVDs, but instead feature-length specials (often 60 min. long) that show what goes into creating the show for TV or stage. Particularly entertaining are the documentaries about the making of the live show (on the "Little Britain Live" DVD) and the live show's tour of Australia (on the "Little Britain Abroad" DVD). Walliams and Lucas are endlessly entertaining when not on stage, and there's a consistent stream of guest stars in the documentaries. In short, this set is highly recommended for fans of Emily, Vicky, Ann, Des, Lou, Sebastian and the rest.

It's true the humor in Little Britain is not for everyone. The skits range from "rude" bodily fluids spewing to some quite clever site gags. Skits are hit and miss - some being hilarious and some just lame. Everyone will have their favorite characters (mine being Lou and Andy, Daffyd, Vicky, and Bubbles).

For USians, the fact you can't understand half of what is being said makes it even funnier. Of course, there are references and cameos we won't get either but it doesn't detract too much - get a friend from the UK to fill you in. But cameos from celebrities like Elton John and George Michael are great. Having visited the UK at least once will help give you a frame of reference for a lot of the characters.

Little Britain definitely comes from the school of Benny Hill and Monty Python. Anyone raised on those shows should feel right at home. And refreshing to those of us in the US who loathe political correctness - this is stuff that would never pass US censors, even if it did, no major network would touch it with a 100' pole for fear of threats of boycotts (OK, maybe FOX would air it). I can't imagine a US show having a character like Desiree DeVere and the backlash it would cause.

Being able to get Little Britain on DVD is one of the good things about globalization. Hopefully the days of being able to choose what we want to see instead of having some corporate suit or politician choose it for us are not far off.

Anyone, if you are a fan of British comedy - this is a must to see.

Too funny for words, I have watched them on BBC America and seen a few of the discs included in this collection, which I have on backorder. These clowns are the funniest thing I have ever seen. My husband and I don't understand half of what is being said due to the sometimes quite thick accents and references to humorous things we don't understand in America, nonetheless, this is hilarious and you will be hooked on it quickly! Excellent gift for someone with an offbeat sense of humor (there are some quite risqe scenes at times, not really for the younger kids to watch).
UPDATE: All discs watched (with english subtitles, that helps a lot!), and we are now watching for the 2nd time around! This is the best money you will ever spend on dvds... family and friends have borrowed the dvds and everyone who borrowed a dvd has ended up ordering the set for themselves. Amazingly funny - nothing like it here in the U.S.!!!!!

Contains all 3 seasons, LB-live, LB-abroad, the radio shows and lots of extras -- like some TV spots they did on other shows while developing their ideas.

The shows consist of short skits with storylines that flow over each other, between episodes and series. First season they were still learning how to translate the radio show to TV and which characters were going to work, but still funny. Seasons 2 and 3 are better.

Probably helps if you are familiar with english culture. Lots of sight gags and double entendres. If you like more word-play then Black Adder might be a better selection.

Where The League of Gentlemen is dark-sureal comedy, I think of LB as bright too-real comedy.

Says our dignified narrator and guide, "Britain...Britain...Britain...land of tradition...fish and fries...the changing of the garden...trooping the colours. Have you ever wondered about the people of Britain? Nor have I..."

And with that, Matt Lucas and David Walliams take us into a Britain far removed from Jane Austin. Lucas is short, fat and hairless, something like a pink, soft kewpie doll. Walliams is tall, hirsute (hair suit?) and, depending on the occasion, wolfish or just showing a lot of teeth. They are the creators, writers and performers of Little Britain, a sketch comedy series centered on the lives of a dozen or so worst examples of British human life. Want an obnoxious, trouble-making teen with a thick accent and an excuse for everything? Try out Vicky Pollard. How about the effeminate assistant to the Prime Minister, who invariably finds excuses to fall to his knees directly in front of the man. Or the fat, wheelchair-bound Andy Pipkin, who mumbles and lolls, and is just too lazy to walk. And there's plump Daffyd Thomas, young Welsh lad who dresses in tight, bright polyester and is the only gay in his village...and is determined to keep it that way. And more and more. We visit them often, usually in places like Kelsey Grammar School and St. God's Hospital. Since Lewis and Walliams play all of them (backed up by a small cast of straight-faced actors), the old tradition in Britain of men wearing dresses is alive and well.

There's nothing like it in the United States, and probably never will be. The FCC would have a fit, and so would most U.S. social service agencies. Little Britain is ferociously un-PC. If you think it is terrible taste to make fun of homosexuals, old ladies, the mentally disturbed, the fat, minorities, or any number of other groups (politicians and teenagers, of course, excepted), this is not the show for you. ("Are you fat because you're a lesbian or are you a lesbian because you're fat?") Matt Lucas and David Walliams have created a world (and a series) that is silly, bawdy, brutal, clever, satiric, surreal, lewd and funny. It's best watched in small doses. Little Britain was so popular in Britain that it just about became an empire...Christmas specials, performances for charity, a try at transplanting to America, interviews and awards. Of course, the pecksniffs and self-appointed moral guardians are always on the alert. Said one British critic, "Little Britain has been a vehicle for two rich kids to make themselves into multi-millionaires by mocking the weakest people in Britain. Their targets are almost invariably the easiest, cheapest groups to mock: the disabled, poor, elderly, gay or fat. In one fell swoop, they have demolished protections against mocking the weak that took decades to build up."

Perfectly true. Shame they're so funny.

This collection is hysterical! The show Little Britain is made up of sketches by Matt Lucas and David Walliams, who portay a wide variety of characters. These include two not-so-convincing transvestites, an insulting weight management group leader, a "valley girl" type troubled teen, the Prime Minister and his gay assistant who's in love with him, and an overweight aristocrat want-to-be who tries to pay for her bills with sex. The Little Britain Live DVDs are some of the same sketches, along with some new ones, performed in front of a live audience. This collection is not for children, as much of it is of an adult nature. Little Britain: The Complete Collection

This show is amazing, in the vein of Absolutely Fabulous, Mr. Show, Kids in the Hall and of course a modern Monty Python.

We were turned onto Little Britain by a friend who was raised in the UK. While this may not be the program for those who are not socially enlightened, the skits and characters created by the two actors contain great social commentary and are hysterical in content. I have even gone so far as involve my staff by proclaiming " I'm the only gay in the village". If you enjoy Monty Python and British humor, this is a must for your collection!

Purchased the Little Britain series after watching "Come Fly With Me" this summer on BBC America...now I am hooked!
The colorful characters created by genius comedy duo David Walliams and Matt Lucas are priceless...hilarious, irreverent, naughty and extremely politically incorrect from the 1st minute to the last episode. The skits last about 3 minutes each and characters rotate throughout each episode appearing a few times. Even the narrator says quirky things.

If you enjoy the irreverent humor of American shows like, "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," then you will enjoy Little Britain. So glad it is subtitled as some characters speak so fast (like Vicky Pollard).

I am a huge fan of British comedy, and this show clearly ranks among the top comedies of all time from Britain. As an avid follower of Black-Adder, Fawlty Towers, Are You Being Served?, The Thin Blue Line, The Vicar of Dibley, etc., I would put Little Britain right up there with these other great shows. A must have if you are a fan of British comedy.