Homepage News Reviews - Acts - Shows - Screen - Radio - Books - Clubs Interviews Awards 2006 Edinburgh 2005 - Reviews - Blog - Previews Features Archive Awards 2005 Edinburgh 2004: - Previews - Shows - Diary Guestbook Forum © Emporium Of Mirth 2004 Editor: Lauren Murphy Reporters: Fiona Wilkie Natalie Joanne	Emporium of Mirth Little Britain Now, you can call me cynical if you like, but it has to be said, this second TV outing is really rather disappointing. Gone is the innocent charm of the radio series, and the nostalgic charm of the original TV outing, and in comes what feels like an overwhelming desire to shock… and nothing else The returning characters seem to have gotten more disgusting (see: Jason and Nan) and all but one of the new characters seem to be Matt and David trying to see how far they can go before the BBC clamp down on them, seemingly forgetting that Shock value a) diminishes very quickly and b) doesn’t mean it’s funny. All this seems to highlight the fact, that most of the characters in Little Britain are extremely two – dimensional. Certainly, when being interviewed, Matt and David seem to have to think on their feet for the thought processes of the characters, something, which, in most sketch shows, is thought about before the camera begins rolling. Though this two-dimensional element was ever-present in series one, the charm of the show was enough to carry it off, and it is this charm that appears to be lacking in their latest creation. The biggest laughs, it has to be said, come from characters which do seem to have a third dimension poking through, such as Sebastian the Prime-Minister’s aide and Daffyd, Llandewi-Breffi’s official gayer. If only Matt and David could apply this third layer to all of their characters people would be less inclined to make a cup of tea halfway through. What is particularly disappointing, is that firm favourites such as Lou and Andy don’t seem to have developed either and are still a two joke pony, with the same joke merely being repeated ad infinitum. Add to that the Bubbles De Vere sketches (which are basically “isn’t it funny when fat ladies take their clothes off” repackaged) with it’s attempted plot sketched so thinly some folks may need a magnifying glass over their screen to actually notice and even Green Wing begins to seem like a better alternative, at least they’re trying to attempt something like character development and plot (not very well, but the thought appears to be there). The problem is, this second series doesn’t seem like it’s trying very much at all. For More information on Little Britain visit The Little Britain Website Reviewed By Lauren - Autumn 2004 RSS  Printable version	Visit our Siamese Twin Sister Site!