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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Entertainment
Vickie Scullard

Little Britain removed from Netflix, Britbox and iPlayer over blackface characters

Little Britain has been removed from streaming services over its use of blackface characters.

Netflix, Britbox and iPlayer no longer offer the comedy series, starring David Walliams and Matt Lucas, in their catalogue after criticism over the characters, which sees white men portray black people.

The BBC - where the programme aired - said "times have changed".

The decision to cut the series comes following the Black Lives Matter protests, which were sparked following the death of George Floyd.

Little Britain, starring Matt Lucas and David Walliams, has been removed from streaming services (BBC)

Mr Floyd, an unarmed black man, was killed in America after a police officer knelt on his neck.

In Little Britain, Walliams sported black make-up and a large afro wig to play the overweight black woman Desiree DeVere.

Lucas also used blackface to play Pastor Jesse King, who said he was "from the ghetto" and spoke in tongues to cure the sick.

A BBC spokesman said: "There's a lot of historical programming available on BBC iPlayer which we regularly review. Times have changed since Little Britain first aired, so it is not currently available on BBC iPlayer."

A BritBox spokeswoman confirmed the show has been removed from that platform too.

Last week, Netflix also removed the show, as well as Walliams and Lucas' other series Come Fly With Me.

Little Britain - David Walliams, right, as Desiree DeVere in Little Britain, alongside Matt Lucas, left, and Rob Brydon (BBC)

In that show Lucas wore dark make-up to play Jamaican woman Precious and ground crew employee Taaj, who was of Pakistani descent.

Lucas has since admitted regrets over Little Britain and said if it was to be brought back, he would avoid jokes about transvestites and would not play the role of a black character.

He told The Big Issue: "If I could go back and do Little Britain again, I wouldn't make those jokes about transvestites. I wouldn't play black characters.

Matt Lucas has since said he would not include trans or black characters in a remake of Little Britain (Getty Images)

"Basically, I wouldn't make that show now. It would upset people. We made a more cruel kind of comedy than I'd do now.

"Society has moved on a lot since then and my own views have evolved. There was no bad intent there - the only thing you could accuse us of was greed. We just wanted to show off about what a diverse bunch of people we could play.

"Now I think it's lazy for white people to get a laugh just by playing black characters. My aim is to entertain, I don't have any other agenda."

Last week, comedian Leigh Francis issued a tearful apology for portraying black celebrities on sketch show Bo' Selecta.

The comic played stars including king of pop Michael Jackson, singer Craig David and talk show host Trisha Goddard on the show, which first aired in 2002.

Earlier this year, Lucas and Walliams revisited Little Britain for BBC One's Big Night In charity programme.

They reprised their roles as a number of the show's famous characters including Lou and Andy, Daffyd, Marjorie Dawes and Sebastian while wearing makeshift costumes.

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