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Wales Online
Wales Online
National
Lewis Knight & Annette Belcher-BM

Netflix stops streaming Mighty Boosh and League of Gentleman

Netflix has dropped two BBC comedy series from its service.

The League of Gentleman and The Mighty Boosh have been removed from the service.

But the two programmes are still available to stream on BBC iPlayer, MirrorOnline has reported.

Netflix reportedly made the decision to axe The League of Gentleman due to the use of blackface, according to Deadline.

They write: "Netflix has removed British comedy The League Of Gentlemen from its library after it featured the blackface character Papa Lazarou."

The character, played by white actor Reece Shearsmith, has previously been accused of being racist.

Shearsmith told The Independent : "It was not me doing a black man. It was always this clown-like make-up and we just came up with what we thought was the scariest idea to have in a sort of Child Catcher-like way.

"And I don’t think we ever had any complaints then."

David Walliams as Desiree DeVere (BBC)

The Mighty Boosh has also had similar complaints.

White comedian Noel Fielding has dreadlocks and black and white face paint for the character The Spirit of Jazz, which is seen as the spirit of a jazz musician called Howlin' Jimmy Henderson.

Netflix removed four series by Australian comedian Chris Lilley, along with the shows Little Britain and Come Fly With Me by Matt Lucas and David Walliams.

The BBC and BritBox also removed both of the series.

BritBox said: "Times have changed since Little Britain first aired, so it is not currently available on BritBox.

"Come Fly With Me has not been available on the service for six months."

MirrorOnline contacted the BBC for comment on whether The Mighty Boosh and The League of Gentlemen will remain on BBC iPlayer and they revealed the changes only apply to Little Britain.

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