When the first series of Little Britain came out, I was 13. It wasn’t long until the show was popular enough for a top BBC One billing, nationally familiar catchphrases and Comic Relief spin-offs. Yet as British racism comes under the spotlight, Little Britain has been pulled off iPlayer and Netflix this week.
I mainly remember its years on screen as bargain basement background TV, regarded as a little embarrassing and mainstream for regular viewing. For a young teenager, at the height of my sensitivity to cringeworthiness, it was the same category of comedy in my head that led to Tony Blair quoting The Catherine Tate Show and asking: “Am I bovvered?”
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