Little Britain

Barrychuckle

Barrychuckle

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Staff member
I see that Little Britain has been taken off all the streaming sites and will never be shown on TV again as it doesn't share modern values. This is really disappointing as I loved this series and sad it's unlikely it'll be shown again. Sadly I hope people use common sense and don't banish many other vintage comedies to the scrap heap.
 
So many series have elements that do not have a place in modern culture so I imagine given the current climate the calls for these shows to be banished will swell to fever pitch and people will actively now be citing them at every opportunity . I'm sorry but some shows deserve never to be shown again because they truly are just wrong .

Spike Milligan is a real favourite of mine but the abhorrent Curry and Chips series is rightly consigned to the scrap heap never to air again. I have know idea what possessed them to make it and why people like Eric Sykes, Norman Rossington, Geoffrey Hughes who have starred in lots of films and comedies agreed to take part . I have just checked and bizarrely its still for sale on Amazon can't imagine it will be for much longer.
 
I do agree with your comments, and Love Thy Neighbour was another unacceptable comedy, perhaps even In Sickness & In Health will join the banned list.

But I certainly wouldn't put Little Britain in the same category, I just don't want this to be the thin end of the wedge. There were comments in LOTSW (particularly the earlier episodes) which would be classed as homophobic by todays standards, but I certainly wouldn't want those episodes to be removed from the series.
 
I think it's a shame to delete and destroy what is after all part of our cultural history ,be it good or bad, it happened and we have moved forward, most so called modern day comedy I find offensive but there is a new generation that laps it up, my solution for many many years, if you don't like what you see on TV then don't watch it, not that I have watched live TV for almost 5 years, saving me a shed load of money that I have invested in dvd's of shows that I like, but if I spotted the box set of Towie or Keeping up with the Kardashians would I bother to buy them, the simple answer is no
 
maltrab said:
I think it's a shame to delete and destroy what is after all part of our cultural history ,be it good or bad, it happened and we have moved forward ...
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As a holder of a BA in History and possessor of a permanent interest in the subject, I find abhorrent any attempt to destroy, bury or distort the records of even the ugliest of human behavior. I wouldn't object, though, to those records being accompanied by a warning that the particular behaviors were and are unacceptable, similar to the "black box" warnings on medications with dangerous side effects.
 
Thomas95 said:
And now gone with the wind has been taken of HBO max in America
The documentary show cops has been scrapped for good
And live PD has been suspended
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Indie Wire reports that the movie will be back in the line-up accompanied by ' "a discussion of its historical context and a denouncement” of its racist depictions'. Sounds like the "black box" warning I mentioned in my prior post.
 
I think this is a double edged sword, a lot of these programs would never be made now, I'm not a fan of Little Britain I wouldn't class it as a classic where as Gone With the Wind is, I too am hoping it's not the thin edge of the wedge. I watch some of the episodes of Summer Wine knowing that a lot of the lines shouldn't be allowed now.
Compo uses Gypos at least twice which isn't acceptable now and really shouldn't have been then but over the years I'm we've learned from these are mistakes but as Marrianne says, deleting our history we run the risk of repeating these mistakes in the future.
 
I hope common sense prevails, I'm reading there is growing pressure on censure of other much loved films/programmes for similar reasons. We have to be careful this doesn't become the Salem Witch Trials of a rich TV heritage...
 
Only fools and horses used to have some lines that wouldn't be allowed now,when uncle Albert came in from the shop once he referred to the shopkeeper using the p word
 
Gentile Dad's Army and particularly Corporal Jones has some terms for the locals when he was in the Sudan which would not be countenanced these days . If you think for a few minutes so many programmes and films come to mind . I have to say the first thing that crossed my mind when the Little Britain story broke was the Mel Brooks film Blazing Saddles .
 
Characters in Allo Allo were most verbally abusive to our Italian Captain.
Where will it all end. There seems to be a feeding frenzy on anything that could remotely be associated with racism.
Ant and Dec are publicly apologizing for playing non-white characters, to forestall any repercussions.
 
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I also think it's worthy of note that in the vast majority of these less than PC comedies, the racists are usually the ones who are portrayed as wrong and bigoted. For example in Love Thy Neighbour & In Sickness And In Health (neither of which I particularly like) neither of the main protagonists ever come across as intelligent or role models.
 
You just know there's a list coming that will be published in the gutter press, because there will be someone somewhere now trawling through the A -Z of Comedy shows and compiling a list of any show with racial undertones. People did precisely the same with aspects of the #Metoo movement and homophobia which genuinely deserved the support for change they received but there needs to be balance and a more considered view with these shows and not the knee jerk reaction we are witnessing at present . I have just seen a news item that has a statue of Lord Baden Powell in Poole under consideration for removal because despite all the good he did there are questions being promoted about some of his views and conduct .
 
To my mind THE GOONS was brilliant for its time (take your hands off ,you might rub off on me. :13:) Can you see any one getting away with that today ? Some of our show if trawled through may not be PC. ( There's nothing of me that belongs to Maggie Thatcher) Then he goes off making a grab for Norah !
 
I read that the council are removing Baden Powell's statue for safety reasons. I presume they hope to re-site it later !:fp:
 
I think we some times need to look who is really offended, my daughter in law is Indian, her favourite Open all Hours episode is the one where Granville dresses as an Indian woman to go and buy clothes horses. She thinks its hilarious.
 
dick said:
I read that the council are removing Baden Powell's statue for safety reasons. I presume they hope to re-site it later !:fp:
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Removing for the Statue's safety they fear it will be vandalised possibly even forcibly removed and thrown in Poole Harbour by Protesters
 
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