Are you in favour of editing old programmes to fit in with today’s society?

Little Britain returns to BBC iPlayer after edits

Little Britain, the comedy series from Matt Lucas and David Walliams was removed from various services including Netflix and BritBox in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests in 2020.

It had faced criticism because of the use of blackface make-up in some sketches.

The BBC has returned Little Britain to iPlayer after its creators made edits to “better reflect the changes in the cultural landscape” since the show first aired 20 years ago.

Lucas and Walliams have both previously apologised for their use of blackface on the show, which began as a radio programme in 2000 before running as a TV series on the BBC between 2003 and 2007, launching their respective careers.

The said in a joint statement on Twitter in June 2020: “Once again we want to make it clear that it was wrong; we are very sorry.”

In the series, 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.

In the wake of Black Lives Matter protests prompted by the killing of George Floyd, stars including Ant and Dec and Leigh Francis also apologised for portraying black people on TV.

Do you agree that Little Britain should be edited and re-broadcast? Or do you think that the shows such as these were of their time and should be left as originally scripted? Can you think of any other shows that might benefit from a re-script?