Little Britain removed from iplayer over use of blackface

THE BBC comedy Little Britain has been removed from the iplayer following a backlash over its portrayal of black women by white men.

The broadcaster said “times have changed” since the first series, starring David Walliams and Matt Lucas, was aired in 2003.

Racial equality campaigners have been complaining about Walliams sporting black make-up and a large afro wig to play the overweight Desiree Devere while Lucas also blacked up to play Pastor Jesse King, who 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.”

Britbox has also pulled the show from its platform, along with Netflix which has also dropped Come Fly With Me starring the comedy duo.

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

Lucas 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. We made a more cruel kind of comedy than I’d do now.”

It comes after comedian Leigh Francis last week issued an apology for portraying black stars such as Michael Jackson on sketch show Bo’ Selecta.