Little Britain: why David Walliams and Matt Lucas’ show has been removed by BBC and Netflix for blackface characters

Little Britain has been criticised for characters such as Desiree DeVere, played by David Walliams in backface (Photo: BBC)

The shows have subsequently been removed from various streaming platforms - this is everything you need to know.

Why has Little Britain been removed from streaming sites?

Little Britain has been at the centre of controversy since it first aired in 2003 on BBC Three, due to its material.

The show included characters like Ting Tong, a Thai mail order bride played by Lucas, and Desiree DeVere, a black woman played by Walliams in full blackface.

Come Fly With Me first aired in 2010, and featured Walliams and Lucas playing a variety of non-white characters, like Omar Baba, the Arab owner of the airline played by Walliams, and Precious Little, played by Lucas, a Jamacian woman.

With a renewed focus on race equality across the globe following Black Lives Matter protests, both shows have come under fire again for their material and have subsequently been removed from a variety of streaming platforms.

The sites they have been removed from are the BBC iPlayer, Netflix and NOW TV.

Speaking to the Mail Online, a spokesperson for the BBC said that the show had been removed due to the fact that “times have changed”.

They 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, a streaming platform that’s a collaboration between the BBC and ITV, made a similar statement, saying: “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.”