Little Britain

An American series of Little Britain could have been its undoing, but it's given some old favourites a freshness they badly needed.

And while it would have been easy for Matt Lucas and David Walliams to use their new series for network HBO just to ridicule Americans, it turns out it's still the Brits who are the butt of the jokes.

FOR five years Little Britain has kept us entertained. Now the comedy duo responsible for the show, David Walliams and Matt Lucas, are taking their unique sense of humour Stateside.

However, when aired in the US the spin-off version of the successful British series was mauled by one critic, who said itwas mostly just crude, revelling in mock condescension towards American stereotypes.

Despite some people not latching on to Lucas and Walliams' creation, there are still plenty who are delighted at the return of Little Britain and characters including Majorie Dawes of Fat Fighters, plus some new faces.

Mmm, not sure about this to be honest. My opinions on Little Britain have wavered from declaring Lucas and Walliams as comedy gods (around the time of series two), to charlatans who were happy taking huge pay checks to write barely constructed sketches that insulted the audience's intelligence (around the time of the woeful - no, it really was - series three).

But this might just be a different beast as the pair bring the Little Britain format to life across the pond in a series made for HBO. There are new characters - I particularly like Bing Gordyn, the bitter seventh astronaut to land on the moon - but old favourites like Vicky Pollard are still on hand to keep things familiar enough for the home crowds. The jury is out, but they might just get away with it...

Little Britain USA: I offered Diaz $10 to do splits

Little Britain USA star David Walliams is interviewed by The Sun.

That two people could write a sketch which involves Steve Coogan saying, "Don't press that red button", and then Matt Lucas pressing that red button (and that was it) boggles the mind. Can you imagine getting up from the computer desk and saying to your colleague, "Right, that's that one finished, let's take a tea break"? Talk about insubstantial ... This was a terrible, terrible comedown for a show that I'm still happy to admit once loving.

Lucas and Walliams, by contrast, seem content to sit in a comfort zone, churning out near-identical jokes over and over and over again. Whereas the League's characters became deeper and more complex over time, Little Britain turned into The Fast Show. Characters would come on, do the same old routine, say their catchphrases and go.

Still laughing? No

It is in Little Britain's attitude to women that the show displays its most alarming aspects - mainly because it confirms that in this era of Zoo and Nuts and Heat, this is how women are generally regarded.

Armed with a new director in Matt Livesy and script editor in Rob Brydon, a show that I'm still happy to admit once loving continue the high standard they set in the first season.