What we know about David Walliams and Matt Lucas’s new TV show
The Little Britain comedy duo are reuniting for a brand new show
Little Britain duo David Walliams and Matt Lucas are working on a brand new comedy show — but make no mistake, it’s very much not a new series of Little Britain.
Running for three series between 2003 and 2006 on the BBC, the pair’s catchphrase-heavy sketch comedy about larger-than-life characters from various corners of British culture became one of the most popular series of the early 2000s.
However, in the years since, its depiction of those from ethnic minorities, different genders, classes, social backgrounds and sexual orientations has received criticism. As a result, Little Britain was removed from streaming services like BBC iPlayer before later being reinstated with some scenes altered and viewer discretion warnings added.
Following this cultural reappraisal, both Walliams and Lucas have addressed these criticisms and insisted that some of Little Britain’s comedy moments were indeed “outdated” and not something they would attempt to recreate today.
In late 2023, rumours began to swirl online that the duo were working on a new show with some convinced it was a new series of Little Britain. That chatter was quickly squashed — so what is Walliams and Lucas’s new show really about? Here’s what we know so far.
What is David Walliams and Matt Lucas’s new TV show?
News that Walliams and Lucas were hard at work on a new comedy show first emerged in late 2023, with The Sun suggesting that the project was a new series of Little Britain.
According to their story published on 20 December, the pair were allegedly working on a new series of the show that gave us characters like Vicky Pollard and ‘The only gay in the village’ but with a new take that would reflect 2024 sensibilities and cultural awareness.
The Sun quickly labelled the new series as one with a “woke makeover” — but quotes from Lucas suggested that the duo were simply trying to find a way to make their comedy more diverse and respectful than the type featured in the original Little Britain series.
“The show will be different in many ways,” said Lucas, referring to the project that we now know isn’t a new Little Britain.
“We are talking about how we can have diverse talent on screen and in the writers’ room and conceive it as something which is just not about me and David playing absolutely everyone. That is something we should have done but didn’t do back then.”
Shortly after The Sun’s article was published, Lucas took to social media to clarify things a bit.
Posting to X, he said: “Sorry to disappoint you (or delight you) but the stories in the papers about me and David writing a new series of Little Britain are not true. We're working on a different idea.”
After Lucas sent this post, news on the new comedy show went quiet until Walliams discussed it briefly during a visit to the Therapy Crouch podcast in May 2024.
“It’s little bit edgy,” Walliams told podcast hosts Peter Crouch and Abbey Clancy. “There are jokes in it that, I mean, are in terrible taste — I mean not in terrible taste — but, you know, like, like, Little Britain was, like Come Fly With Me, like a lot of comedy is, which is, on the edge.
“It’s walking a line. Some people might be a little bit shocked.”
Walliams elaborated a little, comparing his new show with Lucas to the type of provocative comedy produced by the likes of Ricky Gervais or Dave Chappell. He also revealed that the new show will have “entirely new characters” — a factor that separates it even further from Little Britain.
“It’s good fun writing together, it does make a change from writing on your own, which is quite lonely [compared to] the two of us bouncing off each other," he continued.
“And also, you know, Matt is such an amazing performer with all his voices and everything, it’s brilliant to see. And he can key into a performance a lot quicker than I can, so we've had a lot of fun.”
When will the show be released?
David Walliams and Matt Lucas’s new comedy show is currently without a confirmed release date.
In fact, it doesn’t even have a title yet so we’re guessing it’ll be a while before we get any substantial information about when we can see this new project on screens.
In short: “Computer says no.”
David Walliams and Matt Lucas’s new untitled comedy series is coming soon.
