Peter Kay claims comedy is a ‘minefield’ due to political correctness as he defends controversial Little Britain sketches removed from show

Peter Kay has defended David Walliams and Matt Lucas’ controversial Little Britain series, claiming political correctness is making comedy today a ‘minefield’.

The sketch comedy program – which ran on BBC Three and BBC One from 2003 to 2006 – was removed from BBC iPlayer in 2020 after it was criticized for using make-up to distinguish people of different ethnicities.

It returned to the service in 2022, but some scenes were removed from the new final version.

And despite the criticism of the show, Peter said he was thrilled to have a role in the show’s special Little Britain Abroad in 2006.

According to the Mirror, Peter wrote in his new book TV: Big Adventures on the Small Screen: ‘I would play the younger brother of Dudley Punt (David Walliams). He has just married his Thai bride, Ting Tong Macadangdang (Matt Lucas), to make her an honest man/woman.

Cut: The sketch comedy program – which ran from 2003 to 2006 on BBC Three and BBC One – was removed from BBC iPlayer in 2020 after scenes were deemed offensive (David Walliams pictured as Little Britain character Dudley Punt (left) and Matt Lucas seen as Ting Tong Macadangdang (right))

‘They go on their honeymoon to Belgium and meet my character. I live in a caravan park with my new 18-year-old virgin wife Ivanka (Julia Davis), “who set me back two hundred quid”.

‘It was far from politically correct, but that made it funny. It probably wouldn’t get made now.

‘Unfortunately, Matt and David have received a lot of criticism in recent years for the work they did. That’s too bad.’

Peter added that ‘comedy is such a minefield’ and claimed that political correctness is constantly changing.

He emphasized that while being politically correct sometimes produces good, most of the time it is a hindrance.

The star concluded: “Everyone is a critic on social media. Something or someone is being ‘slammed on Twitter’, which may just be a handful of people.”

Little Britain returned to streaming services in 2022 after producers removed offensive blackface scenes.

Assurances were given at the time that offending scenes had been removed by creators Matt and David, and advisory warnings were used at the start of some episodes.

On air: Despite the criticism of the show, Peter said he was happy to have landed a role in the show’s 2006 special Little Britain Abroad (L-R: Matt as Ting Tong, Julie Davis as Ivanka, David as Dudley and Peter as Lesson for Little Britain)

Characters: Benefits cheat and wheelchair user Andy, was retained for the 2022 edition of Little Britain when it was reintroduced to streaming services

Acting: Daffyd Thomas, a gay Welshman played by Matt, repeatedly claims he is the ‘only gay in the village’ of the fictional mining village of Llandewi, Wales in the show

Little Britain’s most iconic roles, including Vicky Pollard and wheelchair user Andy, were retained, alongside other characters including Matt’s gay Welshman Dafydd Thomas and David’s transvestite Emily Howard.

As part of the show’s 2022 revival, blackface characters including pastor Jesse King, Desiree DeVere, and other racial stereotypes such as Thai bride Ting Tong were left on the cutting room floor.

In a statement at the time, the BBC said: ‘Little Britain has been made available to fans on BBC iPlayer following edits to the series by Matt and David that better reflect the changes in the cultural landscape over the past twenty years since the show began. was made for the first time.’

Matt and David have both previously apologized for their use of blackface on the show, which started as a radio program in 2000 and appeared as a TV series on the BBC between 2003 and 2007, launching their respective careers.