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While it's not to common in Australia, TV studios in the UK love an expensive looking one-off Christmas special. The Office, Extras and now Little Britain have all returned to the small screen after stating quite clearly that "The Show is Done!". Ah, yes, the lure of the dollar.
And
much like aforementioned series - while the return of familiar
characters is welcomed, for some strange reason, it just doesn't feel
right. Perhaps a little rushed, perhaps a little forced - whatever the
reason - the eternal phrase "Not as good as the Original" is bound to
be uttered.
There's two specials included here which follows the cavalcade of LB
characters out of their comfort zones. Lou and Andy are on their way to
Disneyland, Carol "Computer says No" Beer has taken a job as a holiday
rep in Spain, Marjorie Dawes visits a Fat Fighters group in the States,
while and Dafydd "The Only Gay in the Village" Thomas is off to a Greek
island gay resort. Add to that Vicki Pollard being held in a Thai jail
on drug smuggling charges, Ting Tong and Dudley on their honeymoon on a
caravan site inhabited by Dudley's brother and the Prime Minister and
the American President begin to share "Special Relations".
Sometimes repetition in comedy works (Russel Coight
was a prime examples, with the humour stemming from the fact that the
audience knew exactly what was coming) and I guess is the reason why
Series 1-3 worked so well. So, if you're a fan, you'll likely love this
DVD. And if you're not a LB fan - then you probably won't even think twice about picking this up in the store anyway.
And
while the show isn't at it's best, there are a few highlights: The
Prime Minister sketch, the foreign language version of the shop keeper
who always yells out for "Margaret" and Lou & Andy really stand
out. While Fat Fighters, Daffyd and Vicki Pollard are surprisingly
disappointing (but that may have something to do with the absolute over
exposure of those characters).
By no means a classic, but certainly needs to be included in the collection of any Little Britain fan as a nice little bookend to the world of Matt Lucas & David Walliams. EXTRAS
In terms of Special Features, Little Britain Abroad has some absolute corkers. This thing is jam packed!
For
those who missed out on the live shows which swept the UK and
Australia, there is an hour long best of from "Comic Relief does Little
Britain Live". There's also a fantastic documentary (it will interest
Aussies in particular) which follows the live Australian tour. It's a
fascinating look at life on the road (and somewhat amusing that the
narrator continues to refer to Hamish & Andy as "A Sort of Aussie Ant & Dec").
As
usual, theres Deleted Scenes, Commentaries and a few little extra bits
and bobs which make the entire experience well worth the effort. Conclusion:
Movie 70% Extras: 80%
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