Peter Kay has defended the roles of Matt Lucas and David Walliams in Little Britain, admitting that 'everybody’s a critic on social media'.
The comedian has opened up in his new book TV: Big Adventures on the Small Screen, in which he called criticism of the show a 'shame'.
Little Britain, which starred Matt Lucas and David Walliams from 2003 to 2006, faced significant backlash after returning to BBC iPlayer in 2020.
Speaking about his cameo in the UK TV series, Kay said: "I started to get invites from my peers to play characters in their shows, which was really lovely. Matt Lucas and David Walliams asked me if I’d like to appear in a Little Britain special they were filming called Little Britain Abroad.
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"I was to play the younger brother of Dudley Punt (David Walliams). He’s just married his Thai bride, Ting Tong Macadangdang (Matt Lucas), in order to make an honest man/ woman of her.
"They go on their honeymoon to Belgium, where they meet up with my character.
"I live in a caravan park with my new 18-year-old virgin wife Ivanka (Julia Davis), ‘who’s set me back two hundred quid’.
"It was all very far from being politically correct but that’s what made it funny. It probably wouldn’t get made now.
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"Sadly, Matt and David have taken a lot of flak in the past few years for the work they did. I think that’s a shame."
He added: "Comedy is such a minefield, with political correctness changing it all the time. Sometimes for the greater good, most of the time not.
"Everybody’s a critic on social media. Something or somebody gets ‘slammed on Twitter’ (which might only be by a handful of people) and the press jump all over it.
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"They sensationalise a story in order to generate clickbait for themselves and their websites.
"It can really damage or destroy somebody’s career."
Well, as viewers are looking back at Little Britain with a 'modern lens', some have called it a bit 'cringe'.
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One Reddit user said: "I was a teenager when it was out, or very young twenties and I’ve always been pretty immature, so I found it quite funny at the time. Nowadays, well let’s just say I don’t think it’s aged very well."
Another added: “I could not understand how it got commissioned, filmed, aired, watched and praised.”
As you'd expect, others were quick to defend the show.
"I liked it. They took the p*** out of everyone. Anyone could get it," one person wrote.
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Someone else also said: "It was full of irony. I loved the fat fighters parts.
"Cut it in half and because it’s only half the calories you can have twice as much!
"Personally think it was brilliant, a little stupid with the humour but it was good."
Featured Image Credit: Karwai Tang/WireImage/Getty Images/BBCTopics: David Walliams, Peter Kay, TV and Film, UK News, Celebrity, BBC