A controversial Little Britain sketch is “explicitly racist and outdated”, and it is surprising it is still available on BBC iPlayer, according to audience research by Ofcom.
The regulator showed people a number of clips of television as part of a study into audience expectations on potentially offensive content across linear TV and streaming services.
One sketch from Little Britain, originally broadcast in 2002 and available on iPlayer, shows David Walliams as university employee Linda Flint describing an Asian student, Kenneth Lao, over the phone to her manager.
He is described as having “yellowish skin, slight smell of soy sauce … the ching-chong China man.”
The scene is accompanied by a laugh track.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The regulator showed people a number of clips of television as part of a study into audience expectations on potentially offensive content across linear TV and streaming services.
One sketch from Little Britain, originally broadcast in 2002 and available on iPlayer, shows David Walliams as university employee Linda Flint describing an Asian student, Kenneth Lao, over the phone to her manager.
The research participants, who were questioned by polling company Ipsos, viewed the content as “explicitly racist and outdated, and felt that society had moved on”, the report said.
Episodes of Little Britain, starring Walliams and Matt Lucas, have previously been removed from streaming services following criticism over the use of blackface in the show.
Once the content starts playing the following briefly appears at the top of the screen: “Maturity rating: 18 / language, sexual violence references, discrimination / Suitable for adults only.”
Other clips shown include those from the Channel 4 show The Handmaid’s Tale, Amazon Prime Video’s The Boys and Disney animation The Aristocats, which is on Disney+.
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