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72-522: Little Britain is a British character-based comedy sketch show which was first broadcast on BBC radio and then turned into a television show. It was written and performed by comic duo David Walliams and Matt Lucas . The show's title is an amalgamation of the terms ' Little England ' and 'Great Britain', and is also the name of a Victorian neighbourhood and a modern street in London. Little Britain (TV series) Little Britain

144-438: A digital modulation scheme. The aim is to increase the number of radio programs in a given spectrum, to improve the audio quality, to eliminate fading problems in mobile environments, to allow additional datacasting services, and to decrease the transmission power or the number of transmitters required to cover a region. However, analog radio (AM and FM) is still more popular and listening to radio over IP ( Internet Protocol )

216-536: A DMB video sub-channel can easily be added to any DAB transmission - as DMB was designed from the outset to be carried on a DAB subchannel. DMB broadcasts in Korea carry conventional MPEG 1 Layer II DAB audio services alongside their DMB video services. Australia commenced regular digital audio broadcasting using the DAB+ standard on 4 May 2009, after many years of trialling alternative systems. Normal radio services operate on

288-522: A decision on a radio switchover subject to listening and coverage criteria being met. A digital radio switchover would maintain FM as a platform, while moving some services to DAB-only distribution. DAB+ devices in the UK has been available to the public by 2010 The United States has opted for the proprietary HD Radio technology, a type of in-band on-channel (IBOC) technology. According to iBiquity , "HD Radio"

360-469: A few channels. See main WorldSpace article. Each satellite provides three transmission beams that can support 50 channels each, carrying news, music, entertainment, and education, and including a computer multimedia service. Local, regional, and international broadcasters were working with WorldStar to provide services. A consortium of broadcasters and equipment manufacturers are also working to bring

432-513: A fixed directional antenna. Some digital radio systems provide in-band on-channel (IBOC) solutions that may coexist with or simulcast with analog AM or FM transmissions, while others are designed for designated radio frequency bands. The latter allows one wideband radio signal to carry a multiplex of several radio-channels of various bitrates as well as data services and other forms of media. Some digital broadcasting systems allow single-frequency network (SFN), where all terrestrial transmitters in

504-548: A fourth series with the BBC. Furthermore, they admitted in an interview they preferred to "kill off" certain characters to make way for new ones. Again, Lou and Andy appeared in the last sketch at the end of each episode, bar one. In 2005, to raise money for Comic Relief , Walliams and Lucas made a special edition of the show, dubbed Little, Little Britain . The episode included a variety of sketches with celebrities, including George Michael , Robbie Williams and Sir Elton John . This

576-618: A much lower data rate. Both the FM and AM schemes use lossy compression techniques to make the best use of the limited bandwidth . Lucent Digital Radio, USA Digital Radio (USADR), and Digital Radio Express commenced tests in 1999 of their various schemes for digital broadcast, with the expectation that they would report their results to the National Radio Systems Committee (NRSC) in December 1999. Results of these tests remain unclear, which in general describes

648-407: A region sending the same multiplex of radio programs may use the same frequency channel without self- interference problems, further improving the system spectral efficiency . While digital broadcasting offers many potential benefits, its introduction has been hindered by a lack of global agreement on standards and many disadvantages. The DAB Eureka 147 standard for digital radio is coordinated by

720-415: A service. Low-cost DAB radio receivers are now available from various Japanese manufacturers, and WorldSpace has worked with Thomson Broadcast to introduce a village communications center known as a Telekiosk to bring communications services to rural areas. The Telekiosks are self-contained and are available as fixed or mobile units The key breakthrough or key feature in digital radio transmission systems

792-622: A sketch show, Little Britain features many characters with varying degrees of costume and makeup. Matt Lucas and David Walliams play all the main characters in the show. Tom Baker narrates and Paul Putner , Steve Furst , Sally Rogers and Stirling Gallacher regularly appear as several different characters. Other regular cast members include Anthony Head as the Prime Minister, Ruth Jones as Myfanwy, and Joann Condon as Pat. A two-part Christmas special, Little Britain Abroad ,

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864-477: A station's analog signal's carrier frequency is 93.3 MHz, the digital signal will fill 93.1–93.2 MHz and 93.4–93.5 MHz within the FM Broadcast Band. Several digital audio streams, or "subchannels", can be carried within this single digital data stream, with the number of audio of subchannels and bandwidth allocations at the choice of the station. On the radio tuner, these will appear as (in

936-409: A viable alternative. Digital radio deployment was rebooted during 2011 - a joint commission of public and private radio broadcasters decided upon "DAB+" as the new national standard in December 2010. The new station network started as planned on 1. August 2011 with 27 stations with 10 kW each giving a coverage of 70% across the nation. A single "Bundesmux" ("fed-mux": short for "federal multiplex")

1008-399: Is wireless digital transmission technologies, i.e. microwave and radio frequency communication standards where analog information signals as well as digital data are carried by a digital signal , by means of a digital modulation method. This definition includes broadcasting systems such as digital TV and digital radio broadcasting, but also two-way digital radio standards such as

1080-568: Is a production company set up by Lucas and Walliams to produce their future television projects, such as Come Fly with Me , Rock Profile and The One... . On 11 October 2004, Little Britain The Complete First Series was released on VHS. Informational notes Citations Digital radio In digital broadcasting systems, the analog audio signal is digitized , compressed using an audio coding format such as AAC+ ( MDCT ) or MP2 , and transmitted using

1152-553: Is a British sketch comedy series that began as a radio show in 2000 and ran as a television series between 2003 and 2006. It was written and performed by David Walliams and Matt Lucas . Financed by the BBC , the radio series was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 , with the initial two television series premiering on BBC Three and the third and final series on BBC One . The programme consists of sketches involving exaggerated parodies of British people from various walks of life. Each sketch

1224-744: Is also the name of a London street described by Washington Irving as "a stronghold of true John Bullism ". The radio show was trailed as "exploring British life in Britain as it is lived by Britons today in Britain". It spawned a live show , which toured internationally between 2005 and 2007, various specials for the Comic Relief charity marathons, and the HBO -produced Little Britain USA spin-off in 2008. Walliams and Lucas followed Little Britain with another sketch show, Come Fly with Me . The series

1296-464: Is distinguished by its freedom from FCC censorship in the United States , its relative lack of advertising, and its ability to allow people on the road to listen to the same stations at any location in the country. Listeners must currently pay an annual or monthly subscription fee in order to access the service. Sirius Satellite Radio launched a constellation of three Sirius satellites during

1368-632: Is growing in popularity. In 2012 four digital wireless radio systems are recognized by the International Telecommunication Union : the two European systems Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) and Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM), the Japanese ISDB-T and the in-band on-channel technique used in the US and Arab world and branded as HD Radio . An older definition, still used in communication engineering literature,

1440-576: Is that they allow lower transmission power, they can provide robustness to noise and cross-talk and other forms of interference, and thus allow the same radio frequency to be reused at shorter distance. Consequently, the spectral efficiency (the number of phonecalls per MHz and base station, or the number of bit/s per Hz and transmitter, etc.) may be sufficiently increased. Digital radio transmission can also carry any kind of information whatsoever — just as long at it has been expressed digitally . Earlier radio communication systems had to be made expressly for

1512-424: Is the company's trade name for its proprietary digital radio system, but the name does not imply either high definition or "hybrid digital" as it is commonly incorrectly referenced. Transmissions use orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing , a technique which is also used for European terrestrial digital TV broadcast ( DVB-T ). HD Radio technology was developed and is licensed by iBiquity Digital Corporation. It

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1584-539: Is widely believed that a major reason for HD radio technology is to offer some limited digital radio services while preserving the relative "stick values" of the stations involved and to ensure that new programming services will be controlled by existing licensees. The FM digital schemes in the U.S. provide audio at rates from 96 to 128 kilobits per second (kbit/s), with auxiliary "subcarrier" transmissions at up to 64 kbit/s. The AM digital schemes have data rates of about 48 kbit/s, with auxiliary services provided at

1656-761: The HE-AACv 2 audio coding format, also known as eAAC+ . Also being adopted are the MPEG Surround format, and stronger error correction coding called Reed–Solomon coding. The update has been named DAB+ . Receivers that support the new DAB standard began being released during 2007 with firmware updated available for some older receivers. DAB and DAB+ cannot be used for mobile TV because they do not include any video codecs. DAB related standards Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) and DAB-IP are suitable for mobile radio and TV both because they have MPEG 4 AVC and WMV9 respectively as video coding formats . However

1728-625: The MPEG-4 based standard aacPlus to code the music and CELP or HVXC for speech programs. At present these are priced too high to be affordable by many in the third world, however. Take-up of DRM has been minuscule and many traditional Shortwave broadcasters now only stream on Internet, use fixed satellite (TV set-boxes) or Local Analogue FM relays to save on costs. Very few (expensive) DRM radio sets are available and some Broadcasters (RTE in Ireland on 252 kHz) have ceased trials without launching

1800-477: The S band range, around 2.3 GHz. Terrestrial broadcasting has advantages in being free and local. Satellite radio is neither of these things; however, in the early 21st century it has grown by providing uncensored content (most notably, the crossover of Howard Stern from terrestrial radio to satellite radio) and commercial-free, all-digital music channels that offer similar radio formats to local stations. The "HD Radio" signal of an FM broadcast station in

1872-599: The United States as Worldspace transmits on the L-band and would interfere with USA military as mentioned above. . in its heyday provided service to over 170,000 subscribers in eastern and southern Africa, the Middle East, and much of Asia with 96% coming from India. Timbre Media along with Saregama India plan to relaunch the company. As of 2013 Worldspace is defunct, but two satellites are in orbit which still have

1944-560: The World DMB Forum . This standard of digital radio technology was defined in the late 1980s, and is now being introduced in some European countries. Commercial DAB receivers began to be sold in 1999 and, by 2006, 500 million people were in the coverage area of DAB broadcasts, although by this time sales had only taken off in the UK and Denmark . In 2006 there are approximately 1,000 DAB stations in operation. There have been criticisms of

2016-492: The 10% power level fits within the FCC spectral mask." HD Radio HD Radio#cite note-14 . "HD Radio" allows each existing broadcast station to add additional "channels" in the US by transmitting a digital signal on both sides of its channel, just beyond their existing analog Frequency Modulation signal. The HD Radio signal occupies the 0.1 MHz that begins 0.1 MHz above and below the carrier frequency station. For instance, if

2088-505: The AM and FM bands, as well as four stations (ABC and SBS) on digital TV channels. The services are currently operating in the five state capital cities: Adelaide , Brisbane , Melbourne , Perth and Sydney , and is being trialled in Canberra and Darwin . Canada has begun allowing experimental HD Radio broadcasts in December 2012 and digital audio subchannels on a case-by-case basis, with

2160-458: The BBC said: "There's a lot of historical programming available on BBC iPlayer, which we regularly review." On its decision to remove the shows, BritBox added: "Times have changed since Little Britain first aired, so it is not currently available on BritBox." Speaking shortly after the removal, Lucas and Walliams apologised again, saying: "Once again we want to make it clear that it was wrong and we are very sorry." In March 2022, Little Britain

2232-532: The Eureka 147 standard and so a new ' DAB+ ' standard has been introduced. The DRM standard has been used for several years to broadcast digitally on frequencies below 30 MHz (shortwave, mediumwave and longwave). Also there is now the extended standard DRM+, which is designed for VHF bands. Tests of DRM+ has been made in countries such as in Brazil, Germany, France, India, Sri Lanka, the UK, Slovakia, Italy (incl.

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2304-491: The FCC approved voluntary all-digital AM operation nationwide. Digital radio is now being provided to the developing world. A satellite communications company named WorldSpace was setting up a network of three satellites, including "AfriStar", "AsiaStar", and "AmeriStar", to provide digital audio information services to Africa , Asia , and Latin America . AfriStar and AsiaStar are in orbit. AmeriStar cannot be launched from

2376-423: The UK and USA versions, this featured guest appearances by Catherine Tate and Robbie Williams . Walliams reprises the role of Lou Todd for Comic Relief. Guest stars included Stephen Hawking and Catherine Tate . However, Lucas does not feature. This featured Walliams reprising the role of Emily Howard. Lucas did not feature. This one-off special was broadcast on 31 October 2019 on BBC Radio 4 . The concept

2448-551: The US has a limited listening distance from the broadcast tower site. FCC regulations currently limit the power of the digital part of the station's transmission to 10% of the existing analog power permitted the station. Even at this power level, the presence of the digital signal right next to the station's analog signal can result in older radios picking up noise due to trouble rejecting the adjacent digital signal. "There are still some concerns that HD Radio on FM will increase interference between different stations even though HD Radio at

2520-525: The Vatican), as well as Sweden. DRM+ is regarded as a more transparent and less costly standard than DAB+ and thus a better choice for local radio ; commercial or community broadcasters. Although DAB+ has been introduced in Australia the government concluded in 2011 that a preference for DRM and DRM+ above HD Radio could be used to supplement DAB+ services in (some) local and regional areas. To date

2592-675: The Working Class that Little Britain helped to perpetuate unkind stereotypes about working-class people, exacerbated by the fact that both Walliams and Lucas attended private schools. The series became increasingly popular with children despite being shown after the watershed . There was also criticism from teachers that the programme led to inappropriate copycat behaviour in the playground. Speaking in October 2017, Lucas stated that if he were to remake Little Britain he would avoid making jokes about transvestites and would not play

2664-477: The above case) "93.3-2", "93.3-3", and so on. The frequencies that are used do not change as more channels are added to the one radio station (93.3 MHz in the example above). Instead, a fixed total amount of bandwidth is simply reallocated across the audio streams such that each now receives less bandwidth, and therefore lower audio quality, than before. There is no federally mandated transition to HD Radio for both FM and AM stations. However, on October 27, 2020,

2736-476: The benefits of digital broadcasting to the radio spectrum currently used for terrestrial AM radio broadcasts, including international shortwave transmissions. Over seventy broadcasters are now transmitting programs using the new standard, known as Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM), and / commercial DRM receivers are available (though there are few models on the DRM website and some are discontinued). DRM's system uses

2808-528: The big cities. Portugal and Finland abandoned DAB. Finland is requesting the EU to mandate that automakers support FM similarly to DAB. Japan has started terrestrial sound broadcasting using ISDB-Tsb and MobaHO! 2.6 GHz Satellite Sound digital broadcasting In the United Kingdom , 44.3% of the population now has a DAB digital radio set and 34.4% of listening is to different digital platforms. Because of

2880-401: The characters – including a brief reprisal of Emily and Florence, the transvestites – on the BBC 's The Big Night In during the 2020 pandemic where they acknowledged in character that they would not play the characters again. In June 2020, Little Britain was pulled from BBC iPlayer , Netflix and BritBox , alongside Come Fly with Me , for its use of blackface . A spokesperson for

2952-424: The course of 2000. The satellites were built by Space Systems/Loral and were launched by Russian Proton boosters. As with XM Satellite Radio, Sirius implemented a series of terrestrial ground repeaters where satellite signal would otherwise be blocked by large structures including natural structures and high-rise buildings. XM Satellite Radio has a constellation of three satellites, two of which were launched in

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3024-567: The early success of the old DAB standard, the transition to the more efficient DAB+ takes more time. If DAB was switched off, older receivers would become worthless. In 2020, about half of the stations in the UK use DAB+. 26 million people, or 39.6% of the population of 65.64 million, now tune into digital radio each week, up 2.6 million year on year, according to RAJAR in Q1 2013. But FM listening has increased to 61% and DAB decreased to 21% DAB listeners may also use AM & FM too. The UK currently has

3096-790: The first stations in the country being CFRM-FM in Little Current , CING-FM in Hamilton , and CJSA-FM in Toronto (with a fourth, CFMS-FM in the Toronto suburb of Markham applying to operate HD Radio technology), all within the province of Ontario. In 2020, DAB+ signals cover more than 90% of Germany. A national multiplex contains three public stations by Deutschlandfunk and 12 commercial stations. In most areas, additional multiplexes with public broadcasters and regional commercial stations are available. The first DAB station network

3168-640: The following standards have been defined for one-way digital radio: See also software radio for a discussion of radios which use digital signal processing . Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), also known as Eureka 147, has been adopted by around 20 countries worldwide. It is based on the MPEG-1 Audio Layer II audio coding format and this has been co-ordinated by the WorldDMB . WorldDMB announced in November 2006 that DAB would be adopting

3240-758: The following week on BBC One in Britain. It also started airing on The Comedy Network in Canada in January 2010. This was the first Little Britain Comic Relief special, with the usual cast and guest appearances from George Michael , Elton John , and Robbie Williams . The Little Britain cast returned for a second Comic Relief Special, this time live and with special guests: Russell Brand , Kate Moss , Patsy Kensit , Jonathan Ross , Kate Thornton , Chris Moyles , Dennis Waterman , Peter Kay , David Baddiel , Jeremy Edwards , and Dawn French . A crossover between

3312-417: The hit BBC comedy Little Britain may be hauling in record viewing figures, but it has also sparked a previously unthinkable chorus of criticism, with claims that the programme had lost its way, trading early ingenuity for swelling amounts of toilet humour in the search for cheap laughs, and becoming increasingly offensive. The Guardian columnist Owen Jones argued in his book Chavs: The Demonization of

3384-462: The more mainstream BBC One audience. Every episode of this series ended with a Lou and Andy sketch. A third series began on 17 November 2005, for the first time on BBC One rather than BBC Three, and ended six weeks later. After its transmission, it was unclear whether there would be another, as many sketches were given dramatic twists and "wrapped up" (see individual character articles for more information). Lucas and Walliams were reportedly in talks for

3456-522: The original release. Little Britain initially appeared as a radio show produced by Edward Flinn, which ran on BBC Radio 4 from 2000 until 2002. Radio 4 began a rerun of all nine episodes in February 2004 (which were slightly edited for content to suit the 6:30 pm timeslot). Unusually, this overlapped with a rerun, beginning in mid-March, of the first five programmes on the digital radio channel BBC 7 . In June–July 2004, BBC 7 broadcast

3528-416: The perceived derogatory manner in which Little Britain depicted racial and ethnic minority groups. In 2017, Lucas stated that he had agreed with the latter criticism. In June 2020, the show was pulled from various UK streaming services due to its use of blackface . In March 2022, the BBC made Little Britain available to view on BBC iPlayer again, with some of the more controversial characters being cut from

3600-527: The programme in Australia and New Zealand. Comedy Central India broadcast the programme for Indian audiences. The programme, notably the second and third series, has been criticised for its treatment of racial and ethnic minority groups and "punch-down" comedic style . Fellow comedian Victoria Wood said that while the sketches amused her, she found them to be "very misogynistic". In 2005, Fergus Sheppard wrote in The Scotsman : The latest series of

3672-670: The programme was commissioned for another run. Part of the series was filmed at Herne Bay in Kent : Emily Howard the Lady, and the Lou and Andy sketches. Every episode of the series ended with a failed world record attempt. The second series, featuring several new characters, began on BBC Three on 19 October 2004. Its continued popularity meant the repeats moved to BBC One , starting 3 December 2004. The episodes were edited for their BBC One run to remove any material that might have been too offensive for

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3744-461: The remaining four. It was announced in October 2019 that the series would return for a one-off radio special, titled Little Brexit , on BBC Radio 4 on 31 October 2019. Like several other BBC comedies (such as Dead Ringers and The Mighty Boosh ), Little Britain made the transition from radio to television. All the episodes for the series were filmed at Pinewood Studios . Much of the TV material

3816-416: The role of a black character, saying, "Basically, I wouldn't make that show now. It would upset people. We made a more cruel kind of comedy than I'd do now... Society has moved on a lot since then and my own views have evolved". He defended decisions that were taken at the time, and explained that he and Walliams deliberately sought to play a very diverse group of people. The pair went on to reproduce some of

3888-555: The second generation ( 2G ) cell-phones and later, short-range communication such as digital cordless phones , wireless computer networks , digital micro-wave radio links, deep space communication systems such as communications to and from the two Voyager space probes , etc. Digital audio radio service standards may provide terrestrial or satellite radio service. Digital radio broadcasting systems are typically designed for handheld mobile devices, like mobile-TV systems and unlike other digital TV systems which typically require

3960-637: The show was first made." "I'm Gay", the song that Matt Lucas's character Daffyd Thomas sang at the end of the Little Britain Live shows, was released as a CD single in Australia in March 2007 and reached number 66 on the ARIA Singles Chart . Matt Lucas and Peter Kay , in the guise of their characters Andy Pipkin and Brian Potter, re-recorded the song " I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) " with its creators, The Proclaimers . This version

4032-451: The spring of 2001, with one following later in 2005. The satellites are Boeing 702 comsats, and were put into orbit by Sea Launch boosters. Back-up ground transmitters ( repeaters ) will be built in cities where satellite signals could be blocked by big buildings. On February 19, 2007, Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio merged, to form Sirius XM Radio . The FCC has auctioned bandwidth allocations for satellite broadcast in

4104-500: The status of the terrestrial digital radio broadcasting effort in North America . While traditional terrestrial radio broadcasters are trying to "go digital", most major US automobile manufacturers are promoting digital satellite radio . HD Radio technology has also made inroads in the automotive sector with factory-installed options announced by BMW, Ford, Hyundai, Jaguar, Lincoln, Mercedes, MINI, and Volvo. Satellite radio

4176-423: The use of a wheelchair to gain the attention of his carer Lou Todd; Daffyd Thomas, who claims to be "the only gay in the village" despite much evidence to the contrary; and Vicky Pollard , presented as a working-class " chav " engaging in anti-social behaviour . The programme's title was inspired by both Great Britain and the phrase Little Englander , referring to narrow-mindedness and complacent insularity. It

4248-624: The world's biggest digital radio network, with about 500 transmitters, two nationwide DAB ensembles and 48 local and regional DAB ensembles, broadcasting over 250 commercial and 34 BBC radio stations ; about 100 stations can be received in London . On DAB digital radio most listeners can receive around 30 additional stations. Digital radio stations are also distributed on digital television platforms such as Sky, Virgin Media and Freeview, as well as internet radio . The Government will make

4320-436: Was adapted from the radio version but with more emphasis on recurring characters and catchphrases. The first TV series was one of the new programmes in the launch line-up for digital channel BBC Three , the replacement for BBC Choice, which launched in February 2003. As a result of its success, the first series was repeated on the more widely available BBC Two . Although reactions were mixed, many critics were enthusiastic, and

4392-495: Was broadcast in December 2006 and January 2007, bringing the total number of episodes to 25. There was also the Little Britain Live show. In the UK, the series was originally broadcast on BBC Three and BBC One and was aired in repeats on Dave , Gold , and Watch . In the US and Bermuda, the series airs on BBC America . BBC Canada has aired the program from 3 March 2005  to present. UKTV broadcasts

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4464-484: Was created due to Brexit , the UK's withdrawal from the EU. Lucas and Walliams both returned for this episode. The concept was revived for The Big Night In , a 23 April 2020 telethon held during the COVID-19 pandemic , in a skit which had the pair revisiting several characters. Social distancing requirements meant that they appeared in separate video feeds from their own homes, and used improvised costumes. As

4536-518: Was created on band 5C as a single-frequency network on channel 5C (see [1] ). With the initial market success of DAB+ the contractors decided on an expansion of the digital radio station network in November 2012. On 1 December 2005 South Korea launched its T-DMB service which includes both television and radio stations. T-DMB is a derivative of DAB with specifications published by ETSI . More than 110,000 receivers had been sold in one month only in 2005. Hong Kong replaced DAB with DVB-T2 Lite. Norway

4608-590: Was deployed in Bavaria since 17 October 1995 until full coverage in 1999. Other states had funded a station network but the lack of success led them to scrap the funding - the MDR switched off in 1998 already and Brandenburg declared a failure in 2004. Instead Berlin/Brandenburg began to switch to digital radio based on an audio-only DVB-T mode given the success of the DVB-T standard in the region when earlier analogue television

4680-631: Was filmed in 2006 and appeared on 2007's Comic Relief show. In 2007, Lucas and Walliams announced that there would be no more of the British Little Britain , but they taped an American continuation of the programme entitled Little Britain USA , which featured both returning characters from the British series and new American characters. According to Walliams, the new show was "effectively Little Britain series four". The show debuted on HBO at 10:30 pm EST Sunday 28 September 2008, then

4752-420: Was introduced by a voice-over narration ( Tom Baker ) suggesting that the programme was a guide – aimed at non-British people – to British society. Despite the narrator's description of "great British institutions", the comedy arises from the British audience's self-deprecating understanding of themselves or people known to them. Recurring characters included Andy Pipkin , who falsely presented himself as requiring

4824-423: Was popular and received high viewing figures, receiving 9.5 million viewers following its move to BBC One in 2005. Despite the series's popularity, commentators expressed concern on the impact that the show had on the large numbers of children who watched it, despite being aired after the watershed and on the heavy use of toilet humour , particularly in the second and third series. Criticism was also raised regarding

4896-596: Was released as a charity single for Comic Relief on 19 March 2007. Little Britain: The Video Game was released in February 2007. It featured a variety of characters in mini-games and received very negative reviews, being referred to by some as one of the worst games ever made . The Russian series Nasha Russia is inspired by Little Britain . In 2010, characters returned for Nationwide Building Society adverts, including Lou and Andy , Vicky Pollard and Eddie (Emily) Howard . Little Britain Productions

4968-655: Was released on a limited edition DVD and was released in the United States as Little, Little Britain on the Region 1 version of the Little Britain: Series 2 DVD. In 2006, a two-part Christmas special was released, in which characters from the programme were depicted as visiting other countries. As a success of the television series, Lucas and Walliams created a travelling stage show based on their series. A special live version featuring appearances from celebrities such as Russell Brand and Dennis Waterman

5040-402: Was restored to BBC iPlayer after scenes containing the use of blackface with the characters of Ting Tong and Desiree DeVere were removed and a content warning included. In a statement, the BBC said "Little Britain has been made available to fans on BBC iPlayer following edits made to the series by Matt and David that better reflect the changes in the cultural landscape over the last 20 years since

5112-868: Was switched off in August 2003 (being the first region to switch in Germany). During that time the DVB-H variant of the DVB family was released for transmission to mobile receivers in 2004. During 2005 most radio stations left the DAB network with only one public service broadcaster ensemble to remain in the now fully state-funded station network. At last the KEF ( commission to determine the financial needs of broadcasters ) blocked federal funding on 15. July 2009 until economic viability of DAB broadcasting would be proven - and pointing to DVB-T as

5184-526: Was the first country where analog FM radio was switched off in 2017 being replaced by nationwide DAB+ distribution. Local stations can continue broadcasting in FM. With DAB being available across Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway and Northern Italy there is good coverage across the European Backbone area (see countries using DAB/DMB ) indicating a sufficient momentum on the market. France, Spain, Sweden and Poland use DAB+ only in

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