Little Britain back on TV for BBC's Big Night In

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Matt Lucas and David Walliams in Little Britain
Image caption,

Little Britain originally ran on TV from 2003 to 2008

Matt Lucas and David Walliams will bring Little Britain back to TV for the first time in a decade with a sketch on a BBC charity special next week.

The comedy pair reunited for a Little Britain radio special last October, and a new TV series has been rumoured.

They haven't revealed which characters they will play on BBC One's The Big Night In on 23 April.

The three-hour show will raise funds and "celebrate the acts of kindness and "the spirit of hope" amid lockdown.

It will also see Catherine Tate reprise her role as schoolgirl Lauren - now struggling as she is remotely educated by her teacher, played by David Tennant.

Image caption,

Is she bovvered? Catherine Tate's Lauren is now being home educated

Peter Kay and Gary Barlow will also appear from home, and the programme will be hosted by Matt Baker, Zoe Ball, Lenny Henry, Davina McCall and Paddy McGuinness.

The Big Night is being organised by Children in Need and Comic Relief, and the money raised will be split between the two charities to provide support during the pandemic.

Lucas has also been announced as the host of a new Channel 4 show that will celebrate the ability of "men, women, children, celebrities and possibly even some pets to entertain themselves during some self-enforced downtime".

Reasons To Be Cheerful With Matt Lucas has been written by Harry Hill.

Little Britain on Netflix?

Meanwhile, the comedian has been part of a fundraising campaign that has raised £1.1m to provide hot meals for NHS workers. He released a new version of his Baked Potato Song for the #FeedNHS fund.

He will also replace Sandi Toksvig as co-host of the next series of The Great British Bake-Off.

Walliams, meanwhile, is currently at number one in the UK book chart with his latest children's book, Slime.

Little Britain originally ran on TV from 2003 to 2008. The show made one final outing on 2009's Comic Relief; while Walliams revisited the characters of Lou Todd and Emily Howard in later charity specials, without Lucas's involvement.

Lucas recently told BBC Radio 2 that the pair would "love" to bring Little Britain back to TV "in some way and at some point", and confirmed the duo had spoken to Netflix.

Image source, Audible
Image caption,

French and Saunders have recorded an episode for a new Audible lockdown podcast

It was also announced on Thursday that other double acts have reunited virtually while in lockdown for a new podcast series.

Audible's Locked Together series was released on Thursday and features duos including French and Saunders; Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse; Simon Pegg and Nick Frost; and Rob Delaney and Sharon Horgan.

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