Exclusive Matt Lucas Interview

19 November 2007

Matt Lucas and David Walliams are the brains behind Little Britain which has become one of the most successful British comedies of all time with chracters such as Lou and Andy, Daffyd and Emily even welcomed into the hearts of TV viewers as far away as Australia. As the guys begin an assault on US audiences Female First catch up with Matt Lucas to find out about their exciting plans for the future.

You are releasing a new game, The Only Game in the Village, in time for Christmas. What's it all about?

Yes we did a game last year and it seemed to be popular so we've done another one this year. It's a dvd game so it doesn't go in any particular console. You put it into your dvd player then you play with the remote control. It's like a fun game with lots of Little Britain characters who ask you questions.

And you've also got a dvd out, is that right?

We've got a dvd out today called Little Britain Abroad, which is the two Christmas specials that have special guests like Dawn French, Steve Coogan, Peter Kay and Ronnie Corbett and then also there is an hour long documentary of me and David on tour in Australia and also highlights from the live stage show that we did for Comic Relief with Kate Moss and Russel Brand.

How was the tour of Australia? Do the Aussies get the Little Britain humour the same as us?

The strange thing is although we're on opposite sides of the world we seem to be closer to the Australians with humour than we are with any other country. They've seen the television shows a lot so they knew it just as much as the British audiences so it was like a home from home.

What was it like being in Neighbours?

That was great fun. We got to meet Harold Bishop and Stefan Dennis, aka Paul Robinson and got to go to Scarlet Bar- I always think of it as Lasiters still- and we got a tour round Ramsey Street. I think if you're going to go to Melbourne then you've got to go to the Neighbours set.

Is it true you are writing a new TV series for HBO in America?

Yes we've actually already written the series for HBO. It's Little Britain but set in America so the British characters will come to America and there are also a load of new American characters. The series is going to premiere in America then will be shown in Britain afterwards. We've had fun trying to make the characters work for an audience that know them and also a new audience that don't. There's a writers strike in America at the moment so our filming has been put on hold until that's been resolved. We support the strike so we accept that situation. We are members of the writer's guild so we feel that is the only option.

Can you tell us about any of the new characters?

I can't tell you anything about them yet. I'd love to tell you. It's a year away from transmission so I can't give anything away now. But there will be the usual silliness. It's been a lot of fun. It's been two or three years since we've written a series of Little Britain so to sit back down and write this was great. It's been a great challenge and we've been working with some interesting people in America and it's been a great experience so we're hoping to get as much as possible out of it and do well out there. The reason we went to America was because of Simon Fuller- he approached because he's a fan of the show and he wanted to take us over there so we owe a lot to Simon.

If it all goes well for you in America would you consider moving over there permanently?

I think you have to go where the work is you know. We have a deal with the BBC so we're going to honour that obviously but I think the best thing would be if the series was successful in America we could split our time between Britain and America. I can't go all the way to America forever because I miss my football too much. I've also got a dog and if my dog comes to America it will start barking with an American accent.

American humour is typically more light hearted than British comedy. Will you have to tone down Little Britain for a US audience?

Well we're on HBO which is a subscription channel which had the likes of Ali G, Extras and the Sopranos on so it's a little more adult content so it feels like that's the right place for us to do the show. So far no one has suggested we tone anything down.

Is it true you and David are making a film too?

What's happened is we've come up with a couple of ideas for films and one of those in development with Dreamworks in America and one is with Working Title in the UK. We're not writing them. We worked with people to create characters and storylines then people who have more experience are writing them which means we can go away and write Little Britain.

Can you give us a clue what the films will be like?

I can't tell you. They are very different from eachother but it's very very early days so it's a long process when you make a film. Neither film script has been written yet that's how early it is.

You have worked with Sacha Baron Cohen in the past- would you collaborate with him on a show in the future?

I doubt we'd have our characters in his show or his characters in our show in that regard but obviously he is an incredible comedian and remains a friend so who knows. But we stay in touch with each other and I'm a huge fan of what he does but he is one of the biggest film stars in America so he's pretty busy right now.

Would you ever consider playing a more serious acting role?

Never say never. At the moment though I'm very happy working with David. We've been working together for 13 years and we really enjoy, we still make eachother laugh and we're still very close friends so I think the healthy thing to do is to do a bit of both. At the moment I'm pretty focused on what I'm doing with David.