Peter Kay has defended David Walliams and Matt Lucas after the duo faced backlash over controversial Little Britain scenes.
The comedian made a cameo in the BBC One series but many viewers think the show hasn’t aged well over the years. In his new book, TV: Big Adventures of the Small Screen, the stand-up star recalls working with the pair and calls their criticism a “shame”.
Kay writes that it was “really lovely” to get invites from his peers to play characters in their shows. He went on to portray the role of younger brother of Dudley Punt, who lives in a caravan with his 18-year-old virgin wife Ivanka (Julia Davis).
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He says: ” “It was all very far from being politically correct but that’s what made it funny. It probably wouldn’t get made now. 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. Comedy is such a minefield, with political correctness changing it all the time. Sometimes for the greater good, most of the time not.”
(Image: Getty Images)
Elsewhere in his book, Peter brands Jimmy Savile a “dirty old perv” after a disgusting act on female act. In an excerpt shared with the Mirror, Kay said he decided to “push the boat out” for his final Peter Kay’s World Of Entertainment segment by inviting Savile to join him. The Jim’ll Fix It presenter duly obliged – on the condition that he received £500 in cash and a £1,000 box of cigars.
Dad-of-one Kay described Savile’s showing as “very eccentric” adding that he “talked utter nonsense, spouting weird quotes, crap jokes, limericks” and made weird noises. Eccentricity aside, the comic said the only hint he got of Savile being “immoral” concerned his meeting with executive producer, Bridget Boseley.
(Image: BBC)
Kay explained: “I remember she offered him her hand, which Jimmy took, then he flipped it round to kiss the back of it, but before his lips touched her skin I saw a quick flick of his tongue licking the back of her hand. Urgh! What was all that about? Bridget and I chatted about it later. She said, ‘He licked the back of my hand. ‘I know, I saw him, the dirty old perv’.”
A second encounter of sorts is also remembered in the book, which arrived shortly after Savile’s crimes had been exposed in an ITV documentary. Kay said he had been invited to join by BBC executives, musicians and actors at an event at BBC’s Media City, which had to be cut short as news of the scandal broke.
(Image: BBC)
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Kay said: “Everybody had gone apart from Peter Salmon (BBC Exec), Guy Garvey, Mr Tumble and me. The main corridor wall had a huge black and white mural featuring BBC icons from over the years. Michael Parkinson, Only Fools and Horses, Dad’s Army, that sort of thing. Just like wallpaper, the images repeated along the length of the wall.
“I’ll never forget Peter Salmon, he said, ‘Here, could you do me a favour?’ and he handed each of us a pile of big bright-yellow Children in Need Pudsey Bear stickers. ‘Could you find Savile and cover him up?’ So there we were, up step ladders trying to find every image of Jimmy Savile so we could cover him up (ironically just what the BBC had reportedly been doing for years). It was like some depraved Where’s Wally? Or Where’s Jimmy?”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
