Little Britain's empire
Comedy helps swell BBC coffers
Little Britain has been credited with helping the BBC generate record profits for DVD sales and programme exports.
The corporation’s commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, made £55 million in profits last year.
And Little Britain was one of the star performers, with the DVD selling 1.3 million copies – making it the bestselling TV title of the year.
The show has also been exported to 14 countries, including Israel, Italy and Denmark.
Mark Young, the BBC Worldwide managing director of global television sales, said: "Following in the footsteps of hits such as Absolutely Fabulous and The Office, Little Britain is certainly making its mark around the world for BBC-produced comedy.
“We are intrigued to hear how Vicky Pollard is received in countries following our sales of the series to countries like Russia, Canada and Italy."
Programme sales is the BBC’s core commercial activity, with Strictly Come Dancing and The Weakest Link also selling well, contributing to the £700 million turnover of BBC Worldwide
But on the consumer front The Office, Red Dwarf and the radio revival of The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy all helped swell the BBC’s coffers.
The top-selling DVDs and audio cassettes were, with the number of sales in brackets:
DVD/Video
- Little Britain Series 1 (1.3m) Buy
- The Office Christmas Specials (222,000) Buy
- Red Dwarf IV (130,000) Buy
- Red Dwarf V (110,000) Buy
- The Office Complete Second Series (80,000) Buy
Audio
- Little Britain Complete Radio Series 1 (13, 300) Buy
- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Tertiary Phase (12,800) Buy
- Little Britain Complete Radio Series 2 (10,200) Buy
- Little Britain; Compilation of series 1 and 2 (10,100) Buy
- The Lighthouse Keeper Stories (9,100) Buy
Published: 15 Jun 2005
