Shooting put on hold

The American version of Little Britain has been put on hold because of the Hollywood writers' strike.

Shooting was due to start on the six-part series for the HBO cable channel this autumn – but the start date has now been put back indefinitely until the dispute is settled.

Matt Lucas and David Walliams had already written most of the series, but wanted to be able to polish sketches right up to the time they are recorded.

‘We're members of the Writers Guild of America so our show is on hold,’ Lucas told BBC Radio One's Newsbeat. ‘We obviously didn't want to break the strike, so we're just waiting for them to reach an agreement.’

‘We've been writing solidly for about eight months, and we're really excited about it. But when you're in rehearsal you change things and write new sketches, and when you're on the set you change things.’

Lucas said the new show would feature new characters, but wouldn’t reveal more for fear of spoiling any surprise. And he said it was very much a continuation of the hit shows they have already made for the BBC.

‘This is effectively series four,’ he said. ‘But there's a kind of way into it if you've never seen the show before.’

The Writers Guild of America have been on strike for two weeks, demanding a bigger slice of from DVD sales and revenue generated when shows are streamed over the internet.

Published: 20 Nov 2007