The BBC has confirmed that it is removing Little Britain and other programmes featuring David Walliams from iPlayer following allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct against the comedian.
On Tuesday, the 55-year-old television star and author was identified as the celebrity who had sought a court order preventing publication of allegations that he sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl and targeted several teenage girls while allegedly using his status to exploit them.
In response to the claims, the BBC said it was removing some programmes and reviewing “all material featuring and written by David Walliams on our platforms”.
A BBC spokesperson said: “These are serious allegations. As such, the BBC is looking carefully at all material featuring and written by David Walliams on our platforms.
“We are in the process of removing some programmes, including Little Britain, while this review is under way.”
Alongside the sketch show Little Britain and airport mockumentary Come Fly With Me, episodes of The Wheel and Would I Lie To You? featuring Walliams have also been taken off BBC iPlayer.
The BBC has removed Little Britain and other shows featuring David Walliams from iPlayer after he was identified as the celebrity subject to a reporting injunction and accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl (pictured with Matt Lucas in Little Britain in 2004)
The BBC said it was removing programmes and reviewing “all material featuring and written by David Walliams on our platforms” (David pictured in Little Britain)
The 2011 Doctor Who episode The God Complex, in which Walliams played the cowardly moleman alien Gibbis, has also been removed.
Walliams and his comedy partner Matt Lucas rose to fame through their hugely successful sketch series Little Britain.
The programme debuted in 2003 and ran for three series until 2005, followed by several specials.
In recent years, the show has faced criticism over racial stereotypes, blackface and other controversial comedy.
It was removed from streaming services including Netflix and BBC iPlayer in 2020, before returning to BBC iPlayer in 2022 with content warnings and some edits.
Characters including Desiree DeVere, Thai bride Ting Tong, “Only Gay in the Village” Dafydd Thomas, Emily Howard and Florence Rose were among the portrayals that attracted criticism.
In 2020, Walliams and Lucas, 52, apologised for sketches containing racial stereotypes, acknowledging that their depictions of certain characters had been “wrong”.
Since 2023, the pair have been developing a new comedy series that they have promised will be edgy and similar in style to their earlier television work.
On Tuesday, a three-year joint investigation by ITV News and The Guardian reported a series of allegations dating back to 2003, involving some accusers who were as young as 15. Walliams denies all the allegations.
In a statement to The Guardian and ITV News, the comedian said: “Looking back, I realise that at times I behaved thoughtlessly towards other people I had casual sexual relationships with… I realise I did not always take people’s feelings properly into account. That is something I regret.
Walliams applied to the High Court to stop the media reporting the allegations, prompting intense online speculation about his identity
“And whilst a power imbalance is inevitable when one party is famous, abusing that power is something else entirely and it is something that I never did…
“I am not a sexual predator… I have not broken the law… I am devastated that some of the women I met ten to twenty years ago have now expressed hurt or anger towards me.”
Last month, a High Court judge dismissed Walliams’ application to prevent publication of the allegations, but gave him permission to appeal and temporarily protected his identity.
The comedian and writer failed to meet a 4.30pm deadline on Monday to take the case to the Court of Appeal, meaning he could be publicly identified.
Walliams denies wrongdoing and told the High Court that he would take his own life if his identity were disclosed. On Tuesday afternoon, Downing Street described allegations of sexual misconduct made by several women as “deeply troubling”.
One accuser, identified as Jade by ITV News and The Guardian, alleges that Walliams sexually assaulted her when she was 15 after contacting her online.
Jade said they met in London’s Soho before he drove her to his home in an Aston Martin. She alleges that Walliams assaulted her at Supernova Heights, the mansion once owned by Oasis frontman Noel Gallagher.
“He asked me to come over and gave me a hug. That’s when he kissed me,” Jade alleged of Walliams, who was 36 at the time.
“He lifted my top up and sucked on my breast and then tried to put my hand down his trousers. That’s when I pulled away and said, ‘No’. He had an erection at the time,” she said.
“I wasn’t ready for sex. I didn’t want to do that, with him or with anyone. I didn’t want to be touched in that way at all. I mean, I was only 15.”
She said she had told him that she had previously been sexually abused by another person as a child, to which he replied: “Sorry to hear that.”
Jade said she regarded what she alleges happened as “sexual assault” and “grooming”, adding: “It’s completely wrong in every way.”
Another woman, identified only as Alex, alleges that Walliams began contacting her when she was 15 and preparing for her mock GCSEs after meeting her at a Little Britain fan event, where he was dressed as his character Lou.
Their first meeting was filmed. Alex said they began a sexual relationship about two years later, when she was 17.
Asked how she now felt about Walliams, she said: “I want to vomit. I hate him. My body reacts when I think about it. It’s like a trauma response. I think I was groomed. One hundred per cent.”
Walliams’ High Court application to prevent the allegations from being reported prompted intense speculation about his identity online.
