The first episode attracted 540,000 viewers in the US and 4.7 million viewers in the UK
The second episode, when shown in the UK, attracted 4.23 million viewers
The third episode shown in the UK attracted 4.67 million viewers
The fourth episode shown in the UK attracted 3.65 million viewers
Season 2
On November 27, 2008 on GMTV Matt Lucas announced plans for another season to air in 2009, but in July 2009, HBO announced the show would not return for a second season, but plan to work with Lucas and Walliams on other projects. In Matt Lucas's autobiography, he wrote that HBO wanted to relaunch the show but first they wanted a ninety-minute special. Lucas and Walliams were reluctant to do ninety minutes of solid sketches and a counter-offer of doing two forty-five minute specials was turned down by the network.
Reception
The show has received a generally mixed response from critics, garnering a 60% approval rating on review aggregator website Metacritic. Mirror wrote: "The sad truth is Little Britain's mix of Monty Python, Kenny Everett, and Dick Emery has run its course. One-joke characters like Lou and Andy and Carol 'computer says no' Beer are being flogged to death. Walliams and Lucas have spent so much time deciding which frocks to wear, they've forgotten to write any gags. And their desperation to be outrageous is now just shockingly tedious."
Mildred - A grandmother, played by Lucas, who shares strange and often inappropriate facts about her past with her grandson, Connor.
"Mark and Tom", aka the "Gym Buddies", two new bodybuilder characters who brag about their love lives, but reveal their homosexuality several times. In the final episode of the season, the one played by David Walliams reveals that he has had a sex-change operation.
A "sweet" little school girl called Ellie-Grace who, while sharing love sentiments with her mother before parting with her for a short time, inadvertently comes up with some vulgar ones, often sex related, like,, shocking her mother, who starts to get more stern in reaction. In their final sketch, Ellie-Grace goes for a sleepover and her mother has warned her not to utter any vulgarities. As they are parting, however, her mother accidentally comes up with one herself, traumatising Ellie-Grace.
Phyllis Church, a woman who owns a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named "Mr. Doggy", and likes to talk to him, and imitate his replies. In each sketch, using her deep, Mr Doggy voice, commands herself to do anti-social deeds in public. These anti-social deeds involve taking off her clothes in public and standing in a trash bin, defecating in public and throwing a brick through a shop window.
Bing Gordyn - the eighth man on the moon and an American counterpart of Denver Mills. Bing tries to impress people with his expedition, to the extent of requesting plumbers for this purpose, but always fails to impress, most likely because the moon-landing era has faded away. In his final sketch he pulls a shotgun on a student writing an essay opining that NASA staged all the moon landings.
A middle-aged British couple named George and Sandra, who appear in a series of sketches called "Forty Glorious Years". They visit America to celebrate their 40th anniversary. It seems clear, however, that their love died a long time ago - Sandra remains silent when George tries to make conversation : they live permanently in an awkward silence, which makes George angry and verbally abusive to her. In their final sketch, they return to the UK and George insults her.
A couple go through divorce because the female has realised her homosexuality. The sketch shows her throughout packing up, and her husband discovers many secrets she has kept from him pointing to this, such as merchandise from the LGBT related television show The L Word. He inadvertently uncovers a secret of his own, implying his own homosexuality.
Senator White, an American counterpart of Sir Norman Fry; he attempts to cover up his homosexual experiences.
A pair of hunters who shoot very small animals as though they were larger targets.
A pair of bank-robbers too timid to actually rob a bank.
Two couples on vacation who bump into one another and discover that both are called Steve and Wendy Ashby and live in exactly the same house.
