Come Fly With Me does Episode 1

     Currently airing on BBC America, Come Fly With Me is a mockumentary starring Matt Lucas and David Walliams. Meant to spoof the British documentaries Airport and Airline, it feels like an aiport-only copy of their previous series Little Britain and Little Britain USA. Lucas and Walliams play a variety of characters, mostly employees at the airport or on the planes, with a few random people thrown in for them to interact with in short bits. Come Fly With Me is narrated by Lindsay Duncan (Alice in Wonderland, 2010; Rome).


     What that basically means is if you like Little Britain, you will like Come Fly With Me. Lucas and Walliams are skilled at disappearing into their characters with a variety of makeup, wigs, and costumes. The personalities they create are mostly distinct. But they also have a very specific brand of humor that is not for everyone. The jokes are delivered in small morsels, with no connecting plot or larger story.

     Among the memorable characters introduced in the first episode are Precious Little (Lucas), who works at the coffee kiosk, and throws away coffee so she can have the day off, Melody Baines (Walliams) and Keeley St Clair (Lucas), the check-in girls for one of the airlines, Simon (Lucas) and Jackie Trent (Walliams), a married pilot team who fly together after Simon cheated, and Hetty Wolf (Lucas), a very old women who claims she is embarking on her first flight, but is just scamming the staff.

     Rudeness is a common trait among the characters. Obviously, Hetty displays it most prominently when getting Moses Beacon (Walliams), the airline liaison, to purchase her things and give up his miles. But Melody and Keeley are also pretty self-centered, fighting over a promotion even though they claim to be best friends. The funniest example of this trait is illustrated by Fearghal O'Farrell (Lucas), one of 10 gay sons in a single family, who sticks a baby in the overhead compartment.

     If you can handle that type of humor, you'll like the show. There are commentaries on airport inefficiencies and security lapses, as one would expect, but those are the rare gems, rather than the norm. Come Fly With Me is more of the same from Lucas and Walliams, and if you want that, it's a great series. If you don't, then don't bother watching.

     Come Fly With Me airs Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET on BBC America.

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     Click here to watch streaming episodes of Come Fly With Me.

Article first published as TV Review: Come Fly With Me - "Episode 1" on Blogcritics.