MARTIN Clunes has revealed David Walliams was ‘very rude’ about him on a popular TV show.
From 2010 to 2011, David wrote and starred in Channel 4 mockumentary Come Fly With Me with comedy partner Matt Lucas.
In one sketch, the pair portrayed excitable Japanese schoolgirls who were superfans of the Doc Martin actor.
This included the comedians performing a musical caricature of the Japanese language.
Speaking to The Sunday Times, Martin revealed initial plans were for him to star in the sketch.
He would have filmed a scene with the pair’s characters and said: “Actually, I’m pretty big in Japan.”
As the actor explained: “But my schedule closed up and I couldn’t.
“So now I’ve got this pain-in-the-a**e song without any get out.”
Martin recounted: “I remember being very flattered they’d chosen me.
“Then I saw David Walliams talking about it on The Graham Norton Show] and I was not flattered: he was very rude about me.”
Speaking in 2010, David told presenter Graham: “Normally [some Japanese fans are obsessed] with someone like Robbie Williams.
“We thought, ‘Who’s the most unlikely person? We thought of Martin Clunes.”
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”Martin Clunes is worlds away from ITVDoc Martin as he brandishes a gun in dramatic first trailer for new ITV series Out There” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6365749257112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]Meanwhile, Martin was asked whether he’d heard the song often over the years.
He said in response that it had been “enveloped in the mist of casual racism.”
In 2020, Come Fly With Me (along with Little Britain) was removed from Netflix, BBC iPlayer and BritBox after controversy over the use of blackface characters.
BBC and BritBox both confirmed the TV shows had been taken down, telling viewers: “Times have changed.”
A Beeb spokesman added at the time: “There’s a lot of historical programming available on BBC iPlayer, which we regularly review.
“Times have changed since Little Britain first aired so it is not currently available on BBC iPlayer.”
BritBox, which streams ITV and BBC shows, added: “Times have changed since Little Britain first aired, so it is not currently available on BritBox.
“Come Fly With Me has not been available on the service for six months.”
