Come Fly with Me (2010 TV series)


Come Fly with Me is a British mockumentary television comedy series created by and starring Matt Lucas and David Walliams. Narrated by Lindsay Duncan, the series launched on 25 December 2010 on BBC One and HorizonTV 2. A spoof of British documentaries Airport and Airline, the series follows the activity at London Stansted Airport and three fictional airlines: FlyLo a low cost British airline, Our Lady Air an Irish low-cost airline and Great British Air a major international British airline.
Lucas and Walliams portray many of the focal airline and airport staff, as well as some passengers, whose comments and experiences are featured in one or more of the series episodes in the style of a "fly on the wall documentary". Despite announcing a second series, Walliams confirmed in January 2013 that a second series was not going to air.

Production

In June 2010, it was announced that Little Britain stars Lucas and Walliams had reunited to star in a new comedy series set in an airport, a spoof of British documentaries Airport and Airline. Filming for Come Fly with Me began in August, with the duo spending two weeks at Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield.
A further three weeks were spent filming at London Stansted Airport, with scenes also being filmed at Liverpool John Lennon Airport with further weeks of filming at Pinewood Studios. A 'making of' documentary titled Come Fly on the Wall aired on BBC One on 8 February 2011. On 28 January 2011, the BBC announced it had commissioned a second series. However, Walliams confirmed in January 2013 that a second series was not going to air.

Airlines

Main characters

Series One (2010–11)

Series One of Come Fly with Me began airing on Christmas Day 2010, and received mixed reviews from critics, and viewers over 12.47 million. Episode Two, which aired on New Year's Day 2011, gained viewers over 8.80 million, and the remaining four episodes averaged around seven million viewers throughout the rest of the series.
The series began airing in the United States on BBC America on 18 June 2011, edited to fit a thirty-minute time slot with commercials.
No.Episode titleDirected byOriginal air dateProduction codeUnited Kingdom Viewers

''Come Fly on the Wall'' (2011)

Come Fly on the Wall discussed the making of Come Fly with Me with Walliams and Lucas. The programme featured clips from filming, outtakes and interviews with the show's creators as they developed the series. It featured pre production discussions and rehearsals, and showed the actors filming at some of the United Kingdom's busiest airports. It also showed Walliams and Lucas transforming into their new characters in the make up chair, and bringing them to life in front of the camera.
The programme was broadcast on BBC One on 8 February 2011.

Cancellation

On 28 January 2011, the BBC announced that the show had been commissioned for a second series. The new series was set to air during 2013. However, in January 2013, Walliams confirmed that a second series would not air, stating that Lucas did not wish to continue the show.

Home media

Web content

In conjunction with the television episodes, a selection of extra online content was published on the programme website. The extra content, featuring some of the main characters played by Matt Lucas and David Walliams, was presented as spoof versions of real life airline websites, for example an on line check in service for fictional airline FlyLo, with Melody and Keeley. The content was written by Kevin Cecil, who also contributed to the television scripts. Cecil was inspired by his own work on comedy tie in books over the years.

Reception

Come Fly with Me received mixed reviews, with the Daily Express calling it "the worst sketch show, or sitcom to have ever gone out on a Christmas Day" and expressed concern over its screening on the day, considering the perceived lack of quality. The Daily Mirror, however, claimed it was a resounding success and the claims of racism and lack of humour made by the Express were unfounded and hypocritical.
The show was the most watched comedy of 2010, with ten million viewers, but also had thousands of viewer complaints, and criticism for perceived racist content. It was the third most-watched show on Christmas Day in the United Kingdom.
In June 2020 Come Fly With Me, alongside Little Britain, was removed from Netflix for its use of blackface; six months prior it had also been removed from BritBox. It had not been available on iPlayer. A spokesperson for the BBC said: “There’s a lot of historical programming available on BBC iPlayer, which we regularly review.” On its decision to remove the shows, BritBox 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.”

Ratings

EpisodeViewers
112.47
28.80
37.81
47.43
57.11
67.22

International versions

A Dutch version of the show was created, using an almost exact copy of the script and characters. It was broadcast on RTL 4 from August 2011.