Come Fly with Me

“Sit back, fasten your seatbelts, settle in and Come Fly with Me,” a female narrator gently tells us.

But there will be nothing gentle about FlyLo airlines, how could there be in the hands of the outrageous Matt Lucas and David?

In their follow-up series to Little Britain the two UK comedians take on all and sundry in this series that parodies observational documentaries. You know the sort, the el cheapo airlines that allow cameras to exploit them as a way of getting free publicity. It makes for an ideal setting in the hands of Lucas and Walliams.

Like most British comedies, the UK classes are the target here.

Whether its wealthy Arab airline owner Omar Baba or Precious Little, the South African manager of the coffee stand, there are lower class and upper class characters mercilessly ripped to shreds.

Walliams’ appearances include Omar Baba, executive passenger liaison officer Moses Beacon, chief immigration officer Ian Foot, and one of two check-in staff.

Lucas appears as Precious, roving ground crew member Taaj Manzoor, gay air steward Fearghal O’Farrell, and one of two paparazzi photographers (watch out for a star cameo).

92 year old first time passenger Hetty Wolf (Lucas) is a highlight and two Japanese schoolgirls singing a musical tribute to their hero, actor Martin Clune, are a hoot.

Once again both play both genders, with their wicked portrayals assisted by excellent make up and costume.

Unlike their previous series, the setting allows for a uniformity to the comedy, linked together by a terribly dry narrator who sounds like a dead ringer for those in the genre. It is filmed at London’s Stansted Airport while the airport is still functioning. The real-life extras add to the believability.

The series is also less grotesque than Little Britain. There are no gushing urine gags here, no obese women dropping their towels in day spas, although the series will require some minor editing to meet a PG classification. As a result there is less shock value and laughs derived from the political incorrectness of the former series. They’ve gone for clever over crude, but it still works.

There’s plenty of turbulence in Come Fly with Me that reminds us David Walliams and Matt Lucas are two very funny, and frequently very wrong, boys.

Come Fly with Me airs 8pm Monday on Nine.