Little Britain.

Little Britain * Starring and written by Matt Lucas and David Walliams * BBC Video

While comedy duo Matt Lucas and David Walliams--best known under the collective name Little Britain--are the hottest thing in British comedy these days, their American following is cultish at best. One hopes that will change with the release of Little Britain: The Complete First Series, which hits DVD on August 16, one day before BBC America begins airing the second season of the acclaimed sketch show. The gallery of characters created by Lucas (the short, gay one) and Walliams (the tall, straight one) ranks with SCTV at its peak.

Cross-dressing is certainly a staple of British comedy, but Walliams takes the premise a step further with Emily Howard, a goosey transvestite who's not fooling anyone as to "her" true sex. And Lucas's fast-talking girl delinquent, Vicky Pollard, seems to be beaming in from another universe entirely; even the DVD subtitles can't keep up with her polluted stream-of-consciousness ranting. While gay fans will certainly adore Lucas's spandex-loving Dafydd ("the only gay in the village") and Walliams's doting assistant to the oblivious prime minister (Buffy's Anthony Stewart Head), this is the kind of smart, audacious material that anyone with a brain should be making part of his or her comedy diet.

The new DVD features a handful of goodies, including highlights from Rock Profile--a show in which the duo impersonates the likes of Elton John, Shirley Bassey, and ABBA--as well as deleted scenes and menus that allow you to watch all of the sketches featuring a particular character. If you miss the heady hilarity of Monty Python and the Kids in the Hall, this DVD will crack you up and send you out in search of friends to indoctrinate.