New faces of Little Britain

First there was "the only gay in the village" Dafydd and rubbish transvestite Emily Howard.

Now Matt Lucas and David Walliams are about to unleash a third season of Little Britain, with a new cast of grotesques whose catchphrases will soon enter into everyday language.

Out go stage hypnotist Kenny Craig, tiny Denis Waterman and breast-fed adult Harvey, all judged past their sell-by dates by their creators.

In their place are new characters including a fat Thai bride, a sinister Tory MP always found in compromising circumstances and a Neighbourhood Watch leader so aggressive that he turns into a vigilante.

Old characters including Vicky Pollard, Lou and Andy, Dafydd, Marjorie Dawes and camp Number 10 aide Sebastian survive.

Such is their popularity that established favourites Lou and Andy were recently inducted into Madame Tussaud's, after visitors voted them the attraction they would most like to see.

Tickets for the seven-month Little Britain tour have sold at a phenomenal rate - about 100,000 were bought in six hours after the dates were announced.

Walliams and Lucas say they have not decided if they will record a fourth series.

Walliams told Radio Times: "We need to see if people want another series. That's a big question. Very few things go on for ever and we might want to do something else. We don't know yet.

"But I don't think it's going to be the last time we see any of those characters."

Lucas said: "We can't do a series next year because we're doing our live tour for seven months. Then we start a season in London.

"But we're going to do a Christmas special next year. After that, who knows? You have to see how you feel and listen to the viewers." The essence of Little Britain, they insist, remains the same.

"Our lives are the same, we're still writing in my kitchen, eating Marks & Spencer's ready meals at lunchtime," said Walliams. "I think it's the chemistry between us that's at the heart of Little Britain's success."