''A Small Problem'' is a
British sitcom
A British sitcom or a Britcom is a situational comedy programme produced for British television.
Most British sitcoms are recorded on studio sets, while some have an element of location filming. A handful are made almost exclusively on location ...
originally broadcast on
BBC2
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream ...
in 1987. Intended as a
satire
Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...
on prejudice, and starring
Christopher Ryan
Christopher Ryan (born Christopher Papazoglou; 25 January 1950) is a British actor best known for his roles as Mike TheCoolPerson in the BBC comedy series '' The Young Ones'', Dave Hedgehog in the BBC comedy series '' Bottom'', Tony Driscoll i ...
who had previously played Mike in ''
The Young Ones'', the show was set in a Britain with a form of
apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
based on people's height. Anyone below 5 ft tall was forced to live in tower-block ghettos south of the River Thames. However, many viewers appeared not to understand the satirical aspect of the show, and the BBC was flooded with complaints.
It was written by comedy writers
Tony Millan and
Mike Walling. The theme tune was written by
Mo Foster
Mo Foster (born Michael Ralph Foster, 22 December 1944) is an English multi-instrumentalist, record producer, composer, solo artist, author, and public speaker. Through a career spanning over half a century, Foster has toured, recorded, and perf ...
and
Mike Walling.
See also
*
Heightism
External links
*
{{BBC-tv-prog-stub
1987 British television series debuts
1987 British television series endings
1980s British sitcoms
BBC television sitcoms
English-language television shows
Television shows set in London