BBCW secures 'Come Fly With Me' sales

BBC Worldwide has announced that Matt Lucas and David Walliams's comedy Come Fly With Me has been sold to broadcasters in eight countries.

At the BBC Showcase programming sales event in Brighton, the BBC's commercial arm confirmed sales of Come Fly With Me in Finland (YLE), Holland (NPO), Australia (Channel Nine), New Zealand (TV3), Iceland (TV2), Israel (YES), Spain (Canal+) and Sweden (TV4).

The latter three territories were all pre-sales, in which the broadcaster buys the programme without seeing it first. Little Britain, Lucas and Walliams's last BBC sketch show, went on to be sold in more than 130 countries worldwide.

Launched in the UK on Christmas Day last year, BBC One 'mockumentary' Come Fly With Me features the duo playing a host of bizarre characters in an airport.

The comedy regularly attracted more than 5m viewers on TV, and it also held all top five spots for the most popular content on catch-up platform BBC iPlayer in January, attracting a total of 8m requests. The BBC has already commissioned a second series.

Speaking about the international sales, Walliams said: "Some people [think] Come Fly With Me is the greatest TV series ever made. Those people are me and Matt."

Lucas added: "My sincere apologies to any countries who have bought the show, for any offence causes by all our silliness."

Before Come Fly With Me airs later in the year, Canal+ in Spain has designed a spoof airline check-in website to build a buzz among viewers.