Are Mitchell and Webb the baddies now? It's not quite that simple | Brian Logan — SkimNews
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- BBC removed 11 sketches from the 20th anniversary iPlayer rerelease of "That Mitchell and Webb Look," drawing condemnation from Britain's culture-war commentators last Monday.
- Robert Webb plays a rude Gandhi with skin-darkening makeup among the pulled sketches, alongside Jimmy Savile jokes, a Bill Oddie joke, and two scenes depicting white people in blackface — one repeatedly asking "Are you sure this isn't racist?"
- Mitchell and Webb themselves sanctioned the sketches' withdrawal, with David Mitchell having earlier responded cynically to Roald Dahl's "updated texts" for modern sensitivities.
- Comedy producer Jimmy Mulville called the corporation's position "impossible," arguing the BBC must navigate audience-harm concerns regardless of satirical context.
- The piece parallels Matt Lucas's 2017 disavowal of "Little Britain" and its 2020 removal from iPlayer and Netflix over its use of blackface.
- Guardian comedy critic Brian Logan argues the BBC's priority should be funding new comedy that addresses today's cultural faultlines, not abridging vintage shows.
Why it matters: The BBC's pruning removes the context that made the satire legible, and risks audiences mistaking past norms for present ones — even Mitchell and Webb sanctioned the cuts. Logan's larger worry: the BBC should invest in new comedy addressing today's faultlines rather than abridge the vintage work.
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