BBC Removes 11 ‘Mitchell & Webb’ Sketches From iPlayer

The BBC has brought That Mitchell & Webb Look back to iPlayer for its 20th anniversary, but the streaming collection is missing 11 sketches from the original television run. The broadcaster said the selection was made with the program’s creators and was limited to material it believes still works for audiences today.

What was left out

Among the omitted material is a sketch featuring David Mitchell and Robert Webb as war re-enactors in blackface. Another excluded routine centers on a supposed “tribe” living inside a garden center. The two comedians have not publicly commented on the revised collection.

The sketch series originally aired from 2006 to 2010 and paired Mitchell and Webb with an ensemble that included Olivia Colman and Daniel Kaluuya. It became known for recurring bits such as the deliberately baffling game show “Numberwang” and the snooker-commentator parody featuring Ted and Peter.

A broader shift in streaming archives

The decision reflects an ongoing challenge for broadcasters: how to make older comedy available without presenting every scene as if standards and context have remained unchanged. The BBC has taken a similar approach with other catalog titles, sometimes removing a program and later restoring edited versions.

Little Britain, for example, was pulled from streaming services in 2020 amid criticism of racially insensitive characters. It returned to iPlayer in 2022 after edits intended to better reflect the contemporary cultural landscape. Creators Matt Lucas and David Walliams had also apologized for portraying characters of other races.

For That Mitchell & Webb Look, the broadcaster has chosen a curated anniversary release rather than a complete archive or an all-or-nothing removal. The series’ return still places a major 2000s comedy back in front of streaming viewers who may not have seen its original four-year run.

Viewers can revisit the show’s best-known recurring characters, while the 11 excluded sketches remain outside the current iPlayer package. The result is a substantial collection, but one presented as a modern selection rather than a complete historical record.