That Mitchell and Webb Look

From Ultimatewiki

That Mitchell and Webb Look is a 6-part British television sketch show starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb. It first aired on 14 September 2006 on BBC Two.

It is directed by David Kerr, who also directed Mitchell and Webb's previous television sketch show The Mitchell and Webb Situation. As well as Mitchell and Webb themselves, the writers include Jesse Armstrong, James Bachman, Sam Bain, Mark Evans and John Finnemore. The producer is Gareth Edwards. The cast includes Olivia Colman, James Bachman, Mark Evans, Abigail Burdess and Paterson Joseph.

Recurring Sketches

Recurring sketches seen in the series include:-

• Ted and Peter - A parody of television snooker commentary. Ted and Peter (Mitchell and Webb respectively) are a pair of jaded ex-players, who are generally more interested in getting drunk than actually commenting on the match. Their commentary comprises mainly revelations of bad habits, infidelities or crimes committed by players, mixed with mildly homoerotic praise of the players' style and looks. Ted also frequently says "Oh, and that's a bad miss". Peter recently came out as a homosexual after "living a lie for 42 years".

• Numberwang - A parody of complicated quiz shows based on maths with elements of Countdown and Lucky Ladders, mainly involving two contestants yelling out apparently random numbers until one reaches "Numberwang!" which is also seemingly random. Part way through the game the area where the contestants sit rotates (a reference to the old quiz game Blankety Blank) briefly revealing something strange before returning to where it started. Episode 5 featured a German version with David Mitchell as the host. In Episode 6, Numberwang appeared as "Wordwang", essentially the same game but with words and letters instead of numbers.

• The Party Planners - Mitchell and Webb prepare a party guest list, and realise that one of the guests will bring along a famous literary or historical figure. In one episode, they complained about their friend Moneypenny's annoying boyfriend, James, and his habit of attacking other guests for no reason. Another featured them inviting Velma, Freddie and Daphne along, but worrying that they will bring "the scrawny one who doesn't wash and his dog".

• The Angel Summoner and BMX Bandit - A send-up of crime-fighting duos, the Angel Summoner, looking distinctly like Gandalf, and BMX Bandit team up to fight crime with the usual scenario of the BMX Bandit assessing the situation, usually a highly dangerous task (hostage rescue, counter-terrorism, drug raid) and then suggesting a ridiculously complicated scenario where he would use his BMX to save the day. Various BMX style tricks are mentioned to fight crime, "I'll spin my rear wheel and kick mud up in their faces" "Then I'll pop a wheelie to knock the guns out of their hands" etc. The Angel Summoner then adds that he could simply summon a force of invincible angels to take care of the problem by simply chanting, "Angelic Hordes Come Forth!". The invincible angels are never shown, but we do see the aftermath after they have taken care of the situation and saved the day. With each installment, the BMX Bandit resents the quick fix of summoning a horde of angels and feels that he and his BMX skills are redundant in the crime fighting partnership.

• Big Talk - Host Raymond Terrific (Webb) shouts at his panel of "boffins", demanding they solve the world's problems. The experts try to solve these in a calm-headed way, while Raymond yells at them to get results faster. Big Talk has tried to solve the crisis in the Middle East, the AIDS pandemic and the issue of whether there is a God. Raymond also chaired (extremely unwillingly) a spin-off called Small Talk, in which a panel of mindless celebrities discussed 'matters of no importance', such as "What is your favourite flavour of crisp?". Raymond visibly detested taking part in this version.

• The Surprising Adventures of Sir Digby Chicken-Caesar - Sir Digby (Webb) and his sidekick Ginger (Mitchell) believe that they are a pair of detectives in the style of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson when in fact they are drunken tramps. They are so poor that they have to hum their own theme tune (Devil's Gallop), which is usually sung as the intrepid duo are escaping from a crime scene, and regularly fight each other for loose change. They believe that plots are constantly being hatched against them by their "nemesis" described as "some bastard who is presumably responsible". Henchmen of their nemesis turn up in the shape of the police or whoever stumbles in front of them. Sir Digby first appeared on radio in the show's precursor; "That Mitchell and Webb Sound" but was known then as Sir Digby Caesar-Salad. When they are in a prison cell, Ginger decides to hang himself with his tie, so they can get away, claiming he survived it because his father did it frequently in the "good old days"; and sexually abused him when it was "bad".

• The British Broadcasting Network - An old fashioned black and white broadcast. The two characters constantly talk about the wonders of the new medium of television, and how it enables people to see them talking to each other. They use very large cumbersome microphones at the side of their face, so they are mostly shown in profile

• Barry - Barry (Mitchell) runs a range of attractions which are all unsafe, including charging £2 to jump off a cliff, or offering the chance to swim with a great white shark but with the shark inside the cage along with the diver. His middle class customer (Webb) who assumes everything is "fine" as Barry has a sign, so it must be legitimate, seemingly oblivious to the obvious danger, always eventually agrees to take part, much to Barry's surprise.

• The Honeymoon's Over - Mitchell plays a rude, mean, condescending man who takes a variety of different jobs, in all of which he does his best to demean his customers (Webb and Colman) and make them feel uncomfortable and inferior. Past jobs have included being a waiter, a priest and a shop assistant in a clothes shop.

There are also "Behind the Scenes" sketches in each episode where Mitchell and Webb play themselves, on the set of the show.