Top 10 Mitchell and Webb Sketches

How to make a classic gag relevant for modern audiences? Mitchell and Webb set up shop in an Apple-esque computer store for today’s first sketch, revolving around two tech fanboys, a case of mistaken identity and a load of made-up industry jargon. Suffice to say, the comics confuse themselves and pull out of character before delivering the punchline. In classic Mitchell & Webb style, they build the sketch with a behind-the-scenes feel, incorporating the illusion of comedy into the comedy itself. The fact that they’ve also starred in real life Apple ads before only extends the joke. Thumbs up for creativity.

Opening with a string of innuendos, this sketch starts as if straight from the Carry On school of comedy. That is until Robert Webb’s Doctor Asquith wades in with a heavy-handed penis joke. As David Mitchell’s managerial type eloquently explains, the Bawdy ‘70s Hospital is a place for relentless double entendres only, much to Webb’s bewilderment and our amusement. Despite the rod demonstration, Asquith still manages to get the wrong end of the stick, and is promptly shown the door in typical ‘nudge nudge wink wink’ fashion.

From the Helivets to Hennimore, recurring double acts are a Mitchell and Webb speciality. Our eighth spot goes to Ted and Peter, a pair of binge drinking, chain-smoking snooker commentators, who can only reliably deliver one trademark line of commentary. They fill the rest of their time insensitively discussing the players, making god awful jokes or awkwardly discussing sexuality. Their booth is a bottle bank of cast offs, the state of their health is anyone’s guess. ‘Oh and that’s a bad miss’ is a big hit with fans too, and Ted and Peter are two of Mitchell and Webb’s longest-running characters.

Of all the emotions in Robert Webb’s acting repertoire, smugness is one of his very best. The guy’s just really good at seeming really arrogant, and never more so than in this clip. Webb plays a boastful brain surgeon engaging in small talk at a party, forever forcing conversation back to his line of work no matter how many insults he needs to dish out. Faced with an accountant and a charity worker he’s in his element, but then David Mitchell shows up late from the space centre and the tables are turned.

Continuing with a medicinal theme, next we see David Mitchell really put his back into it. He’s visiting his chiropractor when inspiration strikes and the two start planning a sketch. We’re seeing the result of those plans, a heightened scene for a live comedy performance with Robert Webb donning stockings and a speech impediment. But then the camera turns away from the set, and the sketch is given yet another layer of hilarity. A joke within a joke within a joke, it gets funnier by the second and name drops Tony Blackburn at the close.

Another recurring sketch, Webb takes centre stage as the host of Numberwang, a nonsensical maths quiz phenomenon. Broadcast out of a glitzy gameshow studio, the show sees Olivia Coleman and Paterson Joseph play two ever-present contestants, Julie and Simon, who must shout out numbers until Numberwang is found. The criteria for Numberwang is never revealed, the rules of the game are never explained, but the brand did inspire a Mitchell-led spoof documentary and a family board game. We’ve ranked it number five, or is that seventy-twelve? Whatever it is, that’s Numberwang!

Making an appearance on the last ever episode of “That Mitchell and Webb Look”, just before the memorably teary Sherlock Holmes series finale, here we see Robert Webb interview a TV talent show contestant post-audition, and absolutely rip her to shreds. Felicity gave her ‘heart and soul’ to Talent Dredge, but Webb’s unimpressed and has a few choice words. His barrage of abuse is both incredibly harsh and expertly articulated, leaving no room for the contestant’s clichéd answers or hope that she’ll ever get over the psychological trauma.

Whether you love football, hate it, or stay mostly indifferent, there’s no denying that this sketch is close to the perfect parody. David Mitchell steps out as an overexcited Sky Sports pundit for a mock preview to the football season, only there’s more than a little scorn to his presentation style. By listing off sarcastic quips but maintaining the dogged stare of someone determined to enjoy themselves, Mitchell brilliantly turns previously nondescript fixtures into matters of life and death. His eyes bulging at the thought of the apparent endlessness of it, it’s one of the best rants on TV.

Our runner-up is a Robert Webb character (aimlessly assisted by David Mitchell’s Ginger), and one of the most famous faces on Mitchell and Webb’s roster. Sir Digby is a drifter with an absurdly high opinion of himself, who will stop at nothing to defeat his faceless nemesis. Digby and Ginger drunkenly stumble through their lives of petty crime and not-so-cunning plans, fueled mostly by Carlsberg Special Brew and a blind sense of injustice. With a skewed face-on camera angle and homemade theme tune, he’s the hero no-one deserves or needs, now or ever. Hilarious sketch, though.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Changing Meals

Kitchen Nightmares

The Diana Conspiracy

We end with a two-part sketch set on the Nazi frontline during World War II, as David Mitchell’s character reaches an alarming moment of clarity. Mitchell’s soldier collars Webb for a quick chat over the Nazi dress code, and more specifically the skull insignia which appears on the helmet. He’s worried that with all the negative connotations that a picture of a skull carries, he could be fighting for the bad guys. And while Webb’s having none of it at first, one glance at their surroundings and the proverbial penny drops.