The BBC has been plunged into a censorship row after cutting 11 sketches parodying racism and other stereotypes from Bafta-winning comedy That Mitchell and Webb Look.
All four series of the show were uploaded to iPlayer for its 20th anniversary.
But scenes involving war re-enactors wearing blackface, an indigenous tribe set in a garden centre, and a makeover contestant in a burka were among those removed as they “no longer work today”.
David Mitchell and Robert Webb both wrote and starred in the sketch programme, which frequently used self-aware humour to ask whether its own material crossed a line.
One deleted sketch parodies a makeover TV show, with Mitchell playing a woman in a burka.
The scene then cuts to the pair discussing whether the bit is offensive.
“I’m not sure we quite know what we’re trying to say,” Webb suggests, asking: “Aren’t we just taking the piss out of people’s sincerely held beliefs?”
Mitchell replies: “I think you can worry too much about this kind of thing. I mean, what’s offensive to one person is just good, clean fun to another.”
Mitchell then removes the burka to reveal blackface underneath.
The BBC has been plunged into a censorship row after cutting 11 sketches parodying racism and other stereotypes from Bafta-winning comedy That Mitchell and Webb Look
|
BBC
Another removed sketch features the duo as English Civil War re-enactors who abandon the Roundheads and Cavaliers to instead depict a conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo – wearing blackface.
“Are you absolutely sure that this isn’t racist?” asks Webb’s character.
“Yeah,” replies Mitchell’s. “It’s a historically accurate recreation of a landmark global conflict.”
The sketch ends with Mitchell’s character admitting the re-enactment is “very, very racist”.
Comedian Dom Joly condemned the move as “classic BBC overkill” and an act of “hysterical censorship”.
Dom Joly condemned the move as ‘classic BBC overkill’ and an act of ‘hysterical censorship’
|
GETTYJoly told The Times: “I totally get it if the BBC is putting out something really racist, which is laughing at and encouraging other people to feel that it’s OK to do that.
“But it’s so clear that Mitchell and Webb are not doing that. Their intent was not to be racist.”
He suggested trigger warnings could be used instead, though he acknowledged that would be “patronising” to viewers.
“It also means that people who hold those views can do that: ‘Oh look, we’re not allowed to say anything any more. You can’t say you’re English,'” Joly added.
Jimmy Mulville, co-founder of Hat Trick Productions, said the BBC was in an “impossible position”.
The BBC previously pulled Little Britain from iPlayer in 2020 after outrage at scenes in which David Walliams and Matt Lucas wore blackface
|
BBC
He told The Times: “We have to be careful that this is not the thin end of a wedge where we cut things out. We’ve had conversations on Have I Got News for You where, you know, the BBC have been worried about causing offence.
“And my argument is, are we saying anything illegal or libellous or slanderous? No. Well, then we should be allowed to say it because let’s see who we’re offending. We might be offending the right people.”
The BBC previously pulled Little Britain from iPlayer in 2020 after outrage at scenes in which David Walliams and Matt Lucas wore blackface.
That show returned to the platform in late 2022 with edits and a content warning.
A BBC spokesman said: “That Mitchell and Webb Look has been made available on BBC iPlayer. This is a 20-year-old sketch show; in consultation with the programme makers, we have included the ones that still work today and not the ones that don’t.”