The Mitchell and Webb Situation was a British television sketch show shown on Play UK

Play UK

Play UK was a television channel broadcasting in the United Kingdom as part of the UKTV network of channels. The channel was launched on 10 October 1998...

 in 2001. Written by and starring David Mitchell

David Mitchell (actor)

David James Stuart Mitchell is a British actor, comedian and writer. He is half of the comedy duo Mitchell and Webb, alongside Robert Webb, whom he met at Cambridge University. There they were both part of the Cambridge Footlights, of which Mitchell became President. Together the duo star in the...

 and Robert Webb

Robert Webb (actor)

Robert Webb is an English actor, comedian and writer, and one half of the double act Mitchell and Webb, alongside David Mitchell.-Early life:...

, it lasted for one series of six episodes and was released on region 2 DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 in 2006 by Eureka Video. It was rebroadcast on BBC Two

BBC Two

BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...

 in October 2008.

Production

Mitchell and Webb did not have to pitch the show, Play UK came to them, asking if they wanted to make a sketch show for their channel. The entire series took fifteen days to film. David Kerr had storyboarded each episode, and knew exactly how he wanted the show to be filmed before filming had begun. Most of the filming took place at the United States International University of Bushey (formerly the Royal Masonic School for Boys

Royal Masonic School for Boys

The Royal Masonic School for Boys was an independent school for boys in England.From 1798 charities were set up for clothing and educating sons of needy Freemasons. They originally provided education by sending them to schools near to their homes...

), which had several "good sketch locations" available. This saved time, as it meant that most the programme could be filmed in one place, rather than frequently having to move around.

Reception

Despite the fact that the show only ran for one series it was reasonably well received. Wessex Scene's Darren Richman said "what the series lacked in budget, it made up for in magnificent material" and went on to call it "far superior to the vastly overrated Little Britain

Little Britain

Little Britain is a British character-based comedy sketch show which was first broadcast on BBC radio and then turned into a television show. It was written by comic duo David Walliams and Matt Lucas...

" and "perhaps the greatest forgotten sketch show of modern times." Eureka! TV said that the show "gushes forth an hilarious stream of surreal and quirkily inventive sketches", as well as calling it a "cult success". Eureka! TV released The Mitchell and Webb Situation on DVD in 2006. In an interview with Wessex Scene, Mitchell stated that he was "more proud of the way it turned out than annoyed that it was only aired on a small channel."

Sketches

Although there are no recurring named characters as seen in many other sketch shows, some recurring sketches include:

• Two writers who attempt to dream up scripts for things which actually already exist, for example religion, fairy tales, and the human reproductive cycle. They debate how the item in question should work, and often come to the conclusion that the way it works in real life is a ridiculous way to operate.
• Two bar staff who make sound effects that make other people believe an event is occurring. After they make a "Ring ring" sound, for example, a woman checks to see if her phone is ringing.
• A farmer who was apparently shocked when he first entered the industry and learnt that farmers make money selling commodities that they obtain from the ground or from animals, and acts as if by mentioning this he is revealing a major secret to the viewer.
• The Early 1990s House - in a parody of shows such as The 1900 House
  The 1900 House
  The 1900 House is a historical reality television programme made by Wall to Wall/Channel 4 in 1999. The show is about a modern family that tries to the live in the way of the late Victorians in 1900 for three months in a modified house...
  
  , a couple in 2001 are forced to live with only those amenities available in the early 1990s, and find coping with slow internet connections and the inability to dial 1471
  Last Call Return
  Last-call return, also known as call return, is a telephony feature offered by telephone service providers to give a called party the time and telephone number of the last received call, and may also offer the facility to place a call back to the calling party.The feature is typically listed as...
  
   a struggle.
• A parody of the movie Suspicion
  Suspicion (film)
  Suspicion is a romantic psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine as a married couple. It also stars Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Nigel Bruce, Dame May Whitty, Isabel Jeans, Heather Angel, and Leo G...
  
  , with Webb portraying a would-be murderer frequently attempting to poison his bedridden friend (Mitchell); however, the murderer's attempts at concealing his intentions are increasingly feeble and easily uncovered by the sharp-minded friend.
• As the end titles run a scene depicting Mitchell and Webb as tramps is shown, with a different punchline for each episode.

A sketch about an abortion clinic was cut from the show as Mitchell and Webb agreed that it made it look as though they thought the prospect of a woman having a miscarriage was funny.