Mitchell & Webb

Radio Review: That Mitchell and Webb Sound

Mitchell and Webb are back on the airwaves, and very funny with it, says Elisabeth Mahoney.

Good to have them back on radio in a sketch show. Mitchell on his own as a game show host has not exactly proved a whizz though Webb, as a fine performance in a Friday Play on Radio 4 showed, is a very good actor. But together they're funnier than anything in this slot has been for months (not difficult, I grant you) because, combined, they achieve and maintain genuine momentum and their taste in scripts is first-rate. I only hope when you read this you haven't heard the same bit trailed so often you'd rather expire than listen.

That Mitchell and Webb way

In this extract from the brilliant forthcoming This Mitchell and Webb Book, the award-winning comedy duo offer their opinions on the important things in life - old-man pubs, bad service and the futility of searching for a decent cup of coffee.

How nice to see that, despite an increasing television profile for their sketch show, David Mitchell and Robert Webb have not turned their back on Radio 4. This new six-part series also includes something that was dearly missing from the last TV series - the effortless comic delights of Olivia Colman.

That Mitchell And Webb Look 3.6 Review

The final episode of this third series was quite average, really. Last episodes of sketch shows tend to give the running gags an amusing twist, but only the "Get Me Hennimore" sketch provided a tweak to its formula, while the excellent "Remain Indoors" quiz unwisely vanished back in Episode 4. A real missed opportunity.

The penultimate episode of this third series's third series is something of an oddity, because there's not really a lot to love or hate. Most of the sketches fell somewhere in the middle and even the successes weren't as sharp as usual, but it still passed the half-hour well enough.

We love David 'Accountant' Mitchell and Robert 'Flashdance' Webb - they were great on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross a couple of weeks ago, don't you think? - but we do wish they'd turn down the canned laughter in this third series. Whatever, tonight, a pair of cellists want to build an airport and there's some bad news about toast...

That Mitchell And Webb Look 3.4 Review

A definite return to form after last week's disappointment, thankfully. 80% was good, 10% great, 10% bad, and that's not to be sniffed at. As always, it's just nice to get mostly new content in a sketch show every week, and Remain Indoors is a weekly dose of genius...

Tucked in between Thursday night's line-up of swords, smut and sorcery in Krod Mandoon and the bizarre brilliance of Psychoville, David Mitchell and Robert Webb's clever, crafted sketches act as a bit of a palate cleanser - a brief return to a sane world we can vaguely recognise.

The sketches where they painstakingly point out the basic idiocy of other TV shows always hit the mark and Webb's shouty, swearing TV chef who says "balls" a lot is a highlight.

So is Mitchell as a soothsayer in ancient Pompeii. Midway through series three, their policy of spreading their comedy net far and wide means their material is still as fresh as ever - unlike many sketch shows that rely on trotting out the same characters and catchphrases week after week for easy laughs.

That said, their running parody of a 70s sitcom - Get Me Hennimore! is totally inspired silliness.

This week's targets for David Mitchell and Robert Webb's satire include a shouting TV chef and homeopathy - both almost too easy to make fun of, you might think, but they find clever new ways. Even if the idea of a Casualty-style drama set in homeopathic A & E department doesn't make you laugh ("His chakras are fading! We're gonna need more crystals!"), the doctors' after-work trip to the pub should. Mitchell is on romping form, as good playing a soothsayer in Pompeii or a man who doesn't understand what an X on the end of an email means. There are dud moments - a swinger sketch doesn't even nearly work - but four weeks in, their stock of sharp ideas doesn't look like running out.