"Stop treating the adult population like children": J.K. Rowling reacts after BBC removes nearly a dozen Mitchell and Webb comedy sketches

BBC has removed multiple episodes and sketches from That Mitchell and Webb Look from its iPlayer. It stated that it has included the episodes that 'work' in today's environment and removed the others.

That Mitchell and Webb Look is a comedy series in which Robert Webb and David Mitchell perform numerous sketches. They play different characters in different sketches, with other actors and comedians featuring as well. It premiered in 2006 and ended four years later.

The show returned on the BBC iPlayer, but 11 sketches have been removed from it, according to The Times. The broadcaster alleged racism in some segments; hence, they have been removed.

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling shared her thoughts on this on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, September 22. She wrote:

"Stop treating the adult population like children and stop allowing adults who behave like despotic toddlers to decree what the rest of us are allowed to watch."

Mitchell and Webb had not shared an official statement at the time of writing. However, the BBC stated:

“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.”

According to Deadline, one of the removed sketches was when Mitchell and Webb re-enacted a conflict between government forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo and a rebel militia. Mitchell asks in the sketch:

“Are you absolutely sure that this isn’t racist?”

Another removed sketch also features the iconic Olivia Colman. In it, Webb and Colman are confronted by a woman in a burqa, who turns out to be Mitchell in blackface.

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Industry stakeholders shared their thoughts on the removal of some of the That Mitchell and Webb Look sketches

Comedian Dom Joly opened up about the BBC removing some of the sketches from That Mitchell and Webb Look from its iPlayer. He slammed the outlet, labeling it "classic BBC overkill" and "hysterical censorship". He added:

"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 okay to do that. But it's so clear that Mitchell and Webb are not doing that. Their intent was not to be racist. If you really, really have to, put some sort of warning before it. But even that is so patronising," he added.

Meanwhile, Jimmy Mulville, Hat Trick Productions co-founder, said that he understood the BBC's stance and said:

"It's a difficult thing. I think I can see the BBC's point. I can really see it from both points of view. The BBC are in an impossible position."

Mulville rued the lack of "nuance in debate" due to social media in the modern world. He said comedy has always "[tried] to shine a light on bigotry in order to laugh at it". However, he said that it's difficult to even pitch such ideas to broadcasters.

He added that there were some problems in the sketches, but said that he "personally... wouldn't censor anything."

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