Claims extracted
19
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
11%
2 of 19 hedged
("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
68/100
BBC News's corrections and
hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
2
Entertainment
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
- Published
The BBC has removed nearly a dozen comedy sketches from That Mitchell and Webb Look after deciding they no longer "work today".
asserted
they → publish → Look
The Bafta-winning comedy, starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb, originally ran for four seasons between 2006 and 2010.
asserted
comedy → win → 2006
The show recently returned to the BBC's iPlayer to mark its 20th anniversary.
asserted
show → return → anniversary
But 11 old sketches, including one that reportedly showed the comedy duo satirising racism while in blackface, have now been cut.
uncertain
duo → include → blackface
A BBC spokesman said in a statement: "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."
asserted
that → say → ones
The Times reported, external the removed material included scenes featuring war re-enactors in blackface, a sketch about a contestant on a makeover show wearing a burka and a "tribe" living in a garden centre.
asserted
material → report → centre
Others are said to include a joke about Jimmy Savile and an impersonation of the late celebrity chef Gary Rhodes making homophobic remarks.
asserted
Others → say → remarks
BBC news has asked Mitchell and Webb - who rose to prominence on the Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show - for a comment.
asserted
who → ask → comment
That Mitchell and Webb Look grew out of a similar radio show titled That Mitchell and Webb Sound, which began on Radio 4 in 2003, and went on to win the Bafta for best comedy programme in 2007.
asserted
which → grow → 2007
Defending the double act, fellow comedian Dom Joly, of Trigger Happy TV, questioned the BBC's "censorship" of itself.
asserted
Joly → defend → itself
Joly 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.
"
asserted
it → tell → that
But it's so clear that Mitchell and Webb are not doing that.
asserted
Mitchell → do → that
Jimmy Mulville, the co-founder of Hat Trick Productions which makes Have I Got News For You, told the same newspaper he could understand the corporation's predicament.
uncertain
he → make → predicament
"The BBC are in an impossible position," he said.
asserted
he → say → position
He added that producers had "to be careful", though, "that this is not the thin end of a wedge where we cut things out".
asserted
we → add → things
Mitchell and Webb are not the first comedians to have had their work edited or removed in recent years, particularly in the aftermath of the Black Lives Matter movement.
asserted
work → have → movement
Matt Lucas and David Walliams' hit show Little Britain was removed from iPlayer, Netflix and BritBox in 2020, after objections resurfaced about some of their characters portraying people from different ethnic backgrounds.
asserted
objections → remove → backgrounds
At the time, both the BBC and Britbox noted how "times have changed" since the Little Britain first aired in the early noughties.
asserted
Britain → note → noughties
The show is now back on iPlayer but, like Mitchell and Webb, some sketches have been removed.
asserted
sketches → remove → Mitchell
The Aporia
