New 'Mitchell & Webb' Comedy Series Commissioned
Mitchell and Webb Key Art
Channel 4
It's Valentine's Day weekend here in the U.S., and the U.K. has sent us all a small gift to help us through the next year: the return of David Mitchell (Ludwig) and Robert Webb (Whitstable Pearl) joining forces on the small screen in their first brand new sketch comedy series since Back ended in 2021. The series does not have an official title as yet, but is currently under the working title of Mitchell & Webb. (Additional "That"s and "Streaming Show" synonyms to be announced in due course.)
Mitchell and Webb (the people, not the new series) put out a statement along with the Channel 4 announcement that sums it up nicely.
“When Channel 4 asked us to do another sketch show, we were startled, bemused, and available. It’s a perilous time for the industry, so we hope relaunching the trickiest genre of comedy is a brilliant piece of counterintuitive commissioning," their blurb read. "And we’re confident that, unlike Roger Moore with his shoe on the bonnet of a car teetering on the edge of a cliff in For Your Eyes Only [REPLACE WITH 21ST CENTURY REFERENCE?] we’re not about to give British TV comedy a final lethal nudge into the abyss. We’re looking forward to working with our brilliant new cast despite their youth and talent and would like to encourage viewers to watch the advert break carefully and do their best to buy something. It doesn’t have to be a car but, you know, a box of chocolates or an app or something.”
The announcement closed out a slew of commissions from Channel 4 for 2025, including a new adaptation of A Woman of Substance, a second season of The Undeclared War, and several more new works. However, the new Mitchell & Webb series will be the flagship of the forthcoming line up, and a massive draw for Anglophiles in the U.S. to whichever streaming platform hops on board as the American distributor.
There is, naturally, no synopsis for the new series because sketch comedy shows don't get synopses. However, the announcement included a cast roster of sketch comedy up-and-comers who will make up Mitchell & Webb's core ensemble, and the list is notably drawn from both sides of the pond. They include U.K. comedians Kiell Smith-Bynoe, who was until recently seen as Mike Cooper on the U.K. version of Ghosts, and Stevie Martin, who appeared in Starstruck over on Max. They will be joined by Mexican-American-Venezuelan comedian Lara Ricote, who recently starred in GRL/LATNX/DEF in the U.K. and American Krystal Evans; the two both made award-winning turns at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Mitchell & Webb will also include a team of established and upcoming comic writers, to be announced in due course. The pair's long-time producer, Gareth Edwards, will helm all six half-hour installments. Edwards, Mitchell, and Webb will produce through their That Mitchell & Webb Company alongside Kenton Allen for Big Talk Studios, a part of ITV Studios.
Mitchell & Webb is due out before the end of 2025 on Channel 4 in the U.K. We are awaiting to see which American streaming service will land this series and will report as soon as there is one.
