David Mitchell and Robert Webb have announced the launch of a YouTube channel intended to expand the reach of their current Channel 4 sketch comedy.
Mitchell and Webb Are Not Helping launched on Channel 4 last year, seeing the comedy duo return to the format that propelled them to stardom on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Two in the 2000s.
They partnered up with Ghosts alum Kiell Smith-Bynoe and rising stars Stevie Martin, Krystal Evans and Lara Ricote, with the mission to reinvigorate sketch comedy after a long period of stagnation.
Their efforts were certainly appreciated, with Channel 4 revealing that Mitchell and Webb Are Not Helping was its most-watched new scripted comedy for six years.
A second season is on the way with a revised release strategy — an expanded presence on YouTube will accompany the Channel 4 broadcast, in a bid to attract new viewers from all over the world (via Deadline).
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In addition to uploads of individual sketches, the YouTube channel will also host an original podcast titled Mitchell and Webb Talk About Some Sketches in a Pretend Room (also known as simply ‘The Pretend Room’).
The companion production will see the comedy stars look back on notable sketches from Mitchell and Webb Are Not Helping, revealing behind-the-scenes stories about their inspiration and how they were brought to life.
The channel description reads: “Please strongly consider ‘subscribing’ to this; we are told it helps us to be search-engine-optimised, which remains of course our lifelong ambition.”
The announcement of an official Mitchell and Webb channel on YouTube follows the successful launch of Saturday Night Live UK, which made a mighty social media footprint that dwarfed its overnight viewership on Sky One and NOW.
This new move from Mitchell and Webb combines with other recent advances by broadcasters onto YouTube, such as the youth-oriented, influencer-led Channel 4.0, which has amassed more than 1 million followers since October 2022.
Mitchell and Webb Are Not Helping executive producer Kenton Allen said: “Long before streamers and social platforms transformed audience behaviour, Mitchell and Webb were creating sketches that people wanted to quote, share and rediscover repeatedly.
“The global demand for this material is potentially enormous, so our ambition with this channel is to create the definitive destination for one of Britain’s greatest comedy double acts.”
Mitchell and Webb Are Not Helping is available on Channel 4. Season 2 is coming soon.
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