That Mitchell and Webb post

I watched the final episode of That Mitchell and Webb Look (series 3) on the iPlayer over the weekend.

I’m a bit of a latecomer to TMAWL – it started out in that period after I gave up having a TV but before the rise of the BBC iPlayer – a time when my grip on popular culture was consequently at something of a nadir.

Essentially an off-beat sketch show, it takes a wonderful sideways look at a number of situations; for instance through a magnificent sketch where a scene from an espionage thriller is set in a casino, but rather than regular casino games the protagonists play fairground games like guess the weight of the cake.  Another recurring sketch from the latest series I’ve particularly liked has been a post-apocalyptic TV quiz, blending the macabre portrayal of an armageddon with the tackiness of a television quiz show (“hello, good evening, and remain indoors!“).

Perhaps my favourite has to be this wonderful sketch that to me is reminiscent of the writing style of teams like the Two Ronnies.  Have a watch and see how long it takes before you guess the punchline, which is no less funny for the fact you know what’s coming.

It’s encouraged me to dig up something of the past two series, one highlight of which has to be Numberwang, a brilliant pastiche of bafflingly pointless, skill-less, intellect-free gameshows.

Many of those links are, of course, on YouTube; while I watched series 3 itself on iPlayer.  Given that I don’t own a TV and therefore don’t pay a licence, coupled with my huge reliance on Radio Five Live and the BBC News site,  I must admit I am a collosal freeloader, riding on the coat tails of hardworking licence payers across the country.  Not that I feel guilty, of course.

Anyway, enough media-based ramblings.  I ought to go to bed, as I have a busy week ahead – I am off to Edinburgh at the crack of dawn tomorrow.  I have three days in Auld Reekie, a quick day in Glasgow and then get home again on Friday night.

Oh, and at Aberdeen station this morning on my way back from Nicole’s, I saw Labour MSP and former student activist Richard Baker.

In a remarkable break from tradition, he recognised me.