Host: God, imagine The Event happening again...[beat]...NO! DO NOT IMAGINE THE EVENT HAPPENING AGAIN. IT WILL CAUSE DISTRESS. THE EVENT IS IN THE PAST.
A.I. Is a Crapshoot: During the "history of Numberwang" sketch, it is revealed that Colosson the Numberwang robot has gone insane and wants to destroy everything that isn't Numberwang.
The Inebriati sketch has Webb's character exclaim "Yes! I got that guy off that vicious sex murder, even though he obviously did it!"
There's also "Speedo", a hybrid of House and Shark, a former defence barrister now working prosecution. When asked why he defended known rapists, he replied:
Speedo: I don't know. I guess I just liked rapists.
He does, however, then say that he was only joking.
Ancient Conspiracy: An episode presents a trailer for The Number Wang Code, where we learn that all numbers are part of a conspiracy. Also, the above-mentioned Inebriati (or Knights Tippler), a select cabal of people who have shaped the world for the better for centuries, all on the principle that "everything is much, much easier if you're ever-so-slightly drunk." Being completely drunk, however...
And Man Grew Proud: An awful lot of knowledge appears to have been lost barely two and a half years after The Event.
"If this show's going to mean anything at all, somebody has got to die!"
Art Imitates Art: A creepy version of Test Card F is shown during breaks in the Quiz Broadcast. It features Bubbles the clown with a sad face, Carole wearing a gas mask, and depressing phrases such as "Mummy won't wake up" and "It is the mercy" written on the blackboard.
Revelation 6:13-15 reads: "and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains."
(remain indoors)
Awesome, but Impractical: The doorbell replacement product, a cannon that fires small dogs at your window with a note attached to their collar. If you visit multiple people in one go, you may need to carry more than one dog.
"I estimate you can shoot the same dog through twenty four windows before it becomes an terrifying lump of mutilated flesh."
Bad Boss: Hennimore's boss is not really mean-spirited or a bad man, but he never fails to give Hennimore two simultaneous tasks with instructions so confusing that no one could possibly handle both without screwing them up in the most comedic way possible. Needless to say, Hilarity Ensues.
Michael and Webb themselves during the Behind-The-Scenes skits, where they decide in order to create a meaningful message, they are going to kill off one of the extras. Cue them setting their sights on uber-cheerful James Bachman.
The Backstage Sketch: The show frequently featured the stars lounging around on set in-between takes. One particularly memorable instance lampshades how the supposedly documentary-esque content of these sketches were in fact just as scripted as the rest of the show.
Bilingual Bonus: The man who wants to make a cup of tea for everyone in Belgium tries talking to them in French. The police car in the background says 'politie' (the Dutch word for police) meaning he's in Flanders. No wonder they're ignoring the guy speaking terrible French.
Mitchell: Everyone's in shock, except for James, who strolls over to the window, glances down, and says "What a piercing bore"
Webb: "A piercing bore"? There's no such expression!
Mitchell: Well, right next to the railing was a rock crusher. It's pretty clear he'd wanted to say "what a crushing bore" but missed and was making the best of a bad job...
The 'Agent Suave' sketch revealed that all of the titular superspy's quips and Double Entendres came from a pair of lazy comedy writers sitting in a van outside reading from a book called '1001 Super Spy Jokes'. They were also providing this service for the villain. This backfired on them.
Brick Joke: In series 4 episode 5, the 'backstage' sketches talk about the idea of ending the showin an emotionally affecting way, but ultimately determine that the announcer would just talk over the credits and ruin the mood. In the next episode, the last of the series, the final sketch is a genuine Tear Jerker featuring an elderly Sherlock Holmes... and the announcer doesn't talk over the credits.
Brown Note: "I've got a Red Tuba that makes you shit yourself!" And from the same sketch, the eponymous green clarinet which makes you sing embarrassing truths to the tune of "I Saw Three Ships".
Bulletproof Fashion Plate: The host of The Quiz Broadcast (remain indoors) starts out looking remarkably well groomed, all things considering — and then progressively unravels as things get worse and worse.
Butt Monkey: Julie would always lose Numberwang. The only time she won was when there was a sudden death round, and the first person to die won. That's Numberwang! for you. In fact, in their live show, the host started verbally abusing Julie in the last round and showing blatant favouritism towards Simon.
By "No", I Mean "Yes": The interviewer in the "Realistic Film Director" sketch asks questions like this.
Interviewer: Peter, what would you say — and apologies if this seems like a crass question — is the horniest bra size on a woman?
Director:What?
Interviewer: By which I mean, what, if anything, is the message in your films?
Calling Card: The Identity Killer, who leaves photo identification of himself, his driver's license, his passport and, on one occasion himself, at his crime scenes. The police have no leads for this Magnificent Bastard.
Callback: A series four sketch parodying Cash For Gold adverts has a Cash for Plutonium commercial that says it's "Definitely not a front for a maniacal supervillain" at which point a picture of Leslie, the Bond villain parody from earlier series flashes up on the screen
Calvinball: Numberwang, the maths quiz that simply everyone! Is talking about? Yes.
Also the similarly-themed Wordwang and the German spinoff, Nümberwang.
Parodied when it is revealed that Numberwang is decided through complicated mathematics by Colosson.
In the live show, Julie somehow managed to achieve Numberwang while bantering with the host.
Catch Phrase: "That's Numberwang!" and "Let's rotate the board!" for Numberwang; "Hello, good evening and remain indoors!" for The Quiz Broadcast.
Also "That's a bad miss" from the the snooker radio commentator.
This is due to the show's origins on radio, where a catchphrase at the beginning would let the audience know which characters they were listening to right away.
"Henni-MORE!"
The News live broadcast: What's your reckon?
The Posh Waiter, Scary Vicar and Intimidating Tailor all introduced themselves in a similar fashion:
Person: Sorry, what happened to the [much nicer previous occupant of the position in question]? Waiter/Vicar/Tailor:[With an alarming maniacal glint in the eye:] (S)he's gone, sir/madam/child. They've all gone. And we're back. Person: Who? Waiter/Vicar/Tailor: The [incredibly hostile and inappropriate] people who still unaccountably [do X].
Chekhov's Boomerang: Episode 5 of Series 4 has a series of "behind the scenes" sketches about the pair trying to create an serious thought-provoking ending akin to the ending of Blackadder Goes Forth. ("I think we desperately need to show maturity with something with something tacked on and mawkish. Like we care about MS ... doesn't have to be MS, just people and their relationships and their disgusting problems, like we give a shit.") This is apparently fulfilled when the episode ends with one of the cast members being killed off, fading to the message "SOD CANCER".
However, Episode 6, the series finale, then ends in a desperately sad depiction of Sherlock Holmes with dementia, showing the inevitability of losing one's former glory in old age. This time, it's not played for laughs.
Circular Reasoning: The justification for keeping aliens a secret in the Roswell Conspiracy sketch.
Cloud Cuckoolander: Sir Digby Chicken Caesar. "You mean, you detect the dread hand of my nemesis' henchman, Viscount von Sausageroll?" "No, I can smell sausage rolls!"
Comes Great Responsibility: The Green Clarinet. Subverted when the Enigmatic Empowering Entity comes to claim the clarinet back for misuse, as the owner just uses the clarinet to embarrass him into running away in floods of tears. Played straight again when he meets the guy with the Red Tuba.
Conspiracy Theories: Parodied and Lampshaded in series 4, with a shady government cabal discussing how to fake the moon landings and assassinate Princess Diana. It turns out that it's easier and cheaper to fly to the moon than it is to fake flying to the moon, and that any assassination involving car crashes and paparazzi would be so improbable that it's more likely to happen by accident.
Counterfeit Cash: A forger proudly displays his work: "ten punds" scrawled in marker pen on an oversized piece of orange paper displaying the image of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.
Cruel and Unusual Death: The sketch where the Host refuses to accept the correct answers from his contestants... before the reveal that he's got 6 months left to live and he's imprisoned the contestants on a spaceship heading into the Sun. And he's going to drag it out for as long as he can...
Mitchell and Webb conspiring to stuff one of the supporting actors into a woodchipper.
Deadly Euphemism: "'Have him removed'? 'Take him out of the picture'? I thought we agreed that these terms were needlessly ambiguous? We all agreed that when we want someone murdered, as in deliberately killed to death, that's what we were going to say!"
"This is going to be another "let's hope Professor Ritsom meets with a little accident" again! We spent nine months "hoping" that Professor Ritsom would meet with a little accident until Leslie made it clear it was an accident we were supposed to arrange!
Double Entendre: A doctor working at a typical 'bawdy 1970s hospital' has a bit of trouble grasping the nature of Double Entendre, with unfortunate results ("Shall I rub them against my cock?").
Downer Ending: Played with in the "Sod Cancer" sketch, and played straight with Sherlock Holmes suffering with dementia at the end of season four.
With a Credits Gag — "Meditation" from the opera Thais by Jules Massenet instead of the normal theme song.
Electric Torture: One of the contestants on the Remain Indoors quiz show is taken away to be "voltage-calmed".
Eleventy Zillion: Parodied in a Numberwang skit involving "imaginary numbers." The contestants offer "twentington" and "frilve hundred and neeb" as their numbers, followed by "shinty-six." The host then stops the contestant and says, "Oh, I'm afraid shinty-six is a real number. As in the popular phrase, 'I only have shinty-six days left to live." Behind him, a board displays the number shinty-six (fifty-six with a reversed five).
Given the nature of the Numberwang board, we could have been looking at frilve hundred and neeb, or even Nova Scotia, for all we know.
Everybody's Dead, Dave: Twice in the Quiz Broadcast statements - first when everyone but the main three has simply succumbed to the harsh conditions of the collapsing society, then, after being found again, when They kill everyone but Peter and the host before inexplicably disintegrating, leaving the two of them alone and extremely disturbed.
Evil Is Sexy: A woman gets progressively better hair & make-up, and more cleavage, as she confesses to murder. This is, of course, lampshaded and invoked.
Evil Sounds Deep: The cannabilistic creatures known only as "Them".
Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Parodied in the 'Mad Scientist' sketch, where the Giant Death Ray is aptly named... but not for the reason the President of the United States and the head of the US Army think, which prompts this reaction when they discover it's not quite as lethal as they expected:
Major: One question that obviously leaps to mind, Professor Death, is why on Earth you elected to name this contraption of yours the Giant Death ohIsee.
Exasperated Perp: Parodied with regard to Poirot, who admits that he only knows the murderer for sure when they "do the evil voice". When the murderer shoots herself, he remarks, "It is better zis way. Some courts, zey do not accept ze Evil Voice as evidence."
Facecam: "The Surprising Adventures of me, Sir Digby Chicken-Caesar!"
Five-Token Band: "Let me introduce you to my team, Disabled Ethnic, Teenage Poofter and Woman. Don't talk to them, they're just here to tick boxes!"
Gambit Roulette: Parodied with lashings of Sarcasm Mode in a sketch ridiculing the conspiracy theory that Princess Diana's death in a high-speed crash was set up by the royal family;
Conspirator 1: Plus, people always die in car crashes, don't they?
Conspirator 2: Yes, always, and people who drive over the limit always crash. What we're organizing here, my friends, is a watertight hit. [...] Induced-tipsy-car-crash it'll have to be, then. It simply can't fail - unless she wears a seatbelt.
Conspirator 1: It won't. She's unprovably pregnant, remember? Women recently impregnated by the only man they've ever loved are notoriously slapdash about their personal safety.
Genre Blindness: Hennimore's boss never seems to learn to either stop making his instructions to Hennimore so confusing, contradictory and overlapping or just get someone other than or as well as Hennimore to do it instead.
Genre Savvy: In the SS sketches, and again in the Poirot sketch in series three.
Germanic Efficiency: Parodied in Reports Mode - a Bavarian entertainment show centering around graphs and charts, even featuring a break from all those reports so we can take a look at how the show is doing in terms of efficiency.
Government Conspiracy: Parodied in a series of sketches which deconstruct conspiracy theories around Roswell, the Moon landing and Princess Diana's death, lampshading the inherent ludicrousness of them by having a trio of government spooks play them perfectly straight.
Grail In The Garbage: A recurring sketch involves a man at a garage sale casually selling incredibly valuable artifacts for a low price. The Holy Grail itself, for instance, was sold for five pounds, as having already gained eternal life from drinking it, he sees no reason to keep it around. Then there's the wardrobe that's the entrance to Narnia, as now that he has a garden at his new house, he doesn't really need the extra space.
Gratuitous French: The Agent Suave sketch, being set in a Monaco-esque casino offering a selection of country fete games, has such treats as "Frappez le Rat".
"It's just all these skulls, good guys don't wear skulls do they?"
Hide Your Pregnancy: Averted with actress Olivia Colman, whose prominent belly was visible no matter what sketch she was in. They never talked about it directly, but they didn't really try and hide it either.
Not hiding it made at least one sketch Darker and Edgier than it was intended to be when written, when Colman's heavily pregnant character is : strangled to death by her husband.
Hypocritical Humor: One of the behind-the-scenes sketches has David and Robert get into an argument about cheese that gets progressively heated, eventually turning into a shouting match. This involves David at one point screaming at Robert "You've got a lot of anger! A LOT OF ANGER!!!"
A cook at a medieval feast trying to introduce a new side dish of "some-leaves-and-a-carrot-chopped-up-very-small".
A renaissance inventor who invents the wireless mouse... several hundred years before the computer. His boss puts it in the "special cupboard", along with a windscreen wiper, a "device for extracting food which has somehow become encased in metal", and a Sky Digibox.
I Want My Jetpack: Both the attitude, and the concept of jetpacks, are spoofed in-universe here.
Just The Introduction To The Opposites: A sketch where a husband and wife are arguing because he's just returned from a business trip and she finds a bra in his suitcase. She asks, mildly annoyed, if he's cheating on her, which he cops to absent-mindedly. The fight escalates as she brings in other "minor" issues such as her desire to have a baby and secret gambling addiction, until she suddenly bursts into tears and he figures out what this is really about — that time he left the fridge door open and a whole quiche and some milk went bad.
Just Think of the Potential: Professor Death made a Giant Death Ray and an Armoured Scorpion of Death for peaceful purposes, damnit!
Juxtaposition Gag: The Quiz Broadcast and Sir Digby Chicken-Caesar are both versions of this.
Kill The Ones You Love: At the end of the "Avocado Bathroom" sketch, the husband kills his (pregnant) wife because she's revealed that she not only doesn't mind an avocado bathroom, but quite likes it.
Webb: That was for the best. Now, come on. Let's go and look at the guest bedroom. It's got flock wallpaper. You'll know what to say. Mitchell:[sobbing] "I couldn't live with it." Webb:Could you live with it? Mitchell: I couldn't live with it!
Lampshade Hanging: They are growing increasingly fond of using their 'out of character' segments of the show to do humourous lampshade hanging, a recent example being hanging a lampshade on the fact they weren't using Southern accents in a sketch highlighting the absurdity of KKK costumes by reflecting (out of character) on how bad it would be if they tried.
Laugh Track: Surprisingly, it doesn't kill the humor as it would on a programme like Peep Show.
Mad Scientist: Subverted with Professor Death, who doesn't want his Giant Death Ray, Armoured Scorpion of Death, or Doom Melon used for military applications.
Misery Poker: Inverted in a sketch in which a paediatric consultant tries ever so hard to be sympathetic to his boyfriend's problems at his own job as an ice cream taster, despite the boyfriend's insistence that his job "somehow feels... less important than taking care of terminally ill children."
Ms. Fanservice/She Cleans Up Nicely: Sarah Hadland. Take note of her appearance in the Quiz Broadcast sketches as "Sheila" and then in season 4's "Dog Poker" and "Reports Mode" sketches. She also plays the Agatha Christie villainess in the Evil Is Sexy example above.
Mundane Utility: One sketch on That Mitchell And Webb Sound has a boss telling his employees off for using the Stargate as a supply cupboard and somewhere to take cigarette breaks.
Narrative Filigree: Parodied by the "realistic director" sketch. His films include Sometimes Fires Go Out and The Man Who Has A Cough And It's Just A Cough And He's Fine.
Never Say "Die": Parodied in one of the evil genius skits. "This is gonna be 'Let's hope Professor Ritson meets with a little accident,' all over again! We spent nine months hoping that Professor Ritson would meet with an accident before Leslie made it clear it was an accident we were supposed to make happen!"
Noble Bigot: Of all people, Jesus is called out on this for his racist attitude to Samaritans.
"The fact you wouldn't expect goodness from a Samaritan belies your inherent rascism!"
Noodle Incident: A decidedly grim one in "The Event", as featured in the Quiz Broadcast sketches.
No OSHA Compliance: deconstructed with the Evil Genius trying to persuade a contractor to disregard the impracticalities of his plans.
Muahahaha! I think you'll find that neither Health nor Safety are among my primary concerns...
Later on, the fully-compliant Trap Door (complete with flashing red light, warning alarm and fencing off of the area) gives the Board to Death guy in the chair plenty of time to escape.
Not Even Bothering with the Accent: The Ku Klux Klan founder and his costume designer speak in Mitchell and Webb's natural accents. Subverted and lampshaded when the costumer's wife enters and speaks with a southern American accent, to which the costumer replies, "We said we're not doing the accents."
Poirot always knows when he's identified the murderer when they start doing the "evil voice", amongotherthings...
Office Golf: One of the Hennimore sketch mix-ups involves a set of golf clubs and a drinks cabinet in the shape of a set of golf clubs.
Offscreen Teleportation: Parodied in the Inebriati sketch. "Were you just hiding behind that pillar?"
Oh Crap: In one Get Me Hennimore! sketch, Hennimore imagines the results of the instructions Mr. Boss is giving him (though we never hear what the exact instructions are) and knows that things are going to badly, as usual. His face gets more and more distressed as the sketch goes on. Unusually for a Hennimore sketch, things go just fine and no problems occur... until the nuclear warhead detonates.
During the Quiz Broadcast when the Host realises that "They" have gotten in.
Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Usually averted, as the cast have a handle on many regional dialects, as well as Mitchell and cast member James Bachman being quite good at affecting American accents.
Parodied with a sketch set in the American deep south: The 'behind-the-scenes' footage beforehand shows Webb trying and failing to put on a convincing American south accent. The duo play the sketch entirely with their normal voices until an actress comes on at the end to deliver her one line in an appallingly bad accent; Webb reminds her 'we said we weren't doing the voices.'
Our Zombies Are Different: Them, from the Quiz Broadcast. It's never made clear if these cannibalistic former humans are zombies or just atrocious mutants, but they are unquestionably terrifying.
BMX Bandit: "Well, we're supposed to be a partnership, but, to be honest, I'm starting to feel a bit overshadowed here."
Angel Summoner: "Oh, right... Why is that?"
BMX Bandit: "Well. I think the thing is, that your ability to summon a horde of celestial super-beings at will... Is making my BMX skills look a bit... redundant..."
(Speedo pulls out a gun and fires it above the perp's head.)
Speedo: Did you rape this woman?!
Perp: Yes, yes, whatever you say!
Playing Cyrano: A sketch revolved around Cyrano himself popping up to help a man woo a woman in the modern day. However, the man in question is a sensitive, good-natured fellow and the woman is, well, a slapper. Cyrano's advice is to be brash and offensive, and downright insulting, which the man in question takes only grudgingly — but it works perfectly. As the scene progresses, he realizes that he has absolutely no interest in going out with a woman who actually likes being treated that way. Cyrano convinces him to go on anyway, since at least he can sleep with her tonight. Eventually the man refuses to continue, but Cyrano keeps shouting out the lines for him, and jams a bag of cocaine into his hands, which the girl mistakes for his continued efforts and she drags him inside.
Please Don't Leave Me: Ginger to Sir Digby Chicken-Caesar when he is 'poisoned' by a cloud of poisonous gas (read: candyfloss).
Ginger: Don't leave me, sir! Don't leave me...
Poisonous Friend: Sir Digby Chicken-Caesar is clearly one to Ginger. In one episode we discover that Ginger's real name is Guy Reilly, was once married and has a daughter, both of whom he lost and seemingly forgot about due to his drinking. When he temporarily recovers from his alcoholism, he reunites with them and even settles into a stable job... only to be tricked into drinking an ale by Sir Digby, immediately returning back to his life as a tramp.
Police Are Useless: Parodied in one sketch with an incompetent Scotland Yard detective tracking down a serial killer a la the Law & Order franchise.
Detective: We call him the identity killer, because he leaves details of his identity at each crime scene.
Political Correctness Gone Mad: Not political correctness, but the backlash against it, is parodied in a sketch where some people organizing a church panto are told they can't include "traditional" scenes like dwarves being gassed and Cinderella fellating a horse, and react as if this is hypersensitivity.
"I'm afraid we're going to have to cut the dame rape scene."
Poor Communication Kills: The recurring sketch "Get me Hennimore!" has the hapless titular character requested to do various tasks by his boss. These tasks always involve two objects that are never to be confused, yet look exactly the same. Naturally, the worst possible result occurs every time.
Mrs Patricia Wilberforce: Mr Compton, do be seated.
Mr Compton: Oh, I don't like to make a fuss.
Mrs Compton: (sobs) Oh, he's always like this.
Mrs Patricia Wilberforce: I'm sorry, but we'll have to stop it there as Mrs Compton has said "fuck".
(crew member whispers in her ear)
Mrs Patricia Wilberforce: Oh, I do beg your pardon viewers, Mrs Compton didn't say "fuck" after all!
Promoted to Scapegoat: Karl Dönitz is thrilled to learn that he's been named the next Fuhrer after the death of Adolf Hitler. Unfortunately, his underlings have to patiently explain that this means less that he gets to implement his various ideas about pensions and the housing shortage and more that he gets to call General Eisenhower and surrender to the Allies.
General: So... here's General Eisenhower's telephone number, here's the English for "We give up!", and here's an analysis of our military situation... in one rude word.
Reading Ahead In The Script: The series features fly-on-the-wall style sections with the actors having chats as themselves on the set. In one of them, Robert Webb points out that these are as scripted as the rest of the show, and shows David Mitchell the script for the sketch they're in, which includes the direction "David looks at the script. It reads: David looks at the script. It reads:..."
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: How the Incredibly Intimidating And Aristocratic Person Who Still Unaccountably Sells Clothes justifies being horrible to his customers:
Because I'm trying to help you! I'm trying to help you have standards! I'm trying to make you know that the world isn't pleased to see you, you aren't needed or included or loved! You're ugly! And superfluous! And ignorant! And you should be frightened. And meek. And grateful. That's better. Now, first things first; let's get you a hat.
Also, the "Little Date" man, who gives these to women, reducing them to tears so they'll go out with him to feel better.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: The cannibalistic "Them" in the Event sketches have glowing red eyes.
Reed Richards Is Useless: Monsieur Garnier (who is inexplicably a North-of-England mill owner rather than a French guy) suppresses the invention of a cure for Alzheimer's and a perpetual motion machine because he doesn't want his scientists to get distracted from hair products.
Also, whoever built a sentient supercomputer and used it to determine what is, or is not, Numberwang.
Ridiculously Human Robots: Parodied in a Robot War sketch. Robots have infiltrated the base, and are supposedly indistinguishable from humans. Cut to a particularly clunky robot (who could conceivably be Cheezoid Mk 9), who is absolutely not humanoid. He even makes toast
Cheezoid itself, a robot built for the purpose of determining what something smells like, was inexplicably given sentience that eventually led it to attempt suicide as a result of its incompetence at its intended function.
Scandalgate: Rob refers to the original scandal as "Watergategate" on the grounds that, otherwise, what would you call a scandal about water?
Customer: What happened to the friendly Australian girl who used to work here?
Posh Waiter: She's gone, sir. They've all gone, and we're back. The incredibly posh people who are still unaccountably waiters...and I'm afraid we've changed the rules.
In the German version of Numberwang, the host wishes one contestant "Good luck!" only to furiously disqualify her when she responds in English with "Thanks very much!", a reference to how one of the escapees blows his cover in The Great Escape.
In another Great Escape reference, a chef who loses his keen sense of smell tries to prove he still has it by putting a clove of garlic on the floor, only to end up getting caught out. This is identical to one of the POWs putting a pin at a certain place on the floor to show he's not going blind. Even the dialogue ("You can't smell your hand in front of your face!") is taken from the film ("You can't see your hand" etc.)
The announcer talking over the Quiz Broadcast Eyecatch mentions "our new topical entertainment show Mock the Event, which may offend viewers who were affected by The Event."
The Simple Life Is Simple: Parodied with a recurring sketch featuring a guy under the impression that farming is a super-secret Get Rich Quick Scheme he's sharing with the audience. "You know sheep? A bit woolly? It's WOOL! Pull it off, sell it... fuckin' grows back again! You CANNOT lose!"
Sinister Minister: "We're back." "Who?" "The incredibly horrible and twisted people who are still unaccountably vicars." (the full sketch is here)
This round is also announced in one Quiz Broadcast, at which point one of the contestants immediately keels over. If he were on Numberwang, that would've been a victory, but The Quiz Broadcast evidently operates under different rules.
Super-Powered Robot Meter Maids: Colosson, the robot with the job of determining whether or not something is Numberwang, was given mobility and laser cannons. This was apparently the result of the scientists who were creating him wondering late in development whether he could be used for the war effort. Because this didn't change what they used him for, it achieved nothing but creating a problem when he decides to take over the world.
A sketch about a comedian making a cup of tea for everyone in Belgium as the result of a bet, and as a result writing a bestselling book about his exploits, was a dig at comedians who did similarly unlikely things supposedly as the result of bets, such as Tony Hawks (played the entire Moldovan football team at tennis, hitchhiked round Ireland with a fridge) David Gorman (flew around the world meeting people called Dave Gorman), and Danny Wallace (spent a year saying yes to everything).
They delightfully skewer James Bond in their "Friends of Moneypenny" sketch:
Remember that drinks do I had just before Christmas, Moneypenny brings James along - Oh God, but Christmas spirit and all that. So I said, "hi James there's some mulled wine and I think there's some beer in the fridge." Cock asked for a martini...what does he think it is? 1973?
There's also a sketch about how The Apprentice was created. "So, it's coverage of idiots behaving idiotically for an audience of idiots?"
"Fishmonger out of Watermonger" mocks every aspect of Reality Shows like Faking It, with a fishmonger trying to produce a reality show in 2 days. "Tim has just five minutes to come up with his arbitrary deadline".
"My Shags as a Whore," a series by the incompetent screenwriting duo that refuse to do research or make any kind of an effort, is an adolescent male fantasy where being a prostitute is sexy, empowering, and consequence-free. It's also pretty clearly aimed at Secret Diary of a Call Girl.
"Coverage Of People Buying A House And Then Living In It" skewers Location, Location, Location and similar property programmes. Both the host and the prospective buyer clearly believe there is nothing exciting about watching complete strangers buying houses and then living in them, and make no effort whatever to appear interested in making a television programme about the process.
So, to sum up, Geoff, who you don't know, has bought a house and is now living in it, having put up some shelves, and I think we can agree that that's basically a good thing.
Talking to Himself: Played with. In a sketch Mitchell plays both a captain and a Poirot-esque detective who are on screen at the same time. Webb angrily enters the set, and demands a role, to which both(!) of the Mitchells answer that David is best at detective and captain kind of roles. As Webb retorts that it is just a bad excuse for Mitchell to fulfill his narcissistic fantasies, another Webb (in drag) enters the set and tells the first Webb that he is ready for their sex-scene.
Technobabble: Parodied by "Now he's poorly from too much electric"
Type Casting: a sketch where a ship captain was being interviewed by a detective had David Mitchell playing both roles - when Webb storms on set to complain about it, Mitchell replies "captains and detectives are my thing"
With a twist when a second Rob (in drag) turns up to rehearse their sex scene (most likely in reference to Webb's triumphant 'Flashdance' drag act for Comic Relief).
Umpteenth Customer: Parodied; a group of eccentric businessmen wait for the millionth visitor to their website, only to find that he completely ignored all the banner ads and pop-ups telling him this.
"I advise you to march in step with the rest of the white-bathroom loving nation — REMEMBER, LIKE RACISM!"
The Civil War reenactment sketch depicts a group of reenactors who grow bored of Roundheads VS Cavaliers and switch to "the government forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo" VS "rebel militiamen representing Sudanese tribal interests" - in Black Face.
"Are you absolutely sure that this isn't... racist?"
"Yeah. It's a historically accurate recreation of a landmark global conflict!" They subsequently come to the conclusion that it is indeed racist when the "battle" begins with Webb's character yelling "I AM GOING TO KILL YOU WITH THIS BIG MACHETE" in a horrible fake accent.
Viewers Are Geniuses: Despite the laugh track, many of the sketches are surprisingly intellectual or reference obscure material - how many comedy shows would get away with making a sketch about Karl Dönitz?
Villain Ball: Parodied in the Conspiracy sketches; when a member of the conspiracy asks why exactly they're doing this conspiracy in such a convoluted way — or why they're even bothering at all — the answer's usually along the lines of "it's just what we government types do."
Visual Pun: Numberwang is like McDonald's, U2 and the Catholic Church all rolled into 1.
You Bastard: The "Holmes with dementia" sketch goes from funny if very dark humor to the sudden realization that the audience has been laughing at the heartbreaking wreck of a brilliant mind.
Zombie Apocalypse: In the later installments of "The Quiz Broadcast," the survivors (who'd been whittled by scarcity and disease down to the host, Peter, and Sheila) are found by soldiers fighting "Them," cannibals who, according to the Couch Gag, know what caused The Event.
The Mitchell and Webb Situation contains examples of:
Bad Boss: The lead scientist in the virus research lab.
Harmless Villain: The poisoning sketch revolves around a man attempting to murder another with poison but becoming increasingly transparent with his attempts until finally...
It's Been Done: Parodied with a possible inversion in the 'two writers' Seinfeldian Conversation sketch; the two writers seem to be setting one of these up, but from the way they eagerly begin to start typing once the 'original' idea has come together, it's suggested that they are either amazingly sheltered or that they're the ones who came up with the idea in the first place. Played straight in the final episode, where all their ideas get this response.
Master of Illusion: Two barmen who can make people believe something is happening just by making the proper sounds.
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