Almost a dozen That Mitchell and Webb Look sketches are being removed from the BBC as they don’t ‘work today’.

Starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb , the Bafta-winning series ran for four seasons between 2006 and 2010.

The show recently marked its 20th anniversary and returned to iPlayer, but with 11 sketches missing.

One of the offending scenes reportedly showed the pair satirising racism while in blackface, which has now been removed.

‘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,’ a BBC spokesperson said.

Other sketches are said to include a makeover show contestant wearing a burka and a ‘tribe’ who lived in a garden centre.

Comedian Dom Joly, of Trigger Happy TV, questioned the BBC’s decision to ‘censor’ the show when the ‘intent’ was not racism.

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.