Yes, it was. Earlier in the same episode David and Robert have one of their 'between scenes' chats, and discuss the final episode of 'Blackadder', with David pretending to be disappointed that the final scene wasn't funny.
I remember watching it and crying a little realizing that one day we'll all be Old Holmes and all the things that made us incredible minds will be forgotten and foggy on our minds...
when David delivers delivered that line "I can't get the fog to clear" i was so shocked. i thought it would be way more piss takey. amazing performance.
I laughed more than once at this sketch. But only the first was from amusement. The rest were bitter, sad things. I never knew I could sound so hollow.
I told my wife, that if the fog ever starts to set in, then I'm going out with a bang. I will not go gentle into that good night. I'm going to have a farewell party for all my friends that will last a couple of days, then I will take the final long sleep. I don't want to go out shitting all over myself.
Many have mentioned Robert's brilliant acting in this( rightly so) but the devastation in Mitchell's eyes when he tells John ' I know' is what always gets me..the releasation that this brilliant man has not only lost everything that made him remarkable but that he is aware of it and aware of his friends pain as well..so much conveyed through so few words, it's a shame neither of them have been cast in more dramatic roles since then
Really pulls the guts out of you, doesn’t it? Having cared for someone who raised me, then went on to look at me and honestly say they have no idea who I am… it’s okay to want that to be over. Nobody wants their loved ones to die, but… it’s okay to want that feeling of pain and helplessness to stop.
@@GMovieSeeker Someone very important to me got dementia about 5 years ago and she degraded over about two years, at first struggling to recall words here and there alongside generally forgetting what she was doing mid task to eventually being a non reactive mute that needs full time care to this day. Half way during the changes she stopped denying it was happening, broke down crying asking us to save her and it took far too long to get a doctor to see her, by which point she was a husk. She once asked me to kill her if she got into that state or at least not care for her so I no longer see her anymore and I know she would have preferred it that way but the recurring guilt nightmares still haunt me to this day. I live on the other side of the planet now too so it's not exactly as easy as getting on a train to see her. Edit: She died two weeks after I wrote this. No chance of seeing her anymore now.
I lost my Dad to dementia. He had moments where he was lucid, but he just couldn't clear the fog, it was so distressing to watch him disappear. Tears running down my cheeks right now.
@@nicholasrage1640 It makes me miss mine, but I still can't stop rewatching it every few years. It wrecks me every time. Lost my dad to Alzheimer's 6 years ago and this year my mum entered on stage 1.
Jesus thats brutal. Life long friends and for that one brief moment he was back snapped out of it. Just to tell him he knew that he was gone. Horrible.
Yeah. It can hit hard, especially for those who have relatives/friends suffering from dementia/Alzeheimer’s. Something tells me that Webb or Mitchell (maybe both) went through this, and wrote this sketch as a response.
@@flannerymonaghan-morris1317 There was an earlier scene, one of the as-themselves-between-filming sketches, where they discussed the depressing ending of Blackadder Goes Forth when they went over the top, and excoriated the show for being a comedy that ended on such an incredibly moving downer, thus setting up this sketch in which they do precisely the same thing.
No in think it's actually worse than just gone He knows that everyone is pretending all the time and treating him that way. Not just that he is past his best. He understands what is happening. Truly terrifying and miserable. Bravo ?
Fucking Monsieur Garnier. Alzheimer's could have been prevented if he didn't use his laboratoire for the Sleek and Shine series. Joking aside, this is one of the best emotional sketches I have ever seen.
Its not simply the writing though is it. The whole thing is brilliant. The music the light the acting the perspective of the cameras. You need to watch it over and over like a painting for the small detail.
TV Producers. Please let Robert Webb act in a drama. He's clearly brilliant. Plus, it may stop him from doing those bloody awful Movie Mistakes programmes on BBC3.
I feel about him as I do Martin Clunes, somewhat typecast after his initial career and then delivered a fucking bravura turn as Mr Chips. So many comic actors are capable of incredible dramatic roles as well, but it's hard to break through sometimes.
@@davedexter1583 And Paul Whitehouse - if you watch the last ever performance he did as Rowley Birkin QC. Incredible acting, sadly not given a turn in a full feature. ruclips.net/video/QlZFfXAUr2I/видео.html
This goes down with the “Over the top” scene in Black Adder season 4 as one of the starkest contrasts of humor and pain in a comedy series’ histories. While the Black Adder scene invokes a hollow feeling like you’ve just had the wind knocked out of you, this scene is absolutely devastating. Having experienced a close relative go through memory loss and a loss of cognitive and later physical function, this scene never fails to wreck me emotionally. I find that I come back to it even years later because it hit me on such a visceral level. Mitchell and Webb were an absolutely brilliant duo.
Also, on par with this and BAG4, Henry Blake's death scene in MASH, and the episode of Roseanne where Jackie gets beaten/raped by her boyfriend and Dan loses his shit and nearly kills the guy in a rage. All made possible by great acting.
While everything is heart-breaking, Lestrade's slow realization that the brilliant Holmes is just gone and he'll have to solve the case himself is particularly powerful when you keep in mind their relationship in canon (and most adaptations) is usually very antagonistic and bickering. It's almost like Lestrade is wondering if he took Holmes for granted all this time.
The best comedy always is - Steptoe and Son, Detectorists, Blackadder Goes Forth, Father Ted, Hancock's Half-Hour, One Foot in the Grave, Rising Damp, Regie Perrin,The Likely Lads, Royle Family... stop me when you're depressed enough.
My grandfather had Alzheimer’s, so it’s always been difficult to watch this, but I commend Mitchell and Webb for their respectful seriousness in this scene. Their acting ability is on full display. As heartbreaking as this is to view, its quality cannot be denied
Man that ending hit me. My grandad had dementia, and whilst for a while it didn't affect his intellect too much in that it still allowed him to make witty quips. For example one time a year before he died we were asking him about some of the stuff in his house, and we moved onto some spoons and we asked him "did you buy them when you were traveling the world with Joyce (his wife)" and he just said "nah, i stole them". His dementia affected him in other ways tho, like he would often piss himself or spill his tea on the floor and the like and other stuff like this. But one time he had messed himself all up in the night and stuff, and so my grandma called me up to help clean him up, and when i got there and was washing him and stuff, he started crying (the first time i'd ever seen him show any emotion like that) and constantly being like "am i a nuisance" and "do i make your life hard". It absolutely broke me, as he had always been a witty funny sort of guy.
I’m so sorry to hear of your grandfathers struggle with dementia, such a cruel issue that seems to affect so many these days...... you grandad sounded like a lovely chap... I’m sorry for your loss.
So true. The desperation and helplessness seemed so pure & honest. You can't teach that to an actor. I believe this was their last ever sketch together, might be wrong but in any case I'm glad it was done. Now I'll have to watch the Mr Darcy disco sketch to cheer myself up!
This is a brilliant sketch. Superbly acted. I work as a nurse in aged care and yes I have seen residents with dementia have brief moments of lucidity as Holmes does at the end of this sketch. In a way it makes the disease even more cruel as they get a tantalising glimpse of what they once were combined with the harsh understanding of what is happening to them. It’s heartbreaking to witness. We do our upmost to keep them as comfortable, cared for and as dignified as possible but there’s only so much we can do. It’s good that lots of people in Australia are talking about aged care at the moment after recent royal commissions revealed serious flaws in our aged care system. By 2040, it’s estimated there will be 1.3 million Australians with dementia.
You remember like I when Maggie Beare would have those moments of lucidity in Mother and son. Geoffrey Atherden was a genius and Ruth Cracknell was perefct
I hate this sketch because of the fact that every time I think about it, I need to watch it, and every time I watch it, I cry. Robert Webb & David Mitchell, two of the funniest actors in Britain, and two of the best actors in the world. R.I.P my tear ducts.
***** I've seen it with dementia - they're happily oblivious to what's going on, then all of a sudden it's like a switch is flipped and for a few minutes they're all too aware of their situation :(
+clearspira My grandmother suffered from dementia and it really gave me a kick because it was so accurate. The times when she'd cotton on were just heartbreaking, far more than the times when she was being loopy or difficult.
I just commented that exact statement on the last full episode of this show on youtube.. I dont know why the audience laugh track played at the end of the "Remain Indoors" show..
This is seriously moving, the ending just breaks your heart and it proves both Mitchell and Webb are fantastic actors, it truly is a standout moment even in such a vast catalogue of brilliance that these two have created. But I have to point out I still laugh like an idiot at: "he has one of the most brilliantly incisive minds of his generation" "where's my slipper?" XD
THAT BLACKADDER ENDING. THEY WENT AND DID IT. THE BLACKADDER ENDING. I was totally expecting a darkly comedic twist, but no, they let the gravity and tradgedy hit so well. makes you wonder why they haven't become dramatic actors.also, I love how they have tied in their conversation about the blackadder ending from an earlier episode. just great
I'm not familiar with this show, but had heard this sketch had a huge sad ending. I was initially doubtful, but it's everything that's been claimed. It's touching when Holmes has that brief moment of semi-clarity, and you find yourself convicted of laughing at the deterioration of an Alzheimer patient. It really leaves a mark on your mind and heart, and it's an unforgettable series finale.
Genuinely moving. It's funny when he smears the jam on his face, but then at the end the jam looks like a tear is rolling down his cheek. There must be some dust in my eyes...
As much as Davids portrayal is touching I find Roberts reaction equally as moving, the way he mouths and his eyes tear up always gets me, what do you say in that situation? Someone who you thought was entirely lost in their own world suddenly resurfaces in your world, you now know they are there somewhere in the cage of their own mind and there is very little you can do. Though to be honest Holmes did drugs so he might have induced some kind of psychosis on himself. Still a great scene.
It's so well crafted too. You laugh along at the silly old man until that moment you realise he is really suffering. The one crumb of comfort you can take from someone suffering dementia or Alzheimer's is that at least THEY aren't suffering, but in that moment when he looks into his friends eyes and tells him he knows what's happening to him, that comfort is gone and all you have is wordless tragedy.
It reminds me of what I have to do tomorrow....and every other day, again and again. You have to relive this scene day in day out for years watching the person you knew slowly vanish. Mitchell and Webb caught this perfectly. Its christmas day and I genuinely dont think I ever cried this much before.
This is the one sketch - especially then and there, at the series' very end - that finished to convince me that both Mitchell *and* Webb, although often subject to a good measure of (self-) typecasting - respectively the posh repressed bourgeois and the ignorant but still-more-socially-adept-than-Mitchell young-ish idiot (i.e. much like their characters in _Peep Show)_ - are indeed *incredible actors.* I was so glad to get it confirmed that they have both the talent, the range - _the acting chops,_ as they say - needed to play heavy drama in a way that is at the same time touching and looks genuinely sincere. And do it well. If they wrote it too (I didn't check), then all the more power to them. I thought I was going to cry just as much as Webb's Watson seemed to contain his own tears. Brilliant and (halfway) unexpected. It was also nice to see them play Holmes and Watson again, this time without beating on each other for having the better role of the play on that night. *_CRUMPETS!_*
I just saw this on netflix and since none of my friends watch the show, I had to come to RUclips to see if everyone else was just as moved as I was by it. So thank you, RUclips, for showing me I'm not crazy.
The ending actually gave me the shivers. I thinks it shows that they are excelent actors, being able to pull off that serious part so well. Even just the way the smile fades from Robert Webbs face at the end.
My father's whole life was centered around intelligence and wit, sarcasm and educated discourse. He was diagnosed with Lewy Body dementia but never was aware of the diagnosis because he was too ill with pneumonia at the time. Luckily for him, the pneumonia took him shortly thereafter. He would never have wanted to live knowing what was in store for him.
I knew they were talented, but this just took it to a whole new level. A master class in what comedy can do. Make you laugh, then with a single line bring you to tears.
The way Michael turns his town down at the end of "can'tget the fog to clear" is overpowering. It's clear he's been dealing with this fight against his mind for a long time and he's just starting to give up trying. It's defeated yet trying to give it one final push, kind of represented by the assurance that he does know. He knows he's fading and even with his legendary mind, this sadistic mental illness is too much for him to handle. I also love the stutter on the sending attempt at the "I know", watching the best mind in the world become submissive and almost afraid. Michel and Webb. You are Gods of the screen and stage, no matter the genre.
This and the last quiz show sketch just confirms for me these two are brilliant writers and actors. I've always thought the best comedy is as humourous as it is gut wrenching and soul baring, and in these two sketches in particular, they did that perfectly. And they did it in a way that feels genuinely true to them and their friendship.
I currently live in the same house as my nan, who has dementia, and depressingly it is very much like this. Thankfully it hasn't got to the stage of her forgetting members of her family, but she'll ask you the same question every time you walk past, forget what day and even month it is (roughly 5 days prior to christmas she asked me to take down the decorations in her room because she thought it was January), and is eating less and less because she thinks she's already eaten. Sometimes I wonder if the extended life that advancements in science have given us is worth it when things like dementia and cancer still have no cures. It's like, what's worse? Family members dying at 60 or family members living long enough for their brains to stop functioning properly and essentially entering a near-vegitative state? Are those extra years really worth the pain and suffering? I just don't know.
It's such a short sketch (compared to like a full movie or show to build connections to characters) and yet it touches me like nothing else. It always leaves me in a puddle of tears. Especially Robert's acting is absolutely phenomenal here. And by the time Holmes says "I can't get the fog to clear", I usually look through very misty eyes myself. Absolutely heartbreaking. Thank you ever so much for uploading this video, it was gone from RUclips for a long time and it's some of their best work.
I lost my father to dementia (and a stroke) just over six months ago. This portrayal was so accurate and so touching that it reminded me of the heartache I went through, and that beneath the strange behaviour and the oddities, there was still a very real, very human person that I loved, and always will.
In my opinion the best sketch they did together.The acting, particularly on the part of Robert Webb is first class and extremely moving.Who wants to laugh all the time?
So beautifully acted and, despite the intense sadness of it all, still raised a few chuckles. My poor old Mum died of Alzheimer's this year. I think their approach to this was amazing and very well done.
This and the drunk old guy on the fast show where he talks about his love are epic examples of brilliant acting, switching from comedy to serious in a heartbeat
The absolute balls of ending four seasons of a comedy with this fucking gut-punch. I assume the people who find the sketch purely funny have never been touched by the realities it portrays. Which is fine, but I watch this as a drama with incredible acting.
Was not ready for the end there. My grandma had a slow moving dementia. I still remember sitting in the sofa and her out of the blue saying "This is not any fun". I didn't know at the time. Later it all made sense. She felt herself slipping away yet there was nothing she could do about it.
Watson's reaction at the end truly gets to me. First time I watched this, a piece of me died with him. And I can still feel it. I'd never wish such a fate as this on anyone, fictional or not.
There's only a small handful of videos i watch on RUclips whenever i'm in the mood for a good cry. This video, and the scene from 'Return of The King' when Frodo say's goodbye to his friend at the Grey Havens.
I worked with Dementia sufferers for 27 years. These moments of clarrity do happen and are indeed the person inside once again....just for that moment.
I keep coming back to this sketch, months later. Fuck its depressing but it's one of the most brilliantly heart-wrenching things I've ever witnessed. Brilliant.
I love the transition of the audience's reactions to this. The laughter becomes so unsure after about a couple of minutes, and then it's gone. I think it's just the sign of Mitchell and Webb's absolutely awesome work.
The bit that breaks me is when Watson is struggling to say something and then the nurse comes in to interrupt them. It's his last chance to say something to his friend, and it slips away.
Man, that gut punch. Reminds me of when I went with my dad to visit his mother who was dying of dementia and he would just sit there holding her hand while she stared at him like she didn't know who he was. He's the most stoic person I think I know, but I think that was the only time I've seen him cry. I don't even want to imagine how hard that was for him, and I dread the day when I have to look at him or my mum in that state and accept that they're gone.
I love the subtle foreshadowing when watson says "he suspected the apple was a trap set by moriarty" and Holmes says "please," as though he'd be quite happy if someone poisoned him. 😥
so in one sketch Mitchell and Webb produced a better drama than every episode of Hollyoaks, Eastenders and Coronation street combined, was not expecting that!
Clever thing about this sketch is that in the previous episode Mitchell and Webb had joked about doing a serious 'Blackadder Goes Forth' ending, but then actually had a legitimate one at the end of the final episode. Genius sketch show, the natural son of A Bit of Fry And Laurie.
They pretty much announced something like this and it still hit me like a bullet train, being a big fan of A.C. Doyle's. As if it being the last episode wasn't bad enough. Fantastic.
I have to say I never quite got their comedy. Probably more me than anything else but this is just one of the best things on RUclips! Just a work of genius. Amazing performances from both of them and the other actors involved too. Comedy and tragedy!
Never thought I'd get teary-eyed (and not from too much laughter) from a Mitchell and Webb clip. This is too amazing. Great performance by both of them.
Приколы
"I'll just watch some Mitchell and Webb, that'll cheer me up"
And now I am crying
Yeah I’m here now too
Yeah wtf happened
Finish up with the last episode of Blackadder and you will be well and jolly.
🤣🪓
robert webbs reaction is beyond heartbreaking, phenomenal acting
His silent heartbreak is simply devistating.
Much like your spelling. Grammar Nazi.
The only way I can conjure up anything like that reaction is thinking if my parent's death bed. Kudos to Robert Webb for this scene
The laughter died too.
He's a criminally under cast actor, easily Mitchell's equal yet far less booked.
He always calls him Watson, right until he says "I know John", it's when he moves from colleague to friend
Fun fact: this was the last sketch of That Mitchell and Webb Look. Perfect, heartbreaking way to end the show.
Yes, it was. Earlier in the same episode David and Robert have one of their 'between scenes' chats, and discuss the final episode of 'Blackadder', with David pretending to be disappointed that the final scene wasn't funny.
@@DavidB5501 It was actually the episode before they had that discussion (Only know because I literally just marathoned it) which is pretty clever.
And I will now also comment, given that one year has passed. Now someone else comment in exactly a year time
@@mangoburster5156 great idea, I'll mark the day.
I remember watching it and crying a little realizing that one day we'll all be Old Holmes and all the things that made us incredible minds will be forgotten and foggy on our minds...
when David delivers delivered that line "I can't get the fog to clear" i was so shocked. i thought it would be way more piss takey. amazing performance.
He's seen loved ones in this state, I'm sure. When they come back, if only for a moment, it hurts so badly. And then they're gone again.
I mean unfortunately he had already taken a piss. :(
And then the wordless response from Robert that says more than a script could. Really moving end to such a funny show.
You only laugh once at this. The first time.
I laughed more than once at this sketch. But only the first was from amusement. The rest were bitter, sad things. I never knew I could sound so hollow.
This is the first time that I noticed the room number and the bee on the door. That got a chuckle out of me.
Woo! replying to a six year old comment.
Yeah but there's a way you can watch it for the first time more than once, you just have to *f o r g e t*
I dunno. I still laugh at "I'm a Chinaman!!"
@@johnfinnan5383 Same, but It's that :,) kind of chuckle tho
They did it. They Blackadder Four'ed us after all.
"I can't get the fog to clear." WHAM! Right in the feels! :'(
It's like being kicked in the heart.
I told my wife, that if the fog ever starts to set in, then I'm going out with a bang. I will not go gentle into that good night. I'm going to have a farewell party for all my friends that will last a couple of days, then I will take the final long sleep. I don't want to go out shitting all over myself.
Richard Nunez
Damn fucking straight
Easily the best representation of an elderly Holmes put to film.
Hell... I've cried at this. "I know, John - I do know."
Many have mentioned Robert's brilliant acting in this( rightly so) but the devastation in Mitchell's eyes when he tells John ' I know' is what always gets me..the releasation that this brilliant man has not only lost everything that made him remarkable but that he is aware of it and aware of his friends pain as well..so much conveyed through so few words, it's a shame neither of them have been cast in more dramatic roles since then
It got too real. Those moments of "clarity" sure are hell.
To anyone who has seen people with dementia... This is scary realistic and utterly depressing, especially the sudden moment of clarity
Both of them were amazing.
Really pulls the guts out of you, doesn’t it? Having cared for someone who raised me, then went on to look at me and honestly say they have no idea who I am… it’s okay to want that to be over. Nobody wants their loved ones to die, but… it’s okay to want that feeling of pain and helplessness to stop.
@@GMovieSeeker Someone very important to me got dementia about 5 years ago and she degraded over about two years, at first struggling to recall words here and there alongside generally forgetting what she was doing mid task to eventually being a non reactive mute that needs full time care to this day. Half way during the changes she stopped denying it was happening, broke down crying asking us to save her and it took far too long to get a doctor to see her, by which point she was a husk.
She once asked me to kill her if she got into that state or at least not care for her so I no longer see her anymore and I know she would have preferred it that way but the recurring guilt nightmares still haunt me to this day. I live on the other side of the planet now too so it's not exactly as easy as getting on a train to see her.
Edit: She died two weeks after I wrote this. No chance of seeing her anymore now.
I lost my Dad to dementia. He had moments where he was lucid, but he just couldn't clear the fog, it was so distressing to watch him disappear. Tears running down my cheeks right now.
I’m sorry for your loss. It’s almost cathartic to watch this and cry when you’ve been through it.
@@nicholasrage1640 It makes me miss mine, but I still can't stop rewatching it every few years. It wrecks me every time. Lost my dad to Alzheimer's 6 years ago and this year my mum entered on stage 1.
@@TheBayzent real sorry man hope everything is alright
So sorry to hear that. All the best.
Yes. Heartbreaking. You’re not alone brother.
Jesus thats brutal. Life long friends and for that one brief moment he was back snapped out of it. Just to tell him he knew that he was gone. Horrible.
Yeah. It can hit hard, especially for those who have relatives/friends suffering from dementia/Alzeheimer’s. Something tells me that Webb or Mitchell (maybe both) went through this, and wrote this sketch as a response.
@@flannerymonaghan-morris1317 As a caretaker for my grandmother, that bit had me fucking sobbing.
She's not all there any more and it breaks my heart.
@@flannerymonaghan-morris1317 There was an earlier scene, one of the as-themselves-between-filming sketches, where they discussed the depressing ending of Blackadder Goes Forth when they went over the top, and excoriated the show for being a comedy that ended on such an incredibly moving downer, thus setting up this sketch in which they do precisely the same thing.
No in think it's actually worse than just gone He knows that everyone is pretending all the time and treating him that way. Not just that he is past his best. He understands what is happening. Truly terrifying and miserable. Bravo ?
'I know John' Broke my heart
Fucking Monsieur Garnier. Alzheimer's could have been prevented if he didn't use his laboratoire for the Sleek and Shine series.
Joking aside, this is one of the best emotional sketches I have ever seen.
Haha so funny
Ok that got me good. The "Laboratoire" really held that sketch together and allowed me to recall it even now.
Honestly, I needed this bit of humour to deal with the depression that was this sketch
This should be shown in every writing class, the perfect blend of comedy and tragedy one of the greatest sketches ever.
The contrast makes the punchline at the end hit so much harder
Its not simply the writing though is it. The whole thing is brilliant. The music the light the acting the perspective of the cameras. You need to watch it over and over like a painting for the small detail.
TV Producers. Please let Robert Webb act in a drama. He's clearly brilliant. Plus, it may stop him from doing those bloody awful Movie Mistakes programmes on BBC3.
and adverts
I feel about him as I do Martin Clunes, somewhat typecast after his initial career and then delivered a fucking bravura turn as Mr Chips. So many comic actors are capable of incredible dramatic roles as well, but it's hard to break through sometimes.
@@davedexter1583 i mean go look at olivia coleman, what a legend
@@davedexter1583 And Paul Whitehouse - if you watch the last ever performance he did as Rowley Birkin QC. Incredible acting, sadly not given a turn in a full feature.
ruclips.net/video/QlZFfXAUr2I/видео.html
@@cactusmalone what are you talking about?
This goes down with the “Over the top” scene in Black Adder season 4 as one of the starkest contrasts of humor and pain in a comedy series’ histories. While the Black Adder scene invokes a hollow feeling like you’ve just had the wind knocked out of you, this scene is absolutely devastating. Having experienced a close relative go through memory loss and a loss of cognitive and later physical function, this scene never fails to wreck me emotionally. I find that I come back to it even years later because it hit me on such a visceral level. Mitchell and Webb were an absolutely brilliant duo.
Are you stupid? They were intentionally referencing that.
From the previous episode: ruclips.net/video/yhBuCcNjan0/видео.html
Also, on par with this and BAG4, Henry Blake's death scene in MASH, and the episode of Roseanne where Jackie gets beaten/raped by her boyfriend and Dan loses his shit and nearly kills the guy in a rage. All made possible by great acting.
I don't know anymore. Everyone is dead now. It really is a fog. I'm tried. 😔
Also the fast shows old drunk boy (start to 6:30 ) ruclips.net/video/Jn2I2o9eHgA/видео.html
While everything is heart-breaking, Lestrade's slow realization that the brilliant Holmes is just gone and he'll have to solve the case himself is particularly powerful when you keep in mind their relationship in canon (and most adaptations) is usually very antagonistic and bickering. It's almost like Lestrade is wondering if he took Holmes for granted all this time.
This is that odd mix of absolutely hilarious and horribly depressing
The best comedy always is - Steptoe and Son, Detectorists, Blackadder Goes Forth, Father Ted, Hancock's Half-Hour, One Foot in the Grave, Rising Damp, Regie Perrin,The Likely Lads, Royle Family... stop me when you're depressed enough.
My grandfather had Alzheimer’s, so it’s always been difficult to watch this, but I commend Mitchell and Webb for their respectful seriousness in this scene. Their acting ability is on full display. As heartbreaking as this is to view, its quality cannot be denied
Man that ending hit me. My grandad had dementia, and whilst for a while it didn't affect his intellect too much in that it still allowed him to make witty quips. For example one time a year before he died we were asking him about some of the stuff in his house, and we moved onto some spoons and we asked him "did you buy them when you were traveling the world with Joyce (his wife)" and he just said "nah, i stole them". His dementia affected him in other ways tho, like he would often piss himself or spill his tea on the floor and the like and other stuff like this. But one time he had messed himself all up in the night and stuff, and so my grandma called me up to help clean him up, and when i got there and was washing him and stuff, he started crying (the first time i'd ever seen him show any emotion like that) and constantly being like "am i a nuisance" and "do i make your life hard". It absolutely broke me, as he had always been a witty funny sort of guy.
I’m so sorry to hear of your grandfathers struggle with dementia, such a cruel issue that seems to affect so many these days...... you grandad sounded like a lovely chap... I’m sorry for your loss.
Robert Webb is a stunning actor. Just the nuances in his facial expressions alone. Beautiful acting.
So true. The desperation and helplessness seemed so pure & honest. You can't teach that to an actor. I believe this was their last ever sketch together, might be wrong but in any case I'm glad it was done. Now I'll have to watch the Mr Darcy disco sketch to cheer myself up!
Last sketch on screen, they've done a radio series since.
This is a brilliant sketch. Superbly acted. I work as a nurse in aged care and yes I have seen residents with dementia have brief moments of lucidity as Holmes does at the end of this sketch. In a way it makes the disease even more cruel as they get a tantalising glimpse of what they once were combined with the harsh understanding of what is happening to them. It’s heartbreaking to witness. We do our upmost to keep them as comfortable, cared for and as dignified as possible but there’s only so much we can do. It’s good that lots of people in Australia are talking about aged care at the moment after recent royal commissions revealed serious flaws in our aged care system. By 2040, it’s estimated there will be 1.3 million Australians with dementia.
Even though I am an atheist, dementia, beyond anything else is the absolute work of the devil.
You remember like I when Maggie Beare would have those moments of lucidity in Mother and son. Geoffrey Atherden was a genius and Ruth Cracknell was perefct
This is a comedy show they said.
"They lied Charles...they lied" lol
It's the very last sketch of the show.
All of life is a comedy, by the end
I hate this sketch because of the fact that every time I think about it, I need to watch it, and every time I watch it, I cry. Robert Webb & David Mitchell, two of the funniest actors in Britain, and two of the best actors in the world. R.I.P my tear ducts.
Also every time I have to watch it I have to use VPN because it's copyright claimed outside UK
mustn't cry, mustn't cry,....
cries a whole bunch
same
yup
It's that moment of clarity at the end that really gets you. Painful as hell to watch the second time.
***** I've seen it with dementia - they're happily oblivious to what's going on, then all of a sudden it's like a switch is flipped and for a few minutes they're all too aware of their situation :(
+clearspira My grandmother suffered from dementia and it really gave me a kick because it was so accurate. The times when she'd cotton on were just heartbreaking, far more than the times when she was being loopy or difficult.
I know. It shows that not only are they totally lost, but they're occasionally lucid enough to despair.
And *that's* why you always go over the waterfall in your prime, if you get the opportunity to do so.
this and the final quiz show were both very touching.
Adam watches videos on the internet sorry, the quiz broadcast, a series of sketches from this show
Let's stand together.
Are you there...?
Yes..
I just commented that exact statement on the last full episode of this show on youtube.. I dont know why the audience laugh track played at the end of the "Remain Indoors" show..
This is seriously moving, the ending just breaks your heart and it proves both Mitchell and Webb are fantastic actors, it truly is a standout moment even in such a vast catalogue of brilliance that these two have created. But I have to point out I still laugh like an idiot at: "he has one of the most brilliantly incisive minds of his generation" "where's my slipper?" XD
THAT BLACKADDER ENDING. THEY WENT AND DID IT. THE BLACKADDER ENDING. I was totally expecting a darkly comedic twist, but no, they let the gravity and tradgedy hit so well. makes you wonder why they haven't become dramatic actors.also, I love how they have tied in their conversation about the blackadder ending from an earlier episode. just great
I was thinking the same thing, BA series 4.
The makeup is amazing in this.
Christ, the “I know john” hit me like a fucking truck
I'm not familiar with this show, but had heard this sketch had a huge sad ending. I was initially doubtful, but it's everything that's been claimed. It's touching when Holmes has that brief moment of semi-clarity, and you find yourself convicted of laughing at the deterioration of an Alzheimer patient. It really leaves a mark on your mind and heart, and it's an unforgettable series finale.
Genuinely moving. It's funny when he smears the jam on his face, but then at the end the jam looks like a tear is rolling down his cheek. There must be some dust in my eyes...
The first time you see this it's usual Mitchell & Webb.. dear god, the second time.. fighting back tears..
Beautiful writing
I would love to write something this powerful.
Fuck I was going through their sketches having a laughing marathon and then I get hit with all this emotion
What are you doing to me
As much as Davids portrayal is touching I find Roberts reaction equally as moving, the way he mouths and his eyes tear up always gets me, what do you say in that situation?
Someone who you thought was entirely lost in their own world suddenly resurfaces in your world, you now know they are there somewhere in the cage of their own mind and there is very little you can do.
Though to be honest Holmes did drugs so he might have induced some kind of psychosis on himself.
Still a great scene.
Even if his drug (ab)use did cause it, noone deserves this, self inflicted or not.
It's so well crafted too. You laugh along at the silly old man until that moment you realise he is really suffering. The one crumb of comfort you can take from someone suffering dementia or Alzheimer's is that at least THEY aren't suffering, but in that moment when he looks into his friends eyes and tells him he knows what's happening to him, that comfort is gone and all you have is wordless tragedy.
It reminds me of what I have to do tomorrow....and every other day, again and again. You have to relive this scene day in day out for years watching the person you knew slowly vanish. Mitchell and Webb caught this perfectly. Its christmas day and I genuinely dont think I ever cried this much before.
Well I cried, so damn sad, felt the bit where he silently thanked the guy for faking he was helped was touching.
This is the one sketch - especially then and there, at the series' very end - that finished to convince me that both Mitchell *and* Webb, although often subject to a good measure of (self-) typecasting - respectively the posh repressed bourgeois and the ignorant but still-more-socially-adept-than-Mitchell young-ish idiot (i.e. much like their characters in _Peep Show)_ - are indeed *incredible actors.*
I was so glad to get it confirmed that they have both the talent, the range - _the acting chops,_ as they say - needed to play heavy drama in a way that is at the same time touching and looks genuinely sincere. And do it well. If they wrote it too (I didn't check), then all the more power to them.
I thought I was going to cry just as much as Webb's Watson seemed to contain his own tears.
Brilliant and (halfway) unexpected.
It was also nice to see them play Holmes and Watson again, this time without beating on each other for having the better role of the play on that night.
*_CRUMPETS!_*
I've always loved M&W but, wow, this sketch is absolutely stunning.
I just saw this on netflix and since none of my friends watch the show, I had to come to RUclips to see if everyone else was just as moved as I was by it. So thank you, RUclips, for showing me I'm not crazy.
Yup. Me too.
true
"..a trap laid for him by his nemesis, Moriarty."
"Yes please!" xD That was a clever one
The ending actually gave me the shivers. I thinks it shows that they are excelent actors, being able to pull off that serious part so well. Even just the way the smile fades from Robert Webbs face at the end.
Dementia is an awful disease, I have so much sympathy for anyone (and their family) going through it. 😢
For someone like Holmes who was set on clear thinking and sanity...this would be hell for him.😢
My father's whole life was centered around intelligence and wit, sarcasm and educated discourse. He was diagnosed with Lewy Body dementia but never was aware of the diagnosis because he was too ill with pneumonia at the time. Luckily for him, the pneumonia took him shortly thereafter. He would never have wanted to live knowing what was in store for him.
@vickenator The same disease which took Robin Williams. I can't feel your pain. I can only wish you peace and strength.
I didn't expect that at all out of this cast. That was wonderful, funny, and sad all at once.
I knew they were talented, but this just took it to a whole new level. A master class in what comedy can do. Make you laugh, then with a single line bring you to tears.
4:17 Tears, mastery.
"Yes please". Man so powerful.
Hats off to the director too. The way its shot is simply amazing. The lighting the music. Genius.
The way Michael turns his town down at the end of "can'tget the fog to clear" is overpowering. It's clear he's been dealing with this fight against his mind for a long time and he's just starting to give up trying. It's defeated yet trying to give it one final push, kind of represented by the assurance that he does know. He knows he's fading and even with his legendary mind, this sadistic mental illness is too much for him to handle. I also love the stutter on the sending attempt at the "I know", watching the best mind in the world become submissive and almost afraid. Michel and Webb. You are Gods of the screen and stage, no matter the genre.
You can actually see Watson look scared when Sherlock says "I know".
This and the last quiz show sketch just confirms for me these two are brilliant writers and actors. I've always thought the best comedy is as humourous as it is gut wrenching and soul baring, and in these two sketches in particular, they did that perfectly. And they did it in a way that feels genuinely true to them and their friendship.
That jam slowly falling down his face mirrors my heart sliding down my throat
I currently live in the same house as my nan, who has dementia, and depressingly it is very much like this. Thankfully it hasn't got to the stage of her forgetting members of her family, but she'll ask you the same question every time you walk past, forget what day and even month it is (roughly 5 days prior to christmas she asked me to take down the decorations in her room because she thought it was January), and is eating less and less because she thinks she's already eaten. Sometimes I wonder if the extended life that advancements in science have given us is worth it when things like dementia and cancer still have no cures. It's like, what's worse? Family members dying at 60 or family members living long enough for their brains to stop functioning properly and essentially entering a near-vegitative state? Are those extra years really worth the pain and suffering? I just don't know.
That one line about fog at the end really hit me hard. And I'm 16. I can only imagine how this must feel to an older person.
I have deduced that Sarah Hadland looks cracking in a nurse's uniform
She makes my ratwhacker feel all funny.
Pair of sad creeps
It's such a short sketch (compared to like a full movie or show to build connections to characters) and yet it touches me like nothing else. It always leaves me in a puddle of tears.
Especially Robert's acting is absolutely phenomenal here. And by the time Holmes says "I can't get the fog to clear", I usually look through very misty eyes myself. Absolutely heartbreaking.
Thank you ever so much for uploading this video, it was gone from RUclips for a long time and it's some of their best work.
Holy shit balls! This is so beautiful. They truly are brilliant. So simple, some touching
After all the silly sketches Robert Webb and David Mitchell have given us, they end with showing us just how incredible they really are at acting
This is a spitting image of my grandfather. Damn that hit hard...
I'm sorry for your grandfather. My condolences.
I lost my father to dementia (and a stroke) just over six months ago. This portrayal was so accurate and so touching that it reminded me of the heartache I went through, and that beneath the strange behaviour and the oddities, there was still a very real, very human person that I loved, and always will.
In my opinion the best sketch they did together.The acting, particularly on the part of Robert Webb is first class and extremely moving.Who wants to laugh all the time?
So beautifully acted and, despite the intense sadness of it all, still raised a few chuckles. My poor old Mum died of Alzheimer's this year. I think their approach to this was amazing and very well done.
This and the drunk old guy on the fast show where he talks about his love are epic examples of brilliant acting, switching from comedy to serious in a heartbeat
I know john, still gets me
The absolute balls of ending four seasons of a comedy with this fucking gut-punch. I assume the people who find the sketch purely funny have never been touched by the realities it portrays. Which is fine, but I watch this as a drama with incredible acting.
That look on Webbs face ....
Was not ready for the end there. My grandma had a slow moving dementia. I still remember sitting in the sofa and her out of the blue saying "This is not any fun". I didn't know at the time. Later it all made sense. She felt herself slipping away yet there was nothing she could do about it.
It is heartbreaking to watch this scene, but heartening to see Watson visit his dearest friend despite the pain it brings him. Altruism at its finest.
Watson's reaction at the end truly gets to me. First time I watched this, a piece of me died with him. And I can still feel it.
I'd never wish such a fate as this on anyone, fictional or not.
There's a very definite moment when you realise that this is far deeper and more terrible than just "The Drunk Sherlock Holmes Sketch"
There's only a small handful of videos i watch on RUclips whenever i'm in the mood for a good cry. This video, and the scene from 'Return of The King' when Frodo say's goodbye to his friend at the Grey Havens.
So sad and so beautiful.
True work of art. From laughter to tears. Simply amazing. Thank you.
Only a 5 minute sketch, and yet I actually cried, amazing writing and acting!
This just made me cry in 6 yrs!
Worth noting that this was (I think) the final sketch in the final series of "That Mitchell and Webb Look" - what a way to go out.
I worked with Dementia sufferers for 27 years. These moments of clarrity do happen and are indeed the person inside once again....just for that moment.
A couple of episodes before this, they talked about ending the series in a sad dramatic way. And they did, it was very touching.
I keep coming back to this sketch, months later. Fuck its depressing but it's one of the most brilliantly heart-wrenching things I've ever witnessed. Brilliant.
When Robert Webb mouths “Thank you”
I love the transition of the audience's reactions to this. The laughter becomes so unsure after about a couple of minutes, and then it's gone. I think it's just the sign of Mitchell and Webb's absolutely awesome work.
The bit that breaks me is when Watson is struggling to say something and then the nurse comes in to interrupt them. It's his last chance to say something to his friend, and it slips away.
We only ever get one last moment. It's never ideal.
Man, that gut punch. Reminds me of when I went with my dad to visit his mother who was dying of dementia and he would just sit there holding her hand while she stared at him like she didn't know who he was. He's the most stoic person I think I know, but I think that was the only time I've seen him cry. I don't even want to imagine how hard that was for him, and I dread the day when I have to look at him or my mum in that state and accept that they're gone.
I love the subtle foreshadowing when watson says "he suspected the apple was a trap set by moriarty" and Holmes says "please," as though he'd be quite happy if someone poisoned him. 😥
I always come back to this video after all these years. Why do I do this to myself.
so in one sketch Mitchell and Webb produced a better drama than every episode of Hollyoaks, Eastenders and Coronation street combined, was not expecting that!
To be fair Hollyoaks is shit, with shit acting & shit stories to boot. Never seen so much pandering to gays in one show
I’m watching this on 18 August 2020, ten years after this epesode was released
Clever thing about this sketch is that in the previous episode Mitchell and Webb had joked about doing a serious 'Blackadder Goes Forth' ending, but then actually had a legitimate one at the end of the final episode. Genius sketch show, the natural son of A Bit of Fry And Laurie.
Wasn't expecting that. Just kicked me right in the bollocks.
They pretty much announced something like this and it still hit me like a bullet train, being a big fan of A.C. Doyle's. As if it being the last episode wasn't bad enough.
Fantastic.
It's easy to forget for all their humour and silly costumes what great actors these two really are!
I have to say I never quite got their comedy. Probably more me than anything else but this is just one of the best things on RUclips! Just a work of genius. Amazing performances from both of them and the other actors involved too. Comedy and tragedy!
I've watched this sketch several times over the last ten years. It always hurts. Unbelievable work from a team of geniuses.
I laughed then cried.... This is true friendship.
Comedians are always the best actors
Genuinely exceptional acting by Robert Webb
Never thought I'd get teary-eyed (and not from too much laughter) from a Mitchell and Webb clip. This is too amazing. Great performance by both of them.