You're tuned to the good stuff

Brain Surgeon

That Mitchell and Webb Look
SKETCH-O-VISION
A VERY GOOD USE OF YOUR TIME.

The setup

A brain surgeon who works his job into every conversation meets his match at a drinks party.

Community rating

– / 10

The premise

Here’s the bit.

At a friend's drinks party, Lionel cannot stop steering the small talk back to his career, waving away other guests' parking, tax returns and charity work as trivial next to his own and correcting anyone who calls him a mere doctor. Then the hostess welcomes late arrival Geoff, held up at the space centre. When Lionel finally gets to tell the quiet rocket scientist what he does for a living, Geoff lets the pause hang before turning the familiar comparison back on him.

The funny people

Meet the cast. 5

Say it with us

Highly quotable.

Not a doctor. I'm a brain surgeon. Big difference.

I mean, it's not exactly brain surgery, is it? Which, as a brain surgeon, is what I do.

Brain surgery? Not exactly rocket science, is it?

Behind the scenes

The people who made it.

ScriptEnglish · 25 turns

Automatically generated script; wording may contain errors. Speaker labels are inferred.

  1. 00:00

    Hostess

    Lionel, glad you could make it. Can I get you a drink?

  2. 00:02

    Lionel

    Yeah, something soft. I'm driving. Parking's an absolute nightmare around here, isn't it? I have to reverse into the tiniest of spaces. Still, I managed it. I mean, parking's not exactly brain surgery, is it? And I should know.

  3. 00:18

    Accountant

    Why is that? Are you a doctor?

  4. 00:20

    Lionel

    Careful. Not a doctor. I'm a brain surgeon. Big difference. Big difference.

  5. 00:25

    Lionel

    Yeah, I actually know a joke about this. What's the difference between a doctor and a brain surgeon?

  6. 00:29

    Lionel

    one's not exactly brain surgery the other is brain surgery

  7. 00:34

    Lionel

    so what do you guys do

  8. 00:39

    Accountant

    I'm an accountant

  9. 00:40

    Lionel

    oh that's good yeah I could do with an accountant filling in those tax forms and get really confusing can't it

  10. 00:47

    Lionel

    still it's not exactly brain surgery I mean brain surgery believe me is very complex

  11. 00:57

    Lionel

    are Are you an accountant, too?

  12. 00:59

    Charity Worker

    No, I work for a charity.

  13. 01:01

    Lionel

    Oh, that's a very selfless job, isn't it? I really admire you. I don't think I could ever do what you do.

  14. 01:08

    Lionel

    I say that because it's emotionally draining, not because it's hard.

  15. 01:12

    Lionel

    I mean, it's not exactly brain surgery, is it? Which, as a brain surgeon, is what I do.

  16. 01:20

    Hostess

    Lionel, here's your drink. Lionel's a brain surgeon, you know.

  17. 01:24

    Charity Worker

    Yeah, he mentioned it.

  18. 01:26

    Hostess

    Jeff, they keep you late at the Space Centre.

  19. 01:30

    Geoff

    As always, then.

  20. 01:33

    Hostess

    Have you met Lionel?

  21. 01:35

    Geoff

    No, hello, Lionel.

  22. 01:36

    Lionel

    So, Geoff, how do you earn a crust?

  23. 01:38

    Geoff

    Oh, I'm a scientist. I work mainly with rockets. It's pretty tough work. What do you do?

  24. 01:46

    Lionel

    Well, I don't mean to boast, but I'm a brain surgeon.

  25. 01:51

    Geoff

    Brain surgery? Not exactly brain surgery. Not exactly rocket science, is it?

The rabbit hole continues

One more couldn’t hurt.

More from across the archive.

Explore the show