Spitting Image


Spitting Image is a British satirical television puppet show, created by Peter Fluck, Roger Law and Martin Lambie-Nairn. First broadcast in 1984, the series was produced by "Spitting Image Productions" for Central Independent Television over 18 series which aired on the ITV network. The series was nominated and won numerous awards, including ten BAFTA Television Awards, and two Emmy Awards in 1985 and 1986 in the Popular Arts Category. The series features puppet caricatures of contemporary celebrities and public figures, including British Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and John Major and the British royal family. The series was the first to caricature Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.
One of the most-watched shows of the 1980s, Spitting Image satirised politics, entertainment, sport and British popular culture of the era. At its peak, the show was watched by 15 million people. The popularity of the show saw collaborations with musicians, including Phil Collins and Sting. The series was cancelled in 1996 after viewing figures declined. ITV had plans for a new series in 2006, but these were scrapped after a dispute over the Ant & Dec puppets used to host Best Ever Spitting Image, which were created against Roger Law's wishes. In 2018, Law donated his entire archive – including scripts, puppet moulds, drawings and recordings – to the University of Cambridge. In 2019, Law announced the show would be returning with a new series. The revived series debuted on 3 October 2020 on BritBox, and featured caricatures of Boris Johnson and Donald Trump. It was cancelled in 2022.
In July 2025, the series was revived again, this time in an online format on YouTube.

History

proposed a satirical television show with caricature puppets created by Peter Fluck and Roger Law. Fluck and Law, who had both attended the Cambridge School of Art, had no previous television experience, but had, for several years, constructed plasticine caricatures to illustrate articles in The Sunday Times magazine. The idea for the series was rejected by many in the industry, who thought it would only be suitable for children, but the series was finally accepted for development and first broadcast in 1984.
English comedy writer and National Lampoon editor Tony Hendra was brought in as a writer; Fluck and Law had met him while they were working in the US. Hendra brought in John Lloyd, producer of Not The Nine O'Clock News. They were joined by Jon Blair, a documentary producer. They then hired Muppet puppeteer Louise Gold. Development was funded by the entrepreneur Clive Sinclair.
The puppets, based on public figures, were designed by Fluck and Law, assisted by caricaturists including David Stoten, Pablo Bach, Steve Bendelack and Tim Watts. The episodes included musical parodies by Philip Pope and later Steve Brown.
In 1984, the first episode of Spitting Image was aired with a laugh track, apparently at the insistence of Central Television. This episode was shown to a preview audience before transmission. In the early years of the show, Spitting Image was filmed and based in the enterprise zone at London Docklands at the Limehouse Studios, where scriptwriters convened and puppets were manufactured. Impressionist Steve Nallon recalls that "they were able to get away with no health and safety, so all of the building of the puppets with all the toxic waste from the foam was just in a warehouse. There were no extractor fans; it was quite Dickensian." In later series, Spitting Image was recorded at Central's studios in Nottingham with last minute additions being recorded at the Limehouse Studios at Canary Wharf, London.

Reception

Before the first episode was broadcast, the parodies of the Royal Family were cut as a courtesy to the Duke of Edinburgh, who opened the East Midlands Television Centre a few days later. The scenes were all reinstated in later episodes. Stephen Fry has written that Diana, Princess of Wales told him around 1991 that "They hate it of course. I absolutely adore it." Avalon Television executive producer Jon Thoday stated that Ronald Reagan directly contacted NBC asking for the show to be cancelled.
The first episode had an audience of 7.9 million, but numbers rapidly dropped, which meant economies had to be introduced since the series cost £2.6 million to make, nearly double the price of other prime time series.
The series had been originally scheduled to have 13 episodes, but was cut to 12 after the series was nearly cancelled. Rob Grant and Doug Naylor were then brought in as head writers to save the show; by 1986, under their supervision, Spitting Image had become popular, producing a number one song on the UK Singles Chart. However, Grant and Naylor subsequently left to create Red Dwarf for BBC2. Spitting Image had a short-running dispute with the Independent Broadcasting Authority in 1985, over the use of subliminal images.

Evolution

When Margaret Thatcher resigned as both Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party in November 1990, her successor was Chancellor of the Exchequer John Major. This marked a shift in the tone of the show, with the writers moving from the Punch and Judy style to more subtle and atmospheric sketches, notably a series in which an awkward Major and wife Norma ate peas for dinner. The producers dressed Major, skin and all, in shades of grey, and invented an affair between him and Virginia Bottomley.
The show added animated sketches from 1989 and again from 1994. For the 1992 Election Special, a studio audience was used; this format was revisited for two episodes in late 1993. A spoof Question Time took questions from the audience. The 1992 show was fronted by a puppet Robin Day, a puppet Jeremy Paxman filling the role in the episodes broadcast on 14 November 1993 and 12 December 1993.

Characters

Politicians

Many British politicians in parliament during Margaret Thatcher's tenure were parodied. By far the most prominent was Thatcher herself, portrayed as an abusive, tyrannical, cigar-chomping cross-dresser.
In the first series, Thatcher sought advice from her enraptured neighbour Herr Jeremy Von Wilcox about the unions and the unemployed. In the third episode, Mr. Wilcox/Hitler compares the trade unions with the Soviet Union and advises not to attack in winter. In that same episode, regarding unemployment, he says that people out of work should be put in the army, and tells Thatcher that he thinks the SS are a "great bunch of guys".
Alongside Thatcher were her Cabinet, which included:
  • Willie Whitelaw, with fluffy eyebrows and wearing a tartan dressing gown to cabinet meetings.
  • Nigel Lawson, panicking about a financial crisis he had apparently caused. He is by far the worst of all the cabinet being unable to count to 17; he also writes new budget and tax laws in his favour. However, upon discovering Thatcher promptly has him rewrite them in her favour.
  • Geoffrey Howe, bland and talks to sheep.
  • Douglas Hurd, famous for his Dalek-style voice and his hair shaped like a "Mr Whippy" ice cream. Hurd seems also the most competent and humane one in the cabinet, opposing the usage of torture and stopping the dumping of nuclear waste in Scotland.
  • Norman Tebbit, appearing as a leather-clad skinhead loyal to Thatcher, referring to her as "Leader" and often beating up other politicians.
  • Michael Heseltine, growing more manic with every series.
  • Leon Brittan, constantly fawning towards Thatcher and often seen eating.
  • Norman Fowler, portrayed during his time as Health Secretary as a hospital-murdering Jack the Ripper-style lunatic.
  • Cecil Parkinson, having a playboy attitude
  • Edwina Currie, portrayed as a vampire or Cruella de Vil.
  • Paul Channon, childish.
  • Kenneth Baker, transforming into a slug over the series.
  • Nicholas Ridley, smoking and developing the countryside for houses.
  • Kenneth Clarke, obese and drunk despite being Minister for Health.
  • Peter Walker, as a spineless wimp.
  • David Waddington, fast talking and creepy.
  • Francis Pym and Jim Prior, Wets who swam in swimming pools.
  • Colin Moynihan, minuscule and childlike, called "miniature for sport".
  • Tom King, portrayed while Employment Secretary as The Invisible Man.
Thatcher's Cabinet were often depicted as bickering schoolchildren, with Thatcher acting as teacher. In one skit she treats her Cabinet to a meal at a restaurant. The waitress asks: "Would you like to order, sir?" Thatcher responds: "Yes. I will have the steak" Waitress: "And what about the Vegetables?" Thatcher: "Oh, they'll have the same as me".
Thatcher's successor John Major was portrayed as a dull, boring grey character who enjoyed a meal of peas with his wife Norma and was constantly mocked by Humphrey, the Downing Street cat. Before Thatcher's resignation, Major had been portrayed as wearing a leopard print suit and swinging in on a trapeze, referencing his background as the son of a circus acrobat. Upon his appointment to Prime Minister, Major was initially portrayed as a robot with a spinning antenna on his head.
The Opposition politicians included:
  • Neil Kinnock, the 'Welsh Windbag', talking for hours about anything other than policies.
  • Roy Hattersley, spitting with every word because of his lisp.
  • Michael Foot, aged and senile, ending sentences with "Yes! Argh!".
  • Tony Benn, a rampant socialist with eyes that never looked in the same direction.
  • Ken Livingstone, whose living room was filled with salamanders and snakes.
  • Denis Healey, with giant eyebrows, who helped to make Kinnock look foolish.
  • Gerald Kaufman, portrayed as a Hannibal Lecter-style maniac.
Arthur Scargill, who was a member of the Labour Party until 1997, appeared as head of the National Union of Mineworkers, and was portrayed as a big-nosed egotist who was ignorant about mining.
In 1994, a puppet of Tony Blair made his appearance. He was originally a public school boy, wearing grey shorts, blazer and cap. His catchphrase was "I'M THE LEADER" in reference to his attempt to lead the Labour Party. When Blair did become Labour leader, the puppet changed and he was portrayed with his grin replaced with an even bigger smile if he said something of importance. The deputy leader, John Prescott, was portrayed as a fat bumbling assistant, along with a squeaky voiced Robin Cook, and an enormous bespectacled Jack Straw.
The SDP–Liberal Alliance was portrayed by the election-losing, populist, arrogant and undecided David Owen, with whining, bedwetting David Steel in his pocket. They were soon replaced by Paddy Ashdown, whose "equidistance" from the larger parties was satirised by his frequent appearance at the side of the screen during unrelated sketches, saying: "I am neither in this sketch nor not in it, but somewhere in-between". This running gag was used when Ashdown's extramarital affair was revealed, and his puppet commented that "I didn't touch her on the left leg, or the right leg, but somewhere in-between." Former Liberal MP Cyril Smith also made a few appearances as a morbidly obese giant.
In the first series, Former Prime Ministers Harold Wilson, James Callaghan, Harold Macmillan and Alec Douglas-Home were depicted as living in a highly restrictive retirement home named Exchequers, where they were frequently abused by Queen Victoria. Wilson constantly attempted escape, whilst Callaghan took delight in tormenting him. Edward Heath was also said to have resided there, but he was not seen on screen; later, he would appear as a naked piano player.