It’s time for satire to bite back

A new show and app are set to give politicians the treatment, says libel lawyer Alex Wade

As overtures to do some legal work go, Chris Chapman’s was unusual. “Peter Fluck tells me you’re a man who likes taking risks,” he wrote to me in an email. “If he’s right, I wonder if you’d like to help.” Peter Fluck is the man who created Spitting Image, and Chapman was head of research and development in Spitting Image Projects, an offshoot of the legendary puppet show. “I’ve created a digital app that I want to use to shame delusional politicians who abuse their positions,” said Chapman. “I think it might be wise to have some legal advice. Peter also tells me you’re a libel lawyer. Would helping me avoid the law courts be up your street?” That was four years ago. The rest isn’t quite history – yet – but Chapman’s app has just been launched. Its timing couldn’t be better, as there is a renewed interest in satire. Next month ITV will launch Newzoids, a topical puppet animation sketch show which will poke fun at pop stars, politicians, celebrities and sports personalities. Characters from Russell Brand and Simon Cowell to Barack Obama and Prince Harry will be brought to life in a six-part series which fuses traditional puppetry and state of the art digital animation. ITV’s director of entertainment and comedy, Elaine Bedell, believes the time is ripe for the revival of satire. “ITV has a rich history of playing popular satirical comedy in peaktime on its main channel, and it seemed a good time to revive it this year,” says Bedell. “We are pleased to be adding to our growing comedy portfolio with this funny and biting look at the world of politics and celebrity.” Newzoids is expected to kick off next month, just as British voters gear up to go to the polls in the general election on Thursday, May 7. Its creators promise to deliver “a satirical and surreal spin on the stories and celebrities we read about every day”. Moreover, they say that “no one in the public eye will be safe from the Newzoids treatment”. Meanwhile, Chapman is taking things a step further with his app. He has created a series of digitally animated characters from the worlds of politics, sport and television, with some bearing an uncanny resemblance to our best-known politicians. Steve Nallon, the voice of Margaret Thatcher from Spitting Image, provides many of the voices, but there are other characters as well, such as football fans, animals, toys and generic sci-fi characters. Headcaster’s tag-line is “Be your other self”, so if you want to rant about your football team you have the perfect opportunity. “You download the caricature you like, via your phone or tablet, then speak through it for a maximum of 30 seconds,” explains Chapman. “You see your speech instantly auto-lip-synced from their mouths. You can add some preset animated moves and then you’re ready to Headcast. You can share what you create as videos straight to YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.” Chapman’s team will monitor social media and select the best user-generated content, then broadcast it on their own bespoke YouTube channel, known as the Wonk Channel. “I’ve had enough of political wonk-speak,” says Chapman. “The Wonk Channel is there to give everyone the chance to speak their piece through a host of political caricatures. If you’ve had enough of Boris and his broom, you can Headcast what you think. If you feel like having a go at Nick Clegg, you can download a character and vent your spleen. “Social media has unlocked a lot of hidden talent and raw commentary. We want to give that talent a production platform, so that people don’t need privileged access to the traditional media world. Headcaster is about ‘broadcasting with’ instead of ‘broadcasting at’.” The app has some impressive backers. Stephen Fry and Robbie Savage are among those who will be headcasting their other selves. What, though, of the legal risks? My old boss, Nigel Tait of CarterRuck – the law firm which has been the scourge of many a newspaper and television producer – says a cautious approach is the right one. “Social media has created an impression that anything goes,” says Tait, “but it doesn’t. The law of libel is marginally more defendantfriendly than back in the days of Spitting Image but it remains the fact that if a publisher or broadcaster gets it wrong, they can end up having to apologise and pay damages.” When it comes to satire, though, the writer GK Chesterton’s words are apposite: “A man is angry at a libel because it is false, but at a satire because it is true.” Peter Fluck says: “Spitting Image ran for 12 years on prime-time television and it’s fair to say that we savaged an awful lot of people. The great and the good were serially outraged. But we were never successfully sued, and by the end of the show people wanted to be on it. They saw it as a badge of honour. I’m told that Hansard would even arrange for MPs would watch a tape of the previous night’s show.” Does Fluck think that the current crop of politicians are different than the likes of Michael Heseltine, who grew more manic with each airing of Spitting Image – not to mention the “Welsh windbag” Neil Kinnock and the cigar-chomping prime minister, Lady Thatcher? “Today’s lot are just the same,” says Fluck. “They all go into politics, pontificate pompously and ineffectively, and retire to take well-paid directorships and write bestsellers.” Rob Brown, head of journalism at Falmouth University, goes further, saying: “Politicos are probably even more deserving of such savage treatment now because so many of them have never done anything but politics. Ed Miliband is the prime example of this but the Labour leader is far from alone in that respect.” For Brown, satire’s role is “to puncture pomposity through merciless parody and remind would-be emperors that they have bare backsides and are often barefaced liars”. Satire is making a comeback, and for good reason. I just hope, when Chapman next gives me a call, that my antennae for legal risk are switched on. Headcaster.com ‘Newzoids’ is expected to air on ITV next month