Rubber souls! Spitting Image returns to TV
SPITTING Image is returning to our screens after 24 years, with Boris Johnson, Donald Trump and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex among those to be ridiculed.
A new version of the comedy puppet show will air this autumn on streaming service BritBox.
The original ran for 18 series between 1984 and 1996 and was watched by 15 million viewers in its heyday.
Rubber recreations of Margaret Thatcher, John Major, Ronald Reagan and Paul Gascoigne were among the characters as the show became a smash hit.
The new cast includes Boris Johnson, his chief adviser Dominic Cummings, President Trump and his wife Melania, Beyonce, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and the Duke of York.
Also set for humiliation are Russian president Vladimir Putin, Adele, James Corden and Ant and Dec.
The programme is the first to be commissioned by BritBox UK, the streaming service launched by the BBC and ITV.
Spitting Image co-creator Roger Law is back on board as the show’s executive producer.
He quipped: “I’ve refused to resuscitate Spitting Image for years, but when my pension ran out and my palm was crossed with silver, what could an old man do?
“The new Spitting Image will be global through a uniquely British eye. “It will be more outrageous, audacious and salacious than the previous incarnation. With scandalous scripts and A-list characters, it will be the people’s programme.
“We will take back control from BoJo, Trump, Harry and Meghan and Kim Kardashian. “We will be dazzled and amazed by Jurgen Klopp and Beyonce, we will have regular weather updates from Greta Thunberg. “The timing is right, the puppets are ready, the people have spoken.
“And the message for the doomsayers and gloomsters is, this autumn we will get BritBox done.”
A statement from the programme makers said: “With the world getting smaller and more turbulent, the time couldn’t be more appropriate for an iconic British satirical take on global events.”
SPITTING Image returning to our TV screens after nearly a quarter of a century is a cause for celebration. Some of the real-life characters in the Commons may appear beyond caricature. But the grotesque puppets will puncture egos. Satire has a vital role to play in a democracy. It reminds pomposity-inclined politicians that those laughing at them on sofas nationwide are the true masters.