Spitting Image

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Biography

Spitting Image is a British satire|satirical puppet show that aired on the ITV network from 1984 to 1996. It was produced by Spitting Image Productions for Central Independent Television . The series was nominated for 10 BAFTA Awards , winning one for editing in 1989.

The series featured puppet caricature s of celebrities famous during the 1980s and 1990s. British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and fellow Conservative Party (UK)|Tory politicians, American president Ronald Reagan , and the British Royal Family were the most prominent targets.

History

Development

Martin Lambie-Nairn proposed a satirical television show featuring puppets to Peter Fluck and Roger Law , two illustrators and sculptors who worked mostly for print. The puppets, caricaturing public figures, were designed by Fluck and Law. They were assisted by caricaturists including David Stoten , Pablo Bach, Steve Bendelack and Tim Watts . Musical parodies were by Philip Pope (former member of Who Dares Wins (TV comedy)|Who Dares Wins and The Hee Bee Gee Bees ) and later Steve Brown (composer)|Steve Brown (who appeared as bandleader Glen Ponder in Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge (TV series)|Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge .

Beginnings

Fluck and Law had no television experience, but had for several years constructed plasticine caricatures to illustrate articles in the Sunday Times Magazine. They brought in comedy writer and National Lampoon (magazine)|National Lampoon editor Tony Hendra , whom they had met while working in the United States. Hendra brought in John Lloyd (writer)|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 Clive Sinclair . At the start, in 1984 and 1985, the show was not doing well and was nearly cancelled. Several politicians found their characterisations offensive, although in subsequent interviews many were glad of the attention. Rob Grant and Doug Naylor were brought in as head writers to save the show. By 1986, under their supervision, Spitting Image had become popular, producing a Number 1 hit but the pair left to create Red Dwarf for BBC2.

The show had a short-running dispute with the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) in 1985 over use of subliminal images.

Production

Shows were recorded at Central's studios in Nottingham with last minute additions being recorded at the Limehouse Studios at Canary Wharf , London. It was at these latter facilities that Spitting Image Productions were based.

Evolution

When Margaret Thatcher resigned in November 1990, her successor was John Major . This marked a shift in the show's style with the writers moving from the Punch and Judy style to more subtle and atmospheric sketches, notably a series in which an awkward John and Norma Major ate peas for dinner. The producers dressed Major, skin and all, in shades of grey. They invented an affair between him and Virginia Bottomley . It emerged later that Major had indeed had an affair, but with Edwina Currie (who the writers had considered using).

The show added animated sketches from 1989 and again from 1994 (with short, animated segments before 1989). Most notable was a studio audience for the 1992 Election Special, a format which was revisited for two episodes in late 1993. A spoof Question Time (TV series)|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. The 1992 Election Special was the first time Spitting Image had been performed to a studio audience.

(Note: the first episode of Spitting Image, in 1984, aired with a laugh track , apparently at the insistence of Central Television. This episode was shown to a preview audience before transmission.) http://broken-tv.blogspot.com/2009/11/latex-lampoonery-spitting-image.html

Decline

The writers, Mark Burton , John O'Farrell , Pete Sinclair and Stuart Silver quit the show in 1993 and in 1995, and with viewing figures in decline, production was cancelled. The final series was in January and February 1996. The final episode featured "The Last Prophecies of Spitting Image" in which Labour moved into Number 10 Downing Street|Number 10 .

ITV's plans for a new series were scrapped in 2006 after a dispute over Ant & Dec puppets. The puppets were used to host the reviews "Best Ever Spitting Image" against Roger Law's wishes. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/a39486/ant-and-dec-stunt-ends-spitting-image-return.html

Broadcast dates

All episodes and specials were broadcast on Sunday, usually at 10pm.

The programme was also picked up overseas. It aired on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on Sunday nights in the late 1980s. The American network NBC aired several prime-time specials in the same period.

Series

Series!!Year!!Dates!!No. episodes!!Times
Series 1
Series 2
Series 3
Series 4
Series 5
Series 6
Series 7
Series 8
Series 9
Series 10
Series 11
Series 12
Series 13
Series 14
Series 15
Series 16
Series 17
Series 18

Specials

Title!!Year!!Date!!Times!!Duration
Down And Out In The White House
The Spitting Image 1987 Movie Awards
Election Special
A Non-Denominational Spitting Image Holiday Special
The Ronnie And Nancy Show
Bumbledown - The Life and Times of Ronald Reagan
The Sound Of Maggie
Election Special
The Spitting Image Pantomime
Ye Olde Spitting Image

Legacy and repeats

From October 1996 to January 1998, Spitting Image Series 1-11 were on G.O.L.D.|UK GOLD , repeated on UK GOLD from January to September 1998 but shown three times per week. Edited episodes from Series 1-3 and 7 were on Granada Plus from 2001-2003.

Most of the puppets were sold online at an auction hosted by Sotheby's , including a puppet of Osama Bin Laden never used in the series.

On 25 June 2006, ITV transmitted Best Ever Spitting Image . Speculation that a new series would follow was dismissed.

In February 2008, Comedy Central Extra started showing regular repeats of Spitting Image from 9pm on Tuesday evenings, with a whole weekend's worth of evenings devoted to the first two series.

From 2001 to 2004 the ITV series 2DTV had a similar style, but using computer animation instead of puppets.

Characters

Politicians

Many British politicians in parliament during Margaret Thatcher 's tenure were parodied. By far the most prominent was Thatcher herself, portrayed as a bullying tyrant and cross-dresser (she wore suits, used the urinals and was portrayed as a cigar-chomper). The Thatcher puppet had a strong dislike of anything French (agreeing with Hitler about 'teaching those Frenchies where to go' and throwing an apple out the window because it was French).

Alongside Thatcher were her Cabinet, which included:

William Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw|Willie Whitelaw , with fluffy eyebrows and wearing a tartan dressing gown to cabinet meetings.

Nigel Lawson , panicking about some financial crisis he had accidentally caused.

Geoffrey Howe , boring, bland and talked to sheep .

Douglas Hurd , famous for his Dalek -style voice and his hair shaped like a " Mr Whippy " ice cream. Comedy Connections: Spitting Image

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 (and wearing a flak jacket as Defence Secretary).

Leon Brittan , constantly sucking up to Thatcher.

Norman Fowler , portrayed during his time as Health Secretary as a hospital-murdering Jack the Ripper -style lunatic.

Cecil Parkinson , having sexual intercourse with every woman in sight.

Edwina Currie , portrayed as a vampire.

Paul Channon , childish.

Kenneth Baker , transforming into a slug over the series.

Nicholas Ridley, Baron Ridley of Liddesdale|Nicholas Ridley , smoking and developing the countryside for houses.

Kenneth Clarke , obese and drunk despite being Minister for Health.

Colin Moynihan , minuscule and childlike, called "miniature for sport"

Thatcher's successor John Major was portrayed as a dull, boring grey character who enjoyed a meal of peas with his wife Norma Major|Norma and was constantly mocked by Humphrey (cat)|Humphrey , the Downing Street cat. Before Thatcher's resignation, Major had been portrayed as robotic with a spinning antenna on his head (it was explained in a sketch that Thatcher used it to control Major, standing behind Thatcher in the crowd of sycophantic cabinet members, eager to repeat whatever the Thatcher puppet screeched).

The Her Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition (United Kingdom)|Opposition ( Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party ) 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 (on 'Best Ever Spitting Image', Hattersley praised his puppet for 'putting the spit into Spitting Image').

Michael Foot , aged and senile, ending sentences with "Yes& #33; 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, always helping Kinnock to look a fool.

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 (Great Britain)|National Union of Mineworkers , and was portrayed as a big-nosed egotist 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 glasses-wearing Jack Straw .

The SDP-Liberal Alliance was portrayed by the election-losing, populism|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."

Royal Family

The main characters were:

Elizabeth II|The Queen , wears a CND badge, always seemed slightly mad and picked clothes from rubbish bins

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh|The Duke of Edinburgh , the Queen's husband, was a blunderbuss -toting Greek-obsessed buffoon in Royal Navy|naval uniform

Charles, Prince of Wales was a pseudo-hippie then a taxi driver in later episodes

Diana, Princess of Wales was a publicity-hungry Sloane Ranger

Other members who were parodied include:

Prince Andrew, Duke of York

Sarah, Duchess of York|The Duchess of York ("Fergie"), who was always snuffling for truffles

Anne, Princess Royal|The Princess Royal

Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex|Prince Edward , a petulant teenager

Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon , who was always tipsy

Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother , who was generally seen with a bottle of Gordon's Gin , a copy of the Racing Post , a Beryl Reid voice; this was a running joke from a sketch in which the Royal Family's desire to conceal her Birmingham accent was the reason she was very seldom heard speaking on television. In the series she is seen with jockey Lester Piggott whom she has an affair with.

International politicians

Spitting Image lampooned President of the United States of America|US President Ronald Reagan as a bumbling, nuclear weapon|nuke -obsessed fool in comparison with his advisors Edwin Meese and Caspar Weinberger . Next to his bed were red buttons labelled 'Nuke' and 'Nurse'. His wife Nancy Reagan|Nancy was the butt of cosmetic surgery jokes.

Mikhail Gorbachev had his forehead birthmark in the shape of hammer and sickle. All other Russians looked like Leonid Brezhnev , often said "da" ("yes") and talked about potato es. In Russia it was snowing even indoors and the Soviet television had extremely low-tech visual effects.

François Mitterrand was wearing a beret and a garlic wreath. P. W. Botha was shown as a racist cleverly disguising his views (once he had a badge "anti-anti- apartheid "). Adolf Hitler incognito had a house at 9 Downing Street . Some appearances were also made by Idi Amin , Ferdinand Marcos|Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos , Ruhollah Khomeini , Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi .

Other international caricatures included Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger ; George H. W. Bush and Dan Quayle ; Konstantin Chernenko , Raisa Gorbachova and Boris Yeltsin .

Sport

England manager Bobby Robson was a senile worrier nicknamed 'Rubbisho'. Player Paul Gascoigne appeared, frequently crying - a parody of the 1990 FIFA World Cup|World Cup semi-final against West Germany in which he famously cried after being booked, which would have ruled him out of the final had England won the game. Ian Botham was a violent drug addict, while Mike Gatting spoke with a high voice. Lester Piggott had to be subtitled. Boxing characters included Frank Bruno with his trademark laugh and catchphrase "where's Harry Carpenter|'Arry ? ", and Chris Eubank , with his lisp. Steve Davis was boring, upset because he had no nickname, but thought himself interesting.

Celebrities

Comedian Billy Connolly was portrayed as a jester, and Jimmy Tarbuck was said to use old jokes and always take part in Royal Variety Performance . Bernard Manning was an obese racist, Ben Elton was always shown with a microphone. John Cleese and Stephen Fry appeared from time to time with no peculiarities of characters.

Writer Jeffrey Archer appeared as a very annoying self-commenting writer whose books weren't read by anyone. Ray Cooney was criticized for strikingly similar and far-fetched farce s. Alan Bennett was shown at home as watching Spitting Image on TV.

A Mick Jagger character seemed perpetually high, and Keith Richards so old and haggard that he thought he was dead. Ringo Starr was a drunkard, and Paul McCartney was always releasing albums and films that flopped. Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna changed her hair and clothes with every episode, and Michael Jackson 's skin turned lighter. Luciano Pavarotti was hugely overweight and ate everything he saw. Andrew Lloyd Webber was said to have his face inside out.

Actor Dustin Hoffman spoke nasally and was parodied for his method acting . John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier were lamenting their friends, even their own death. Roger Moore was shown as an actor "with a wooden delivery" – only his eyebrows moved. Sylvester Stallone was all-brawn but no-brain, and Arnold Schwarzenegger muscle-bound but insecure about the size of his genitals.

Archbishop Robert Runcie , Mary Whitehouse and Cliff Richard were portrayed as Christian censors. Ian Paisley was always dressed black and shouting. Pope John Paul II was a banjo-playing womaniser who spoke with a Texan accent.

Media moguls Robert Maxwell and Rupert Murdoch were also on the show, the latter depicted as an extremely flatulent individual encouraging obscenity in his mass media.

Rubber News

Rubber News was a recurring short news feature screened as one of the sketches during the programme. Rubber News first appeared on episode 7 of series 1, which aired on 13 May 1984.

The songs

The first single from Spitting Image , released in 1984, was a rework of the The Crystals|Crystals ' Da Do Ron Ron . The Spitting Image version, Da Do Run Ron , was a spoof election campaign song for Ronald Reagan, featuring Nancy Reagan listing reasons why "you gotta re-elect him", with lyrics like "Yeah& #33; He can really act, Yeah& #33; He lowered income tax, Yeah& #33; He hates the Warsaw Pact ". The cover of the single featured Reagan as a biker with Nancy riding pillion.

The B-side of this single was another rework of an existing song, namely '' I Cain't Say No|Just A Girl Who Can't Say No from the musical Oklahoma!|Oklahoma . The Spitting Image'' team's version was entitled ''Just A Prince Who Can't Say No and poked fun at the sexual indiscretions of Prince Andrew, Duke of York|The Prince Andrew . on http://www.qsulis.demon.co.uk/Website_Louise_Gold/

In 1986, the Spitting Image puppets had a number one hit in the UK charts with " The Chicken Song ", parodying " Agadoo " by Black Lace (band)|Black Lace – one of several parodies to have featured in the programme, mimicking moronic holiday songs with an annoyingly unforgettable tune and completely nonsensical lyrics. The Chicken Song hit number 1 in the charts for 3 weeks from 17 May 1986 – 3 June 1986 and VH1 US named it as one of the worst number 1 nominations.

The other songs released by Spitting Image were " I've Never Met a Nice South African " (which was on the B-Side of "The Chicken Song" and was a savage indictment of the apartheid -ridden country), "We're Scared Of Bob" and "Hello You Must Be Going" (on the 12" release of The Chicken Song), "Santa Claus Is On The Dole" (backed with "The Atheist Tabernacle Choir"), "The Christmas Singles" and "Cry Gazza Cry". "The Chicken Song" was by far the most successful of all of their music and not-so-subtle references were made to it in subsequent sketches in the show itself. In 1986, a compilation LP "Spit In Your Ear" was produced, featuring some of their sketches over time along with a few of their songs, followed in 1990 by "20 Great Golden Gobs", a songs-only collection from the 1986-1990 series.

In 1986, the Spitting Image team experienced some "real" musical success when they created the video for " Land of Confusion " by Genesis (band)|Genesis , a song which implied that Thatcher and Reagan were about to bring the world to a nuclear war. Phil Collins saw a disfigured version of himself on the show and contacted the show's producers with the idea to produce the video. The video was depicted as a nightmare Reagan was having, which left him completely immersed in sweat from worrying.

The end of the 1987 election featured a young boy, dressed as a city banker, singing " Tomorrow Belongs To Me ", a parody of the film Cabaret (film)|Cabaret , when a member of the Hitler Youth starts singing the same song. In a season 5 episode, Labour leader Neil Kinnock is portrayed singing a self-parody to the tune "My eyes are fully open" from Gilbert and Sullivan 's Ruddigore , supported by members of his shadow cabinet., 1988, YouTube, uploaded 26 March 2009, accessed 16 January 2012

In one instance Sting (musician)|Sting was persuaded to sing a re-worded version of " Every Breath You Take ", titled " Every Bomb You Make " (series 1, episode 12), to accompany a video showing the Spitting Image puppets of world leaders and political figures of the day, usually with the figure matching the altered lyrics "Every wall you build, Every one you've killed, Every grave you've filled, all the blood you've spilled, I'll be watching you." The video ended with the grim reaper appearing in front of a sunset. This version was due to be resurrected by Sting at the Live8 concert, and the parody lyrics were cleared with their writers Quentin Reynolds and James Glen, but plans were abandoned at the last minute.

Other musical parodies featured Michael Jackson , Kylie Minogue , The Monkees , Pulp (band)|Pulp , Brett Anderson of Suede (band)|Suede , Pet Shop Boys , Elvis Presley , Oasis (band)|Oasis , ZZ Top , Prince (musician)|Prince and Barbra Streisand .

Video and DVD releases

The programme was first released on video in 1986 in a series of three collections, each a compilation of material from the first two series: Spit - With Polish! , A Floppy Mass Of Blubber & Rubber Thingies . All carried a 15 certificate and were reissued in 1988, also as a box set. 1989 saw the release by Central Video of two complete specials, Bumbledown: The Life & Times Of Ronald Reagan and The Sound Of Maggie . Next was a video containing a collection of the music videos from the programme, titled "The Klassik Music Video Vol 1", released in 1991 by Central Video under The Video Collection Ltd (VCI or 2entertain); there was never a Volume 2.

"Is Nothing Sacred? " was released in 1992 by Surprise Video, compiling material from 1990-1991. The free booklet was written by Stewart Lee and Richard Herring . ''Havin' It Off: The Bonker's Guide was released in 1993. In 1996 FA to Fairplay was released on VHS, later reissued on DVD in 2005. Made specially for video, it provided an alternative look at the 1996 European football (soccer)|football championship held in England.

The Ronald Reagan song "Da Do Ron Ron" featured in a straight to video release called ''Rockin' Ronnie (1986), an otherwise unrelated compilation of movie clips released by ATI Video.

DVD release dates

Discs!!rowspan=2
Discs!!rowspan=2		Region 2
style="background:#fc0; height:10px;"	Complete Series 1
style="background:#339; height:10px;"	Complete Series 2
style="background:#ed1c24; height:10px;"	Complete Series 3
style="background:#fb9902; height:10px;"	Complete Series 4
style="background:#32cd32; height:10px;"	Complete Series 5
style="background:#fc0fc0; height:10px;"	Complete Series 6
style="background:#6495ed; height:10px;"	Complete Series 7
style="background:teal; height:10px;"	Complete Series 8
style="background:#000; height:10px;"	Complete Series 1–7

Staff

Spitting Image launched the careers of and featured many then-unknown British comedians and actors, most notably Hugh Dennis , Steve Coogan and Harry Enfield .

Creators

Peter Fluck and Roger Law spoonerised as Luck and Flaw

Martin Lambie-Nairn (On the credits, his credit was "Based on the original lunch with Martin Lambie-Nairn")

Voices

The voices were provided by British impressionists including:

Chris Barrie (1984–1991) ( Red Dwarf characters#Arnold Rimmer|Arnold Rimmer in Red Dwarf )

Roger Blake (1990–1996) (plays Duke of Edinburgh / Jim Royle in Big Impression )

Rory Bremner (1987) ( Bremner, Bird and Fortune )

Phil Cornwell (1986, 1993–1996) ( Dead Ringers (comedy)|Dead Ringers )

Steve Coogan (1988–1993) ( Alan Partridge )

Jon Culshaw (1994–1996) ( Dead Ringers (comedy)|Dead Ringers , 2DTV , The Impressionable Jon Culshaw , Headcases , The Impressions Show .)

Hugh Dennis (1989–1991) ( The Mary Whitehouse Experience , My Hero (TV series)|My Hero , Mock The Week , Outnumbered )

Harry Enfield (1985–1989) (" Harry Enfield's Television Programme ", " Harry Enfield and Chums ", " Kevin and Perry Go Large "

Chris Emmett (1984, 1990)

Michael Fenton Stevens ( KYTV (TV series)|KYTV )

Fogwell Flax (1984–1985) ( Tiswas )

Jon Glover (1984–1989)

Louise Gold (1984–1986) ( The Muppet Show )

Alistair McGowan (1991–1996)

Jessica Martin (1985–1988)

Steve Nallon (1984–1996) (best known as voice of Margaret Thatcher)

Philip Pope (1984–1991, singing voices only) ( KYTV (TV series)|KYTV )

Jan Ravens (1984–1993) ( Dead Ringers (comedy)|Dead Ringers )

Enn Reitel (1985–1990, 1996) ( Mog (television)|Mog )

Kate Robbins (1986–1996)

John Sessions (1986–1988)

John Thomson (comedian)|John Thomson (1990–1996) ( Cold Feet )

Performers

The puppets were operated by popular British performers, including:

Anthony Asbury

Don Austen

Chris Barrie

Michael Bayliss

Kevin Bradshaw (puppeteer)|Kevin Bradshaw (later credited as Kaefan Shaw)

Simon Buckley (puppeteer)|Simon Buckley

Patrick Comerford

Richard Coombs

Craig Crane

Sue Dacre

Phil Eason

Alistair Fullarton

Louise Gold

Barnaby Harrison

Brian Herring

Mark Jefferis

William Todd Jones

Terry Lee (puppeteer)|Terry Lee

Steve Nallon

Martin H Oates

Nigel Plaskitt

Gillie Robic

Martin P. Robinson

Richard Robinson (puppeteer)|Richard Robinson

Tim Rose

John Thirtle

Ian Thom

Robert Tygner

Mak Wilson

Francis Wright (puppeteer)|Francis Wright

Writers

Geoff Atkinson (1984–1993)

David Austin (writer)|David Austin

Debbie Barham

Alistair Beaton

Colin Bostock-Smith

Jo Brand

Mark Burton (writer)|Mark Burton (1985–1993)

Kevin Cecil (1993–1996) ( The Armando Ianucci Shows )

Paul John Clark , journalist and writer ( Rory Bremner , '' Kate and Ted's Show , The New Politics: The May Revolution , Week Ending , Hale and Pace )

Richard Curtis (1984–1985) ( Blackadder , Four Weddings and a Funeral etc.)

Terence Dackombe (1984–1989) ( Week Ending , News Huddlines , Friday Night Live, etc.)

Paul B. Davies

(John) Jack Docherty and Moray Hunter ( Absolutely (TV series)|Absolutely , Mr. Don & Mr. George )

Chris Edge

Ben Elton (1984–1985) ( Blackadder , The Young Ones (TV series)|The Young Ones )

Stevie Fowler

Patrick Gallagher (writer)|Patrick Gallagher (co-creator, co-writer and graphic designer on Round the Bend , a children's puppet show produced by Hat Trick Productions with puppets made by the Spitting Image Workshop)

Dan Gaster

Rob Grant (1984–1986) ( Red Dwarf )

Sean Hardie

Ray Harris (1987–1993) ( Babyblair )

Ian Hislop (1984–1989) ('' Private Eye , Have I Got News For You , My Dad's the Prime Minister )

Will Ing ( The Now Show )

Donnie Kerr

David Kind ( Hale and Pace )

Wayne Kline

Paul Lewis

Victor Lewis-Smith (only one episode: Series 5 ep.5)

Doug Naylor (1984–1986) ( Red Dwarf )

Henry Naylor (1984–1986)

Nick Newman (1984–1989) ( Private Eye )

John O'Farrell (1984–1993) (author of Things Can Only Get Better (book)|Things Can Only Get Better , etc.)

Andy Parsons (1993–1996)

Paul Powell

Georgia Pritchett (1986–1992)

Steve Punt (1989–1993) ( The Now Show )

Neil Raphael (1984–1987)

Keith Rees

Andy Riley (1993–1996) ( The Armando Ianucci Shows )

Laurie Rowley

Tony Sarchet

Stuart Silver

Paul Simpkin

Pete Sinclair

Andrea Solomons

Guy Jenkin

Johnny Mack ( The Dave Allen Show )

Producers

Jon Blair , John Lloyd (writer)|John Lloyd , Tony Hendra (1984)

John Lloyd (writer)|John Lloyd (1984–1986) ( Blackadder , '' Not the Nine O'Clock News )

Geoffrey Perkins (1986–1988) ( KYTV (TV series)|KYTV , later Head of BBC comedy)

David Tyler (UK)

Bill Dare (1990–1993) ( Dead Ringers (comedy)|Dead Ringers )

Giles Pilbrow (1994–1996) ( 2DTV )

Directors

Stephen Bendelack

Richard Bradley (director)|Richard Bradley

Philip Casson

Steve Connelly

Bob Cousins

Gordon Elsbury

Andy de Emmony

Sean Hardie

Peter Harris (director)|Peter Harris

John Henderson (director)|John Henderson

Liddy Oldroyd

Beryl Richards

Geoffery Sax

John Stroud

Graham C. Williams

Production assistants

Barbara Bradbury

Lesley Jones

Jean Holdsworth

Archive researchers

Rob Peers

Janet Pitts

Linda Woodhouse

Janet Rayner

Margaret Duerden

Costumes

Jackie Hallatt

Sue Gibson

Similar shows elsewhere

; Argentina
A political satire programme called Kanal K was aired by Canal 13 (Argentina)|Canal 13 during the early 1990s. The show was (theoretically) cancelled after a serious row with the Catholic Church over Kanal K s puppet of Pope John Paul II saying "vaffanculo" (meaning "fuck you" in Italian). Unofficial rumors say that Kanal K was cancelled on behalf of former President Carlos Saúl Menem because the programme depicted him in a derisive manner. However, this version was never officially confirmed. Besides, the former president is known as a person with an ample sense of humour.

; Australia

Rubbery Figures ( Fast Forward (TV series)|Fast Forward Series 1& 2 (1989–1990))

; Azerbaijan

Kuklalar was a short-life week-end show on Lider TV , similar to Russian NTV (Russia)|NTV 's Kukly . Only Azerbaijan opposition leaders and celebrities' puppets were presented in the program. Puppets-making and filming were both made in Kukly 's base in Moscow, while script, voicing, and editing were made in Baku.

; Bulgaria

Talking Heads (TV7)

; Brazil

:pt:Agildo no País das Maravilhas|Agildo no País das Maravilhas ( Rede Bandeirantes , 1987–1989)

Cabaré do Barata ( Rede Manchete , 1989–1990)

;Canada ( Quebec )

Et Dieu créa… Laflaque

;Catalonia

Polònia

; Chile
During the 1990s, an imitation of the Spitting Image show, called Los Toppins , was aired on the television network MEGA (Chilean TV channel)|Mega vision. More successful, although oriented to a younger audience was the 31 Minutos show, which aired on Television Nacional de Chile|TVN .

; Colombia

Los reencauchados ( Cenpro Televisión , 1995)

;Czech Republic

Gumaci ( Nova (Czech TV)|TV NOVA )

;France

Le Bébête Show ( TF1 )

'' Les Guignols de l'info ( Canal Plus )

;Finland

The Autocrats

;Germany

Hurra Deutschland ( ARD (TV)|ARD , RTL II Germany|RTL 2 ), Zak ( WDR , ARD (TV)|ARD )

;Greece

F??S???S with George Mitsikostas , ( SKAI TV )

;Hungary

Uborka (MTV 1)

;Ireland

Bull Island (TV show)|Bull Island ( RTÉ )

;India

Double Take ( NDTV )

; Israel

Chartzufim ( Arutz 2|Channel 2 )

;Italy

Teste di Gomma ( Telemontecarlo )

Gommapiuma ( Canale 5 )

Gli Sgommati ( Sky Uno )

; Japan

Spitting Image Japan ( Fuji Television ) - aired in the program Raster Tunnels 94 in 1994 and followed the same format as Spitting Image but satirised Japanese politicians instead.

;Malta

Teletubi ( One TV (Malta)|One TV ) A puopet show that poked fun at local politicians and celebrities. Was banned but the puppets still make the odd appearance on TV.

;Mexico

Hechos de Peluche ( TV Azteca )

;New Zealand

Public Eye - aired in the 1980s and followed the same format as Spitting Image but satirised NZ politicians instead. Facelift (tv show)

;Poland

Polskie ZOO ( Telewizja Polska )

;Portugal

Contra Informação ( Rádio e Televisão de Portugal )

; Romania

Animat Planet ( Antena 1 (Romania)|Antena 1 )

;Russia

Kukly

; Serbia

Nikad izvini ( RTV Pink )

Parobrod ( Radio Television of Serbia|RTS )

;South Africa

Za News (; rejected by SABC

;Spain

Las noticias del guiñol ( Canal Plus )

Txokolatex ( Euskal Telebista )

;Sweden

Riksorganet aired on Sveriges Television|SVT in 1998 right before Swedish general election, 1998|the general election the same year . The show mocked the party leaders along with people working in the media. The voices were provided by Sissela Kyle , Claes Ljungmark , Anders Mårtensson , Johan Wahlström and Katarina Ewerlöf .

;Switzerland

Les Bouffons de la Confédération ( Léman Bleu ) & ( La Télé )

In the United States

Introduced by David Frost , it departed from the sketch-based format in favour of an overall storyline involving the upcoming (at that time) Presidential election. The plot involved a conspiracy to replace Ronald Reagan with a double (actually actor Dustin Hoffman in disguise). This plan was hatched by the Famous Corporation, a cabal of the ultra-rich headed by Johnny Carson 's foil Ed McMahon (in the show, Carson was his ineffectual left-hand man) who met in a secret cavern hollowed out behind the façade of Mount Rushmore. Eventually, their plot foiled, the famous corporation activated their escape pod - Abraham Lincoln's nose - and left Earth for another planet, but (in a homage to the beginning of the Star Wars movies) were destroyed during a collision with 'a nonsensical prologue in gigantic lettering'.

The show was not very successful with its target audience, possibly because its humour was still very British and it was so irreverent about Ronald Reagan at a time when he was enormously popular with the American public. It did, however, receive great praise from critics and it was followed by several more television specials: The Ronnie & Nancy Show (also satirising the Reagans), The 1987 Movie Awards (sending up the Academy Awards ), Bumbledown: The Life and Times of Ronald Reagan (a quasi-documentary about the President), and The Sound of Maggie (a musical based very loosely on West Side Story (musical)|West Side Story ).

The Canadian puppeteers Sid and Marty Krofft later had a degree of success with a vaguely satirical show called D.C. Follies which ran from 1987 to 1989, was clearly inspired by Spitting Image , but was far less acerbic in its humour.

While less prone to political themes and using stop-motion animation rather than puppets, the present (as of 2012) Adult Swim program " Robot Chicken " bears some resemblances in format.

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