Spitting Image (lost episodes of British satirical puppet television show reboot; 2022)

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Spittingimagereboot1.jpg

Reboot Spitting Image logo.

Status: Lost

The reboot version of Spitting Image was broadcast on BritBox from 2020-2021. As with its 1984-1996 predecessor, it parodied current events through uncanny puppets representing famous British and international individuals, particularly that of Boris Johnson, Donald Trump and the Royal Family. Alas, the show was cancelled in October 2022. It was later announced in ITV's Annual Report and Accounts 2022 that several upcoming episodes would be left unaired following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Background

Based on news reports, it was a matter of if, not when, Spitting Image would return to television screens. Eight years following the show's original cancellation,[1] there were plans for ITV to commission a reboot.[2] Said reboot would presumably feature brand new puppets, as an online auction in 2000 resulted in the most prominent, including Margaret Thatcher and Prince William, being sold to new owners.[3] However, concerns arose regarding the high production costs required, as well as co-creator Roger Law's reluctance to participate.[4] The broadcast of Best Ever Spitting Image in 2006 finally curtailed the mid-2000s reboot plans, as Law objected to the presence of Ant and Dec puppets without his express permission.[5][1] Rumours, admittedly triggered by The Sun, suggested HBO were interested in making an American adaptation of the show in 2017, not long after the inauguration of Donald Trump.[1] However, following the construction of a Trump puppet, Law confirmed he was actually negotiating with NBC about a possible American spin-off show.[6] Deadline reported that Hulu, Netflix and Amazon were also keen to carry the reboot, which would feature storylines established by American writers.[7]

Eventually, a new pilot was filmed in 2019 featuring caricatures of Trump, Vladimir Putin, Prince Harry, Princess Meghan, Kanye West and Mark Zuckerberg.[8][9] As with his NBC negotiations two years prior, Law expressed interest in selling the concept to an American network.[9] Law also aimed to prioritise global events, which consequently would have witnessed lower-level British politics take a back seat.[8][9] Meanwhile, it was announced in March 2020 that the reboot would be broadcast in Britain for Autumn that year via the BBC/ITV streaming service BritBox.[10] The show was also set to be broadcast in America via NBC but these plans were shot down at the last minute when NBC was concerned over its content.[11] Consequently, Spitting Image episodes would instead be showcased on Facebook.[11] Jeff Westbrook, who had previous written for Futurama and The Simpsons, was selected as the reboot's showrunner.[8] The writing talent contained a mixture of British and American writers, including Al Murray, Unspun creator Matt Forde, and other Futurama and The Simpsons writers like Bill Odenkirk and David X. Cohen.[12]

Spitting Image made its BritBox debut on 3rd October 2020.[12] As with the original show, the reboot of Spitting Image concentrated on current affairs, ranging from Boris Johnson's time as Prime Minister to Trump's final year as US President before being replaced by Joe Biden.[13][14] It also satirised celebrity and sporting culture, such as English football's insistence on producing "role models";[15] Adele trying in vain to be recognised for anything other than her appearance;[16] and a mass exodus of celebrities from Twitter.[17] The reboot was a commercial success for BritBox; ITV press releases claimed the show attracted a record number of subscribers for the streaming service, as well as delivering a 4.4 million ITV rating for a satire on the 2020 US presidential election and over 200 million views for its YouTube channel.[18][19]

Despite this, the show received mixed critical reception. Mark Lawson of The Guardian gave it four stars out of five, deeming the show retained the savage nature of its predecessor.[20] But whereas other critics praised the quality of the puppets, they felt the scripts failed to meet the expected standards.[21][22][23] Jan Moir of the Daily Mail felt the show was let down because of humourless scripts.[21] Meanwhile, Nesrine Malik of The Guardian coined the reboot as an example of "toothless" modern British satire, with her and The Oxford Blue's Alison Hall having claimed it was "punching down" instead of following the original's successful takes on the elite.[22][23] But like the original, the reboot gained its fair share of controversy. This included accusations the depictions of Zuckerberg and Marcus Rashford were racist;[24][25] as well as whether Greta Thunberg should have been satirised since she was a child at the time.[26] This despite the fact Spitting Image had satirised youngsters since its unaired pilots.[27] To her credit, Thunberg remarked she actually liked her Spitting Image puppet, with others like Michael Gove also praising theirs.[28] One Trump segment was erroneously pulled from Facebook under the belief it spread false voting information.[29]

Scrapped Episodes

One of the show's most frequent targets was the Royal Family,[30] which began ever since the pilots were filmed.[27] As Professor Philip Murphy remarked, this was no surprise considering the original's frequent targeting of authority figures.[31] Among some of the more popular skits included Queen Elizabeth II attempting to "reshuffle" the Royal Family to increase their popularity,[32] to them being forced to live in a council block after financial troubles emerged.[33] The reboot showed no restraint in this regard. Particularly, the show again portrayed Prince Charles' desperate attempts to succeed his mother, including after she suffers a "Sherry overdose".[34] The Queen also goes on a date with Bill Gates, a reference to the pair suddenly becoming single after many years following Prince Philip's death and Gates' divorce from Melinda French.[35]

With the reboot's commercial success came a second series broadcast in Autumn 2021.[36] But as it appeared the show was gearing up for its third series, it was affected by a major world event. On 8th September 2022, it was announced that the Queen had passed away at the age of 96.[37] ITV later revealed in its Annual Report and Accounts 2022 that the company suffered an "exceptional" £16 million loss from the announcement, as its news coverage was altered significantly to report on her funeral.[38][39] However, it also announced that £9 million of these costs related to the scrapping of upcoming Spitting Image episodes, as they naturally contained Royal Family skits.[40][38] ITV reportedly had little choice in this matter; aside from the segments being clearly inappropriate during this period, removing them would cause irreparable editing issues that would make the episodes unairable.[38][40] The £9 million loss is also unsurprising considering how both the original and reboot versions of Spitting Image were often among the most expensive televisions productions.[41][42]

A month following the Queen's passing, it was announced Spitting Image had been cancelled once again.[42][19] Though the official reasons behind the cancellation were not given, it was believed the show's expensive nature was a contributing factor.[42] Chortle, in particular, noted this was an unexpected decision, considering how ITV was reporting on the show's commercial success a year prior.[19][18] Alas, it also appeared faith in the reboot was already lacking, as Forde expressed how it was "madness" the show was merely a BritBox exclusive rather than on a mainstream channel.[42] These comments all arose before ITV's Annual Report was released, the scrapping of upcoming episodes having likely contributed towards the show's cancellation.[38][40] Instead, Sptting Image was adapted for the West End in 2023, with Idiots Assemble: Spitting Image The Musical centred around King Charles III's Coronation.[43][44]

Availability

Ultimately, as ITV's Annual Report stated, the unaired episodes featuring Queen Elizabeth II segments are "highly unlikely" to ever be publicly released.[38][40] As of now, no footage nor images from the episodes are known to have ever leaked. Still, with the Spitting Image YouTube channel having remained somewhat active to promote the West End musical, there is still a slight possibility the non-Royal Family segments may be uploaded in the future.

Gallery

Videos

Some of the Royal Family segments from the original show.

Queen Elizabeth II conducts a reshuffling of the Royal Family.

Prince Charles attempts a Royal succession.

Queen Elizabeth II and Bill Gates go out on a date.

See Also

External Links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 British Comedy Guide reporting on rumours HBO were planning a reboot of Spitting Image. Retrieved 10th May '24
  2. ↑ BBC News reporting on plans for a Spitting Image reboot in the mid-2000s. Retrieved 10th May '24
  3. ↑ BBC News reporting on the online sale of Spitting Image puppets in 2000. Retrieved 10th May '24
  4. ↑ The Guardian reporting on a mid-2000s reboot being unlikely because of Law's reluctance and the high production costs. Retrieved 10th May '24
  5. ↑ Digital Spy reporting on a mid-2000s Spitting Image reboot being cancelled following the controversy of the Ant and Dec puppets. Retrieved 10th May '24
  6. ↑ BBC News reporting on Law negotiating with NBC concerning a US version of Spitting Image after he created a Trump puppet. Retrieved 10th May '24
  7. ↑ Deadline reporting on Hulu, Netflix and Amazon joining NBC in expressing interest on a Spitting Image reboot. Retrieved 10th May '24
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 The Guardian reporting on the return of Spitting Image following a filmed pilot. Retrieved 10th May '24
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 BBC News reporting on Spitting Images' return and the plan to have it televised on an American network. Retrieved 10th May '24
  10. ↑ BBC News reporting that the reboot would be broadcast on BritBox. Retrieved 10th May '24
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Deadline reporting on NBC dropping Spitting Image at the last minute, forcing episodes to instead be broadcast on Facebook. Retrieved 10th May '24
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Archived ITV Press Centre announcing Spitting Image would air on BritBox starting from 3rd October 2020. Retrieved 10th May '24
  13. ↑ Highlights of Boris Johnson on Spitting Image. Retrieved 10th May '24
  14. ↑ Highlights of Donald Trump on Spitting Image. Retrieved 10th May '24
  15. ↑ Highlights of football on Spitting Image. Retrieved 10th May '24
  16. ↑ Adele trying to convince people to talk about anything other than her weight loss. Retrieved 10th May '24
  17. ↑ Various celebrities leave Twitter. Retrieved 10th May '24
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 ITV Press Centre release concerning the reboot's success. Retrieved 10th May '24
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 Chortle reporting on the surprising cancellation of the reboot when considering its commercial success. Retrieved 10th May '24
  20. ↑ Mark Lawson's review of the reboot for The Guardian. Retrieved 10th May '24
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Jan Moir review of the reboot for Daily Mail. Retrieved 10th May '24
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Nesrine Malik's comments on Spitting Image for The Guardian. Retrieved 10th May '24
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Alison Hall review of Spitting Image for The Oxford Blue. Retrieved 10th May '24
  24. ↑ Campaign Against Antisemitism reporting on accusations the Mark Zuckerberg puppet was racist. Retrieved 10th May '24
  25. ↑ The London Economic reporting on accusations the Marcus Rashford puppet was racist. Retrieved 10th May '24
  26. ↑ Independent reporting on the controversy surrounding Greta Thunberg's portrayal. Retrieved 10th May '24
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Cambridge Independent reporting on the original pilots, which featured the Royal Family. Retrieved 10th May '24
  28. ↑ The Telegraph previewing the reboot and some individuals' reactions to their puppets. Retrieved 10th May '24
  29. ↑ Chortle reporting on a Trump segment being removed from Facebook for supposedly spreading false information. Retrieved 10th May '24
  30. ↑ The Conversation noting Queen Elizabeth II was frequently parodied on Spitting Image. Retrieved 10th May '24
  31. ↑ BBC News where Professor Philip Murphy remarked on the portrayal of the Royal Family on Spitting Image. Retrieved 10th May '24
  32. ↑ Queen Elizabeth attempts to reshuffle the Royal Family. Retrieved 10th May '24
  33. ↑ Custard Pie Puppets summarising the Royal Family moving into a council block. Retrieved 10th May '24
  34. ↑ Prince Charles attempts to forcibly succeed his mother. Retrieved 10th May '24
  35. ↑ The date between Queen Elizabeth II and Gates. Retrieved 10th May '24
  36. ↑ Radio Times reporting on the reboot being renewed for a second series. Retrieved 10th May '24
  37. ↑ BBC News reporting on the death of the Queen. Retrieved 10th May '24
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 38.2 38.3 38.4 ITV Annual Reports and Accounts 2022 announcing it lost £16 million because of the extended Queen Elizabeth II death news coverage, as well as the scrapping of unaired Spitting Image episodes (p.g. 61, 189 and 196. Retrieved 10th May '24
  39. ↑ Metro reporting on ITV losing £16 million thanks to altered news coverage and scrapped Spitting Image episodes following the Queen's death. Retrieved 10th May '24
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 40.2 40.3 Independent reporting on the scrapping of unaired Spitting Image episodes following the Queen's passing. Retrieved 10th May '24
  41. ↑ Radio Times noting the original show often spent £300,000 per episode. Retrieved 10th May '24
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 42.2 42.3 British Comedy Guide reporting on the cancellation of the reboot, in part because of the high production costs. Retrieved 10th May '24
  43. ↑ The Guardian reporting on Idiots Assemble: Spitting Image The Musical. Retrieved 10th May '24
  44. ↑ Everything-Theatre summarising and reviewing Idiots Assemble: Spitting Image The Musical. Retrieved 10th May '24
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