Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
    • Television
      • TV by Decade
        • TV – 1950s
        • TV – 1960s
        • TV – 1970s
        • TV – 1980s
        • TV – 1990s
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Kids TV
      • Variety
      • News & Sport
      • Advertisements
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • Music – 1950s
        • Music – 1960s
        • Music – 1970s
        • Music – 1980s
        • Music – 1990s
      • Artists – A to K
        • Artists – A
        • Artists – B
        • Artists – C
        • Artists – D
        • Artists – E
        • Artists – F
        • Artists – G
        • Artists – H
        • Artists – I
        • Artists – J
        • Artists – K
      • Artists – L to Z
        • Artists – L
        • Artists – M
        • Artists – N
        • Artists – O
        • Artists – P
        • Artists – Q
        • Artists – R
        • Artists – S
        • Artists – T
        • Artists – U
        • Artists – V
        • Artists – W
        • Artists – X
        • Artists – Y
        • Artists – Z
      • Artists – 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Playlists
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • Movies – 1950s
        • Movies – 1960s
        • Movies – 1970s
        • Movies – 1980s
        • Movies – 1990s
      • Movies – 0 to 9
      • Movies – A to K
        • Movies – A
        • Movies – B
        • Movies – C
        • Movies – D
        • Movies – E
        • Movies – F
        • Movies – G
        • Movies – H
        • Movies – I
        • Movies – J
        • Movies – K
      • Movies – L to Z
        • Movies – L
        • Movies – M
        • Movies – N
        • Movies – O
        • Movies – P
        • Movies – Q
        • Movies – R
        • Movies – S
        • Movies – T
        • Movies – U
        • Movies – V
        • Movies – W
        • Movies – X
        • Movies – Y
        • Movies – Z
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Television»Comedy
    Comedy TV Shows - 1980s TV Shows - 1990s 3 Mins Read

    Spitting Image

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    1 9 8 4 – 1 9 9 6 (UK)
    137 x 30 minute episodes
    4 x 45 minute episodes
    9 x specials

    An amazing adult satire series in which puppets with latex rubber likenesses of famous people (politicians, celebrities and especially the royal family) were mercilessly ridiculed.

    Very few prominent personalities of the day escaped unscathed, although there were a number of firm favourites – notably Ronald and Nancy Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. The show even had a number one hit record with the deliberately inane Chicken Song.

    Produced in a former banana warehouse in London’s Docklands, Spitting Image made every other satirical show look sissy and every comedy since The Goon Show seem well-behaved.

    At first, the IBA asked for cuts such as the deletion of a “bugger” and a scene of a Harold Macmillan puppet spilling soup on himself. Conservative MPs fumed at the mocking of the royal family – the Queen Mum as a Brummie horse-racing fanatic, Princess Michael with a Hitler moustache or Prince Philip swigging Ouzo – because they ‘couldn’t answer back’ and looked so ugly.

    spittingimage

    Mary Whitehouse was disgusted that when Princess Margaret was in hospital Spitting Image had her dancing and brandishing a gin bottle. But no one complained at the sight of Colonel Gaddafi announcing the International Terrorist of the Year Award (and being blown up when opening the envelope).

    Gradually the audiences grew (to around 11 million for the Sunday night shows) and protesters petered out, worn down by the cheek of modellers Peter Fluck and Roger Law, producer John Lloyd (who started Not The Nine O Clock News with Sean Hardie), the daring and topicality of the gaggle of writers mostly from the John Cleese, Peter Cook and Private Eye schools, and the skill of actors including Steve Nallon who provided Mrs Thatcher’s booming butch voice, Chris Barrie, Enn Reitel, Kate Robbins and Jessica Martin.

    spittingimage_003

    Costs of making the half-hour show were dramatic. By 1988 the £10,000-a-minute show’s life-sized puppets were costing £2,000 a time to make. Economies were essential. Sue Lawley was a head with Cilla Black‘s bust; Kenneth Kendall was Magnus Magnusson in a mask; the newly deceased medium Doris Stokes proved there is life after death – she came back regularly as someone’s granny.

    Three US versions of Spitting Image were made by NBC. Two were about Ronald Reagan while the last took a swipe at Hollywood.

    Chris Barrie
    Rory Bremner
    Steve Coogan
    Hugh Dennis
    Harry Enfield
    Alister McGowan
    Steve Nallon
    Jan Ravens
    Enn Reitel
    Kate Robbins
    John Sessions
    Jessica Martin

    Related Posts

    • Helping Henry
      Helping Henry
      1 9 8 8 (UK) 13 x 15 minute episodes An alien named N-3 (voiced by Jeremy Hardy) arrived from the…
    • Adventures of Aggie, The
      Adventures of Aggie, The
      1 9 5 6 - 1 9 5 7 (UK) 26 x 30 minute episodes This early British-made sitcom starred…
    • 100%
      100%
      1 9 9 7 - 2 0 0 1 (UK) 1,030 x 30 minute episodes This cheap and cheerful computer-generated…
    • OTT
      OTT
      1 9 8 2 (UK) 12 x 60 minute episodes Chris Tarrant quit Tiswas in 1981 - taking Bob Carolgees, Lenny Henry and John Gorman with…
    • Howerd Crowd, The
      Howerd Crowd, The
      1 9 5 2  (UK) 3 x 60 minute episodes 1 9 5 5 (UK) 2 x 60 minute episodes 1 9 5…
    • Stars In Their Eyes
      Stars In Their Eyes
      1 9 9 0 - 2 0 1 5 (UK) Granada Television took a Dutch programme called The Soundmixshow -…
    • Dizzy Heights
      Dizzy Heights
      1 9 9 0 - 1 9 9 3 (UK) 27 x 30 minute episodes A sort of Fawlty Towers…
    • Grumbleweeds Radio Show, The/Grumbleweeds Show, The
      Grumbleweeds Radio Show, The/Grumbleweeds Show, The
      1 9 8 4 - 1 9 8 5 (UK) 15 x 30 minute episodes, 1 x special 1 9…

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleNight Watch (1973)
    Next Article Blankety Blank

    Comments are closed.

    Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    You May Also Like
    • High Tide
      1 9 9 4 – 1 9 9 7 (USA) 74 x 60 minute episodes Gordon […]
    • Silver Spoons
      1 9 8 2 – 1 9 8 7  (USA) 116 x 30 minute episodes Edward […]
    • Pardon My Genie
      1 9 7 2 – 1 9 7 3 (UK) 26 x 25 minute episodes Ellis Jones […]
    • Golden Disc, The (1958)
      Young pop composer Harry Blair (Canadian Lee Patterson) and […]
    • Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976)
      In the mould of American Graffiti, Next Stop, Greenwich Village […]
    • Sirens (1993)
      A repressed British couple, Anthony and Estella Campion, become […]
    Twitter Feed
    Please note


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Popular Tags
    1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1975 1976 Action Figures Amicus Arcade games Australia Beach movies Beatles Blaxploitation Board games Britpop Canada Crime Disney Doo-Wop Elvis Presley Girl groups Glam Goth Hammer Heavy Metal Irwin Allen Labels Merseybeat Mod revival Motown New Romantic New Wave NWOBHM Oi! One-hit wonders Power Pop Pub rock Punk Radio Scotland Ska Soul music Sport Surf music
    Search Nostalgia Central
    Copyright © 1998, 2022 Nostalgia Central
    • About Nostalgia Central
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.