Trump and Johnson face rubber ridicule as UK's 'Spitting Image' returns

By Paul Sandle

 

FILE PHOTO: An undated picture shows a puppet of U.S. President Donald Trump as part of the British satirical puppet show called "Spitting Image" in an unknown location. Mark Harrison/ITV/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

 

LONDON (Reuters) - "Spitting Image", the defining British satirical show of the 1980s, roars back on screens on Saturday to lampoon a new generation of politicians, royals and celebrities in puppet form, led by Donald Trump, Boris Johnson and Prince Harry.

 

Co-creator Roger Law has returned to head the creative team, while writers led by Jeff Westbrook, known for "The Simpsons", tweak sketches until shortly before release.

 

The first show was rewritten at the last minute to include puppet versions of Trump and his wife Melania in COVID-19 quarantine.

 

The often vicious original, which ran from 1984 to 1996, depicted Queen Elizabeth as a middle-aged housewife and former prime minister Margaret Thatcher as a tyrannical boss calling her cabinet "the vegetables".

 

Once drawing 15 million viewers, many of its victims became indelibly associated with their caricatures in the minds of the public - notably Thatcher's successor John Major, whose puppet was entirely grey.

 

In the reboot, U.S. President Trump sends tweets from an unmentionable part of his body, British Prime Minister Johnson bumbles around and climate activist Greta Thunberg presents the weather, angrily proclaiming it to be "hot" everywhere.

 

Law said the original ended because it was no longer funny, as the political beasts of the 1980s were replaced by smoother leaders in the 1990s. But the pendulum had swung back, he said.

 

"It's not dissimilar what's going on now, the divisions over Brexit, to when Thatcher was around," he said on Friday. "It was divisive, there were riots in the street."

 

Johnson said he was not averse to his rubber double, adopting the same tack as previous politicians who claimed to like their puppets.

 

"I saw a big poster and I have to say I thought he looked considerably better than me," he told ITV News.

 

"But I think they've been too kind, they need to go back to the drawing board and have another go. It's far too flattering in my general view."

 

The new series airs on BritBox, a streaming service created by broadcasters the BBC and ITV.

 

(Reporting by Paul Sandle, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-10-03

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

- Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

It won't be that far removed from the reality we see everyday in terms of the ridicule they receive.

The one of Greta is brilliant.

they don't need a rubber puppet for that

Next time we should vote for the puppets.

How could it be worse?

I hope this will not be the woke version like pretty much every single reboot or remake has been lately. The original was good.

Love to see the Thai edition with uncle and old timex featuring Big Oud with a vinyl board and pointing stick next????  

only on britbox and you have to pay.. pundits says the scripts are not up to much ,more a left wing mouthpiece with hidden agenda

2 minutes ago, sammieuk1 said:

Love to see the Thai edition with uncle and old timex featuring Big Oud with a vinyl board and pointing stick next????  

Libel lawyers would be salivating if it came to Thailand. Creators would be in CCP gulag in 0.00001s flat. 

We had a similar TV show in Australia, called Rubbery Figures. Its radio counterpart went by the name " How Green Was My Cactus". Paul Keating was Pallbearer, and John Howard would tell his interlocutors to nicky woop.

This clip from the same era, by the late John Clarke and Bryan Dawe, is IMO an absolute gem of political satire.

 

 

 

 

19 hours ago, rooster59 said:

lampoon a new generation of politicians, royals and celebrities in puppet form, led by Donald Trump

Hahaha .. love the bit where his syrup of fig flies off .. and accordingly his will be the biggest , best puppet no doubt .. 

Here’s the 1st of the new series ( thanks YouTube ). 
 

 

Those of us who remember the original series ( Maggie Thatcher, Arthur Scargill and Roger Moore etc ) might be a bit disappointed that it feels just like the same old jokes with different characters.

 

I mean, haven’t jokes about Donald and Boris’s hair been done to death ??

 

Might appeal to teenagers me thinks !

FYI - Britbox is "geo-blocked" which I class as inherently evil, I am British and it is my God-given right to watch British TV material.... anyway my poxy VPN (Vypr) can't get passed it, tried with three different browsers. Probably looking at some Windows location setting which I am not going to fiddle about with just so I can watch some not too inspiring stuff.

 

BUT a helpful hint on another ex-pat forum - last nights episode is on Dailymotion already! Enjoy....