Spitting Image stages revival – and one politician who makes the cut is the ‘surprise hit of the show’
Jacob Rees-Mogg reimagined as a praying mantis, Priti Patel transformed into a bat and four Vladimir Putins – not many live shows can boast such a cast.
But Spitting Image Live: Idiots Assemble has a unique advantage – the lead cast are all puppets.
The world premiere of the stage show
Comedians Al Murray and Matt Forde, the show’s co-writers, tell Sky News: “Suella Braverman is the surprise hit of the show… That puppet is disturbing in a very entertaining way.”
But showbiz is a fickle game, and while Vladimir Putin‘s current role in world politics means he has four puppets “to make what we’re doing with him work”, Kwasi Kwarteng (short-lived chancellor) and Nadhim Zahawi (ex-Conservative Party chairman) didn’t make the cut. Good calls, it turns out in political hindsight.
Murray explains: “You’ve got to be really sure who’s, for instance, the prime minister or the Chancellor of the Exchequer before you can commit to having them in the show because it costs thousands of pounds to have them caricatured and cast in latex.”
Described as “a show simultaneously inspired and appalled by real events”, Murray says they are currently on “version 3.5” of the script.
So, how do you create a topical rolling review, but avoid rewriting it every time there’s a cabinet reshuffle? And let’s face it, with three PMs and four chancellors last year alone, UK politics has been something of a revolving door of late.
Calling the production “an oil tanker” – as well as numerous puppets the show has 12 puppeteers (all of whom appear on stage during the show) and 12 voice artists, and tech-wise there are lighting and video AV setups as well as song and voice tracks – Murray acknowledges, “what you can’t be doing is rewriting a sketch about the budget”.
He goes on: “We’ve ended up developing a show that is essentially shockproof… We’ve got a role for the prime minister in the story. So, we’d swap him out rather than have to rewrite the entire thing [if he changed]. Had England won the World Cup, that would have affected what we’d written as well.”
(R-L) Co-writers Matt Forde, Al Murray and Sean Foley
Fellow comedian and co-writer Matt Forde chips in: “Yeah, there would have been one extra joke.”
The show can basically be switched around and updated as current affairs dictate, but without completely upending the storyline, or cast of key characters.
And there’s not just politics and football to worry about, there’s also the ever-changing fads of the world of showbiz. Celebrities who have the honour of making the cut include Taylor Swift, Stormzy and Tom Cruise. As for royalty, King Charles, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle also make it in.
Not just lumps of plastic, it’s like the stars are really there Forde explains: “The puppets are so good, even though they are grotesque recreations of these people, they look and feel alive. And there is a part of your brain that genuinely believes King Charles, Stormzy and Greta Thunberg are all on stage together and chatting to each other. It does some sort of weird trick to your brain where you actually think you’ve seen those people together, it’s brilliant.”
First filmed for TV at Central Independent Television (now ITV Central) in Birmingham 40 years ago, Spitting Image held politicians, the Royal Family and celebrities to account with its biting cultural and political satire over 18 series from 1984 to 1996.
Watched by more than 15 million viewers at its height, the multi award-winning show had no shortage of inspiration for colourful content, with Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan and The Queen among those recreated in puppet form and lampooned for our viewing pleasure.
The original TV show ran for 18 seasons from 1984 to 1996
Comedy veterans including Harry Enfield, Steve Coogan, Paul Whitehouse and Alistair McGowan all worked on the programme, as did Red Dwarf creators Rob Grant and Doug Naylor.
The show’s creators Peter Fluck and Roger Law (both now part of the live show creative team) were originally political cartoonists, adapting their trade for TV.
Now, Murray says taking the show to the stage is just another level of the adaptation: “It’s not a comic doing an impression. It’s not an actor who doesn’t look like the King. You know, it’s a puppet. That’s a direct caricature of him.”
He says Forde’s Trump impression is “like having him there in front of you”.
So, what’s the trick to nailing the voice of a character?
Donald Trump Spitting Image puppet. Pic: Avalon/BritBox/Mark Harrison
Forde explains: “You need to hit upon a theme first, like some form of audio hook – like a sort of noise they would make, almost like a non-word noise. And then I think it’s about saying things that they could conceivably say. So, you sort of understand their vocal mannerisms… Keir Starmer has that slight blockage noise… With Trump you can just do these mad, rambling speeches.
“There’s a way of effectively capturing their essence through noise and the sorts of words they would say, and then it’s like a magic trick.”
Do they think any of the world leaders, celebrities or royalty lampooned in the show will object? Murray thinks not: “It would be daft to complain about this – it’s a Punch and Judy show.”
To prove the point, they’ve invited everyone featured in the show to come and see it, at least all those who are alive.
Click to subscribe to Backstage wherever you get your podcasts
With a tongue-in-cheek trigger warning on the show due to its “really naughty jokes”, Murray knows they are able to get away with more on stage with puppets than they would via conventional comedy.
“We have gone through a slightly sort of censorious vibe in the last few years,” he explains. “But now we’re not on television and we’ve not got to get this past BBC compliance or be worried about what the Daily Mail might say and all those factors that impinge on the kind of satire and comedy we get at the moment.”
With the evident success of the Spitting Image TV show, and more antics to dissect in politics and current affairs than ever before, why isn’t it still on our screens? Murray (who wrote for the two-series reboot in 2000) says it’s simply a case of cost, coming back again to the expense of the puppets at its heart.
“Spitting Image is an expensive show to write, shoot, produce, put on, and that is, to be honest, the beginning of the end of it.”
But he says TV’s loss is theatre’s gain: “When it came to TV in the first place in the 80s, it moved caricature on television and sort of rebadged caricature. And I think we’re doing that again by bringing it on stage. So, in a weird way, it feels like a better refresh than just doing it on the telly again.”
Idiots Assemble – Spitting Image Saves The World: Live on Stage is at the Birmingham Rep until Saturday 11 March.
Entertainment
New Universal theme park set to open in UK – with promise of ‘billions’ of pounds for the economy
A deal for a new Universal theme park in Bedfordshire has been confirmed, which Rachel Reeves says will bring “billions” to the economy and create thousands of jobs.
It will be the first Universal-branded theme park and resort in Europe and is set to open in 2031, when it is expected to become the UK’s most popular visitor attraction.
The government said it will bring an estimated £50bn into the British economy and will create about 28,000 jobs – nearly 20,000 during the construction phase, and 8,000 more in hospitality and the creative industries when it opens.
A 500-room hotel and a retail and entertainment complex is planned alongside the theme park, which will be built on a former brickworks.
Universal, which is owned by Sky News’ US parent company Comcast, expects the 476-acre site just south of Bedford to generate nearly £50bn for the economy by 2055, with 8.5m visitors in its first year.
The plan remains subject to a formal planning decision process from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Universal has committed to working with local colleges and universities to train students for hospitality jobs.
There are Universal theme parks in Florida (pictured), California, Japan, Beijing and Singapore. Pic: AP
Among some of the famous Universal films are Wicked, Minions, Oppenheimer, Bridget Jones, Fast and the Furious, and Jurassic World.
There are five Universal theme parks already: Orlando in Florida, Hollywood, Japan, Beijing, and Singapore.
The new Universal theme park will be just south of Bedford
Speaking to Wilfred Frost on Sky News Breakfast, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said the deal was “huge”.
“This is not just about numbers on the spreadsheet,” she said.
“This is about good jobs. It’s about growth. It’s about raising people’s living standards and putting money in people’s pockets. And it’s a massive vote of confidence in the United Kingdom.”
Welcoming the timing of the announcement, Ms Nandy added: “This deal comes off the back of one of the most tumultuous few weeks in global markets that I think anyone can remember within living memory.”
She said the fact that the government had been able to show it kept a “cool head” and “we don’t take knee-jerk decisions in response to global events” was one of the reasons it was able to announce the deal.
Read more:
Trump tariffs could disrupt medicine supplies to UK
Is it time to change tactics with Trump?
The proposals to transform the site, a former brickworks, remain subject to a formal planning decision process
The government has said about 80% of employees at the theme park are expected to come from local areas, and it will support the “Oxford-Cambridge corridor” revived by the chancellor in January after the Conservatives scrapped plans for an Abingdon-Milton Keynes train link in 2021.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Chancellor responds to tariffs: ‘We’ve got your backs’
It will also commit to a “major investment” in infrastructure around the Universal site to ensure it is well-connected and easily accessible.
The announcement comes days after the government approved an expansion of nearby Luton Airport.
Mike Cavanagh, President of Comcast Corporation, said: “We could not be more excited to take this very important step in our plan to create and deliver an incredible Universal theme park and resort in the heart of the United Kingdom, which complements our growing US-based parks business by expanding our global footprint to Europe.
“We appreciate the leadership and support of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Minister for Investment Poppy Gustafsson, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy and their teams, as we work together to create and deliver a fantastic new landmark destination.”
Entertainment
BAFTA Games Awards: Astro Bot tops leaderboard – with psychological horror close behind
Astro Bot was the big winner at this year’s BAFTA Games Awards, taking home five prizes, including the coveted best game.
The 3D platformer, which was launched to critical acclaim in September to mark PlayStation’s 30th anniversary, was nominated for eight gongs, while Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, led with 11 nods.
But in the end, the critics – some of whom had dubbed Astro Bot a “perfect game” – were right as it dominated the awards at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, hosted by comedian Phil Wang for the second year running.
Astro Bot. Pic: Team Asobi
Nicolas Doucet with his five awards for Astro Bot. Pic: PA
BAFTAs for audio achievement, game design, animation, and best family game completed the set for developers Team Asobi, who designed multiple galaxies and dozens of levels for the titular Astro to journey through, retrieving spaceship parts and rescuing lost robots.
“We’re a team based in Japan, but we have over 12 nationalities. We really mix it up and get ideas from everyone,” Nicolas Doucet, president of Team Asobi, told Sky News.
“We do a lot of jokes in the game, but the joke has a different meaning depending on where you are in the world. So it’s really, really nice to go around and ask everyone ‘is that joke fine in your country?’ And then together we come to a kind of universal playfulness.”
Among the gongs for Astro Bot was the best game award. Pic: BAFTA
It’s a very different atmosphere than that generated by British psychological horror Still Wakes The Deep, which won three awards for best new intellectual property and best supporting and leading roles.
Compared to John Carpenter’s 1980 sci-fi horror The Thing but on a Scottish oil rig, the game sees players take on the role of an electrician trapped on a damaged facility while being pursued by monsters.
Still Wakes The Deep. Pic: Sumo Digital Limited
Developer The Chinese Room has been praised for using home-grown talent to voice the characters, including comedian and actress Karen Dunbar, who picked up best performer in a supporting role for voicing Finlay.
“I’ve been nominated for quite a few BAFTAs in my time in Scotland, and I’ve never won one,” said Dunbar.
“It was such a great category, so many great performances. When they shouted my name, I think I started clapping for someone else!”
Read more: See full list of winners
Still Wakes The Deep star Karen Dunbar won best performer in a supporting role. Pic: BAFTA
Meanwhile, best multiplayer game went to Helldivers II – a satirical, sci-fi shooter that sees players fight bugs, aliens and robots with the gumption and gullibility of the characters in Paul Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers.
It has gained a cult following since launching in February 2024 with so much initial interest it created server problems.
“Games for me are about connecting people and forging those bonds of friendship and the multiplayer award is exactly what it stands for,” said Johan Pilestedt, chief executive of Arrowhead Game Studios.
Helldivers II. Pic: Arrowhead/Sony
From outer space to a fictional Yorkshire town called Barnsworth. Thank Goodness You’re Here! – a cartoonish, comedy platformer – won Best British Game. Like Still Wakes The Deep, it has won praise for the authenticity of its actors and setting.
“I think it’s been a real privilege to be able to represent Barnsley on the silver screen,” said Will Todd, who is from the town and one of two game designers behind the project.
Thank Goodness You’re Here! Pic: Coal Supper/Panic Inc
Co-creator James Carbutt added: “Me and Will wrote everything in our tone of voice, quite literally. The further along development we got, the more we lent into it. I think the voices from different parts of the UK and different voices in gaming are super important, and hopefully we’re one of them.”
By the time the BAFTAs wrapped up, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II was only handed one of the 11 BAFTAs it was nominated for, technical achievement.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II. Pic: Ninja Theory
But developers Ninja Theory are already adding this year’s win to a tally of five BAFTAs they were awarded for the first game in the series, which created a protagonist with psychosis by drawing on clinical neuroscience and the experiences of people living with the condition.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway