BritBox announces Spitting Image double episode US election special

• BOTH PARTS AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY ON BRITBOX FROM SATURDAY MORNING 31ST OCTOBER
• PART ONE WILL ALSO BROADCAST AS ONE OFF SPECIAL ON ITV ON SATURDAY EVENING AT 10PM

“so far its resurrection is pleasingly familiar to those who remember the original... they haven’t, despite early reports, held back on the viciousness... in general, a B-plus”

Euan Ferguson, The Observer

“TV GOLD: The Boris sat-nav sketch and Keir Starmer’s Shadow Cabinet/donkey sanctuary eeh-awing down the phone to him”

Ally Ross, The Sun

“lost none of its savagery or willingness to shock… there are, blessedly, nine more weeks of this to come.”

★★★★ Mark Lawson, The Guardian

“Throughout, the puppets and the impressions are pleasures in themselves… … this opening salvo suggests that Spitting Image still has some fire lurking in its belly.”

★★★★ Dominic Maxwell, The Times

London – 21st October – It was announced today that the uncompromising, fast-turnaround and uniquely British satirical take on global events, Spitting Image will have two specials to cover all the key moments and circus around the 2020 US Election. 

Landing exclusively on BritBox first thing on Saturday 31st October, viewers will have a one-off chance to watch the first, bonus episode of the special on ITV on the evening of Saturday 31st October. Both episodes will then be available to view only on BritBox.

With continued critical acclaim, Spitting Image has delivered record new subscribers for BritBox UK, the BBC and ITV created streaming platform.

As well as a hit on BritBox, global social media stats by episode two have seen Spitting Image official content reach over 85 million people, with over 20 million views of content across official social media channels and three No. 1 trending video’s on YouTube.

Reemah Sakaan, Group Director ITV SVOD and Chief Creative & Brand Officer BritBox said: “'We've been excited about the timing of the US election for this series of Spitting Image for months... and it certainly doesn't seem to be letting us down in terms of material for satire, so we commissioned a bonus episode that we are excited to share with both ITV and BritBox audiences.”

Kevin Lygo, BritBox Originals Creative Chief and ITV’s Director of TV added: “This is a great chance to celebrate Spitting Image’s noisy return after 18 years and give ITV viewers a taste of the full series, available on BritBox.”

Jon Thoday, Executive Producer at Avalon, said: “We are excited to mark the USA election with a double special with ITV and BritBox.”

Roger Law added: “Spitting Image returns to ITV for a one-off special on the 31st October at 10pm. Halloween. How very appropriate.”

Spitting Image co-creator Roger Law returned to head up the show’s creative team, while multi-award-winner Jeff Westbrook (The Simpsons, Futurama) is the Showrunner, leading the writing team.  Produced by Avalon (Taskmaster, The Russell Howard Hour, Catastrophe, Breeders, Jo Last Week Tonight With John Oliver) throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, over 100 puppets have already been developed by socially distanced teams of artists ready for launch, including: Adele, Angela Merkel, Baby Yoda, Barack Obama, Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, LeBron James, Boris Johnson, Boris Baby, The Johnson Dog, Brad Pitt, Camilla Duchess of Cornwall, Chrissy Teigen, Covid-19, Cristiano Ronaldo, Dominic Cummings, Dominic Raab, Donald Trump, Dwayne Johnson, Ed Sheeran, Elon Musk, Elton John, Emmanuel Macron, Greta Thunberg, Grimes, Gwyneth Paltrow, Harry Styles, Idris Elba, Ivanka Trump, Jacinda Ardern, James Corden, Jeff Bezos, Joe Biden, Jürgen Klopp, Kanye West, Keir Starmer, Kim Kardashian, Lewis Hamilton, Mark Zuckerberg, Matt Hancock, Meghan Duchess of Sussex, Melania Trump, Michael Gove, Michelle Obama, Narendra Modi, Oprah Winfrey, Piers Morgan, The Pope, Prince Andrew, Prince Charles, Prince Harry, Prince William, Priti Patel, The Queen, Richard Branson, Rishi Sunak, RuPaul, Taylor Swift, Tiger Woods, Tyson Fury, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, all falling under the show’s legendary gaze.

A next generation of satirical writers and voice artists are working with established talent to drive a new wave of ‘public service satire’.  Writers on the show include: Al Murray, Bert Tyler-Moore & George Jeffrie (The Windsors), Bill Odenkirk (The Simpsons), Brona C. Titley (The Tracey Ullman Show), David X. Cohen (The Simpsons), Gemma Arrowsmith (The Tracey Ullman Show), Jason Hazeley & Nico Tatarowicz (Charlie Brooker’s Screenwipe/Murder in Successville), Karl Minns (Russell Howard’s Good News), Keisha Zollar (Astronomy Club), Laura Major (Famalam), Matt Forde, Patric Verrone (The Simpsons), Phil Wang, Richard Herring, Sophie Duker (Frankie Boyle’s New World Order) and Travis Jay (Dave Chapelle and Friends) with many more joining the growing team.  Voice artists include: Billy West (Futurama), Debra Stephenson (The Impressions Show), Debra Wilson (Family Guy), Guz Khan (Man Like Mobeen), Indira Varma (Game of Thrones), Jess Robinson (The Imitation Game), John DiMaggio (Futurama), Lewis MacLeod (Dead Ringers), Lobo Chan (Killing Eve), Luke Kempner (The Imitation Game), Matt Forde (Unspun) and Phil LaMarr (Pulp Fiction), with many more joining as the puppet cast grows.  The show is ultra-topical with scripts being written and new puppets made as close to each episode as possible.

Spitting Image is directed by Andy de Emmony and Steve Connelly.  Executive Producers are Jeff Westbrook, Joanna Beresford, Jon Thoday, Richard Allen-Turner and Roger Law. BritBox Commissioning Executive is Nana Hughes.

Spitting Image is BritBox‘s debut original and available with a free trial to all new subscribers at www.BritBox.co.uk

Twitter @SpittingImage  Instagram @SpittingImages  Facebook @SpittingImage  YouTube SpittingImage  Website  www.SpittingImageTV.com

Twitter @BritBox_UK  Instagram @BritBox_UK  Facebook @BritBoxUK  YouTube BritBoxUK  Website www.BritBox.co.uk

What the press said about episodes one and two continued…

“congratulations on Spitting Image, we’ve just been watching it this morning, we could barely do the first half hour of the show, I mean seriously… thanks goodness it’s back… it’s as fresh as a daisy this one … it’s hilarious”

Chris Evans, Virgin Radio

“Latex lols… it can go to places other comedies can’t”

Jack Seale, Radio Times

“it’s very very funny”

Gaby Roslin, BBC Radio London

“I couldn’t agree more with the success it’s having over here"

Richard Arnold, ITV Good Morning Britain

“I watched some of this last night, with some trepidation having loved it in my youth, but I actually really enjoyed it and laughed more than I thought I would… I very much enjoyed the New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden as the practically perfect Mary Poppins”

Rachel Burden, BBC Radio 4

“it’s more vicious than ever”

Ralph Jones, NME

“The first thing to say about the revived Spitting Image is that it works. This will come as a relief to those, including your reviewer, for whom the original show was a vital part of the 1980s and 90s”

Robert Hutton, The Critic

“it certainly did not disappoint… it was cracking, I loved it, I highly recommend people watching it… absolutely brilliant”

Ayesha Hazarika, Times Radio

“the use of on-screen tweets an effective way of keeping things as last-minute as possible. If that kind of ingenuity, along with the signature grotesque caricatures its talented puppetry department keep producing, can be maintained, there’s a chance this update could be as effective – or at least as offensive – as it was several decades ago.”

Ivan Radford, VODzilla

“its targets are once again gleaned from far and wide across the social spectrum… having merciless fun poked straight into them…  the buffoonery and entitlement of Trump and Johnson ceaselessly demolished. And fair play to the producers who probably thought this opening episode was firmly in the can by Thursday night, only for a new Covid statistic to send the world into a tailspin by Friday morning. So, there was just time for a cheeky quarantine gag about Melania and her husband’s tweeting colon to be squeezed in.”

Brian Donaldson, The List

“The puppets are as brilliant as always”

Gerard Gilbert, The i

I really enjoyed it again this time around… I love the look of the puppets, I like the fact that there’s still a lot of savagery there, they’re pretty merciless”

Fiona Shepherd, The Scotsman (on BBC Radio Scotland)

“some of it was very funny”

Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke/Evening Standard

-ends-

For more information please contact:

Avalon

Dan Lloyd – DLloyd@avalonuk.com

Perrine Davari – PDavari@avalonuk.com

BritBox

Sylvia Brendel – sylvia.brendel@itv.com