Spitting Image is a British satirical television puppet show. It is a revival of the 1984 series of the same name created by Peter Fluck, Roger Law and Martin Lambie-Nairn. Similar to the original, the series features puppet caricatures of contemporary celebrities, such as Adele, James Corden, and Kanye West, as well as public figures, including former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, several Conservative cabinet members such as Michael Gove, Dominic Raab and Priti Patel, and US former President Donald Trump.

ITV had plans for a reboot in 2006, but these were scrapped after a dispute over the Ant & Dec puppets used to host Best Ever Spitting Image, which were created against Law's wishes.^[2] In September 2019, Law announced the show would be returning with a new series.^[3] It was confirmed in March 2020 that the show would return on BritBox.^[4] Featuring 100 new puppets, the series debuted on 3 October that year.^[5] It was renewed for a second series four days later.^[6] The second series premiered on 11 September 2021.^[7] The show was cancelled by ITV on 24 October 2022.^[8]

In April 2017, it was reported that US broadcaster HBO was set to revive the series in light of the presidency of Donald Trump. However, no immediate official confirmation or announcement was made.^[23] In September 2019, the show was confirmed to be returning to screens twenty-three years after it originally ended, with the unveiling of the puppets of Trump, Vladimir Putin, Mark Zuckerberg, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.^[24] Roger Law stated that the pilot for the new series had been filmed and that talks were in progress with US networks to take the show to a larger, global audience.^[3] According to Law, the revival is set to have a global appeal through a "uniquely British eye".^[4] Originally NBC was set to distribute the series stateside, however they backed out weeks before its initial broadcast. Executive producer Jon Thoday cited their "nervousness" with the series' content as the reason for their departure.^[25]

The writers for the revival include Jeff Westbrook, Al Murray, The Windsors creators Bert Tyler-Moore and George Jeffrie, Bill Odenkirk, David X. Cohen, Jason Hazeley, Keisha Zollar, Patric Verrone, Phil Wang, and Sophie Duker.^[26]

On 4 March 2020, the show was announced to be returning on the streaming service BritBox, as its first official commission.^[4] The show premiered on the service on 3 October 2020, featuring the voice talents of Billy West, Debra Stephenson, Debra Wilson, Guz Khan, Indira Varma, Jess Robinson, John DiMaggio, Lewis MacLeod, Lobo Chan, Matt Forde, and Phil LaMarr.

In an interview from July 2021, Law said that the second series would go massively over-budget like Boris Johnson's policies with full support from BritBox. He also said that the series would not be adding many new political figures, instead adding several footballers.^[27]

Following the death of Elizabeth II in September 2022, ITV made the decision to write off £9 million which had been spent on several remaining unaired episodes of Spitting Image; they could not be effectively edited to remove reference to Elizabeth, and it was felt highly unlikely that they would now ever be broadcast.^[28]

In October 2022, it was announced that the revived series had been cancelled.^[29]

The series received mixed reviews from critics. The decision to satirise Greta Thunberg garnered criticism as she was a minor at the time.^[32]

Mark Lawson of The Guardian wrote approvingly in his four-out-of-five star review that "[a]dmirers of the franchise will be relieved that the revival ... has lost none of its savagery or willingness to shock."^[33] Also writing for The Guardian, columnist Nesrine Malik described the new series as a "toothless performance" and the jokes "excruciatingly obvious".^[34]

In his three-out-of-five star review, Ralph Jones of NME lauded the series' ability to satirise timely events, "its topicality is admirable: there are several sketches here about events that occurred as little as 12 hours before the recording. This is impressive on the radio but when puppets are involved, it’s almost breathtaking."^[35]

The Economist was more mixed in their analysis, calling it "pretty tame" in light of the current political atmosphere and when compared to its 1984 predecessor, writing how "[i]n an era of cynicism and conspiracy theories, the radical act would be to make a show that celebrated public life."^[36] Ed Power of The Telegraph was negative in his one-out-of-five star review pertaining to the two-part US election special, calling it "toothless" in its satire.^[37]

On 16 September 2021, a German version of Spitting Image called "The Krauts' Edition", began to air on the TV channel Sky. The German version has new puppets, including Sebastian Kurz, Jan Böhmermann, Annalena Baerbock, Karl Lauterbach, Markus Lanz, Heidi Klum, Thomas Müller, Olaf Scholz, Barbara Schöneberger, Armin Laschet, and Adolf Hitler. Puppets used in the British version such as Angela Merkel, Jurgen Klopp, and COVID-19, also appear in this version.^[38][39]

A stage show titled Idiots Assemble: Spitting Image Saves The World opened at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre on 1 February 2023 and ran until 12 March. It was written by Al Murray, Matt Forde, and Sean Foley, and directed by Foley.^[40] New puppets made for the show included Suella Braverman, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Paddington Bear, and Nigel Farage.^[41] On 23 March 2023, it was announced that the musical would be open at the Phoenix Theatre, at London's West End, from 24 May 2023.^[42]