Spitting Image (2020 TV series)

''Spitting Image'' is a British satirical television puppet show, based on 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 British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, several Conservative cabinet members such as Michael Gove, Dominic Raab and Priti Patel, and former US 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. In September 2019, Law announced the show would be returning with a new series. It was confirmed in March 2020 that the show would return on BritBox. Featuring 100 new puppets, the series debuted on 3 October that year. It was renewed for a second series four days later. The second series premiered on 11 September 2021. The show was cancelled by ITV on 24 October 2022.

Characters

Politicians

Many British politicians were parodied in the show. Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was most prominent, portrayed as a bumbling idiot often manipulated by Chief Advisor Dominic Cummings.

Alongside Johnson was his Cabinet, which included:

* Dominic Raab, a martial arts fanatic and unable to name countries on a globe despite being Foreign Secretary. Depicted as incompetent and frequently on holiday; this references real life, when Raab was abroad on holiday in Crete during the Fall of Kabul.
* Priti Patel, portrayed as a vampire. Bullied the rest of the cabinet and idolised Margaret Thatcher.
* Dominic Cummings, an alien from the planet '' Epsilon 5'' who was stranded in Durham. He is able to read and control people's minds and often manipulates Johnson to get his own way, once even attempting to devour his child.
* Rishi Sunak, a billionaire who is depicted as the most popular of the cabinet ministers. He referred to himself as "Dishy Rishi" and was extremely vain and arrogant, expressing interest in becoming Prime Minister.
* Michael Gove, depicted as disloyal to the prime minister and addicted to drugs, shown attempting to overthrow Johnson and Cummings on multiple occasions. He was often seen dancing, which referenced a video where Gove was filmed in a nightclub.
* Matt Hancock, a wimp who hid whenever confronted with an uncomfortable situation.
* Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and described by Patel as "a massive egghead".
* Liz Truss, Foreign Secretary.
The Opposition ( Labour Party) puppets included

* Keir Starmer, dull and uncharismatic, who took on the alter ego "Fox Man", a superhero who defended people with the Crime and Courts Act 2013.
* Jess Phillips, frustrated with Labour's unpopularity.

Royal Family

The main characters were:

* Elizabeth II: Portrayed as a maddened old lady who often used profane language and had a strong dislike of Canada. She was dismissive of her children, including Charles, and disapproved of Dominic Raab, describing him as "a complete waste of space."
* Charles III: As Prince of Wales he was portrayed as fed up with waiting to be king; so much so that when Elizabeth entered a coma he declared himself king.
* Camilla, Queen Consort: Charles's wife.
* William, Prince of Wales : Very charitable, politically correct and environmentally friendly; encouraged people to wash out their bean tins before putting them in the bin, spent money to protect the environment, not "wasting it on space rockets like Jeff Bezos or William Shatner", and convinced Elizabeth to write a letter to Leylah Fernandez, as "you're the queen of Canada too, grandmama."
* Catherine, Princess of Wales: Shown wearing elaborate and sometimes ridiculous outfits, such as a large hat fashioned from balloons (referencing Party Pieces) and a dress decorated with "feathers from a swan that was savaged by a corgi."
Other members who were parodied included the badly-educated Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, his wife and former actress Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Andrew, Duke of York, who was hit with a wooden plank every time he appeared on screen.

International politicians

US President Donald Trump was portrayed as a childish, gluttonous moron at odds with his constantly tired and exasperated vice president, Mike Pence. He was characterised as being unable to read, he tweeted from his bed with his sentient anus, and the colour of his complexion was credited to a coating of ketchup that covered his face. Trump was also depicted as being bald and his wig being a small animal that could crawl off his head and obey his commands. His wife, Melania Trump was shown as despising the role of First Lady and showed utter contempt and coldness towards her husband.

Joe Biden was portrayed as old, forgetful and unaware that he was president. He invoked the 25th Amendment to make Kamala Harris acting president whenever he went to the toilet, as "at my age that could take a while".

Nicola Sturgeon was depicted as an independence-obsessed Scottish nationalist. She appeared at the UEFA Champions League in Braveheart-style facepaint and assaulted the Boris Johnson puppet with a headbutt whilst shouting, " Glasgow kiss!" Her predecessor, Alex Salmond, was depicted as a Shrek lookalike.

Vladimir Putin was portrayed as a tiny megalomaniac sitting on a throne. He poisoned people for entertainment and displayed a clear disregard for human life. In one sketch, he tried to make the COVID-19 puppet Prime Minister of Russia, stating that "every five years, we switch jobs. But I am always in charge." In ''Spitting Image'', Russia was shown as a severely underdeveloped nation which was only beginning to grasp technology from the 1930s, including tape recorders and walkie-talkies being described by Putin as "all the best Russia has to offer".

Jacinda Ardern was overprotective of her country and implements a nationwide lockdown every time there was a single COVID-19 case reported in New Zealand.

Nancy Pelosi pandered to whatever minority group she met in a desperate bid to get votes as a result of being afflicted with "panderitis".

Jared Kushner was a lifeless mannequin