Whatever Happened to Spitting Image?

Arena will bring together the founding creative team – the caricaturists, Roger Law and Peter Fluck and TV producer, John Lloyd to tell the vexed and frequently hilarious story of the genesis of the iconic satirical puppet show, Spitting Image. From its twisted journey to getting the first show on air, through 12 years of huge audiences and weekly controversy to its final demise, the documentary will ask what it got right and where it went wrong and did it leave a hole in the schedules that’s never been filled? 　　Waitress: And what about the Vegetables? Thatcher: Oh, they'll [The Cabinet] have the same as me!Spitting Image 　　The extraordinary technical achievement of the series will be explored through the massed ranks of caricaturists, mould makers, designers, puppeteers, impressionists, writers and directors who worked round the clock to ensure the show landed its weekly jibes and punches at the politicians, royals and celebrities of the day. 　　Spitting Image spanned from the early years of Mrs Margaret Thatcher to the end of John Major, with the puppets becoming almost as famous as the victims they lampooned. In 2000, the puppets were auctioned off at Sotheby’s and in the course of this programme we’ll be finding out where they now reside and who’s taking care of them in their old age. 　　Over the years, Arena has had a long standing relationship with Roger Law, Peter Fluck and Spitting Image. In 1980, Arena made an early film about the caricaturists when they were known as ‘Luck and Flaw’ (pre Spitting Image fame) and employed their puppets for several sketches for themed evenings on animals and food throughout the 80s and 90s.