The satirical puppet sketch show, which ran from 1984-1996, used to top the TV viewing charts and was beloved for its absurdist caricatures of Britain’s leading figures, from Margaret Thatcher to John Major, even the Queen Mother.
Created by Al Murray and Matt Forde, the new Spitting Image revival, now available on YouTube, made headlines this week when it was revealed that StudioCanal, the French film and television production company behind the Paddington movies, and the Bond estate have filed a High Court complaint over copyright and design right concerns, following the depiction of the beloved bear.
Their radical reimagining of the sweet-natured bear sees Paddington as a foul-mouthed, crazy-eyed Pablo Escobar-esque parody, with a penchant for powder over marmalade sandwiches. He host’s the shows podcast 'The Rest is Bullsh*t', a parody of the Goalhanger ‘Rest is’ sphere, alongside an equally caricatured Prince Harry.
While his characterisation may be extreme, Forde and Murray insist it is only intended for purely comedic purposes.
View oEmbed on the source website"I mean, they’ve fallen into a bear trap of their own making," says Forde. "We’re getting tons more views as a result of the lawsuits publicity, so more people are watching this depiction of Paddington that they don’t want anyone to see."
"I mean taking the piss is a great British value, as is having a sense of humour about ourselves," says Murray. "But there obviously has been a drift towards people who want to shut other people’s jokes up – and it’s weird, it seems like an attack on comedy really."
But it’s the fact the call for legal action has come from fellow creatives that really surprises the pair.
"But they’re trying to do that to our absurdist, ridiculous Paddington and that leaves me scratching my head."
"It’s terrifying that pressure can come from all sorts of different places," says Forde. "I think the risk is that these kinds of authoritarian instincts exist on left and right.
"People need to be careful about thinking. 'Well, I never liked Jimmy Kimmel anyway, so I'm fine with it' because eventually, they will get round to you, and they will shut you up.
Their new YouTube show was born out of the success of their live theatre production – Idiots Assemble: Spitting Image The Musical created by Murray and Forde, alongside Sean Foley. It was during this run they realised the new medium of theatre, unlike TV, avoided outsider input in what content their show could cover.
"As stand-ups we’re used to that," agrees Forde, "You write it, you perform it and there is a purity in that. Once it filters through more layers, it becomes tamer, and I think in the modern era people want comedy like this to really pack a punch."
Their YouTube series is not the first revival of the iconic '80s show. Spitting Image was briefly resurrected in 2021, with both Murray and Forde working on the show as writers and voice actor respectively, parodying a new cast of political and pop culture figures, from Donald Trump to Greta Thunberg. It was cancelled by ITV after just two series.
"The danger sometimes with television is it becomes very bureaucratic and slow," says Forde. "The comedy can almost get legislated out of a sketch. I think this smaller team and nimbler production has allowed it to just hit harder."
The pair believe the media reaction highlights a clear appetite for cutting political satire and hope to bring the beloved classic to the smartphone generation.
It’s not just Paddington viewers can tune into watch; the show parodies a host of recognisable figures faces, from Taylor Swift to Vladamir Putin. But for Forde, with his spot-on impersonation, his favourite has to be Trump.
"Trump is so much fun," he says. "The puppet is phenomenal; it’s a grotesque recreation of him. When we’re writing and ad-libbing in the room, you’re inside the mind of this maniac and we have the tools to bring him to life in our own way."
View oEmbed on the source website"They're all fair game and it's just so much fun taking the p**s out of them," says Forde. "But for each one there must be that grain of truth to it. It must be silly and big and daft, but you need to hit upon something that people recognise in those characters.
"If the impression goes with the puppet," says Murray, "...it doesn't need to be laser point accurate because the puppets, after all, aren't. They've got the essence of the person... it's like, as Matt's saying, it's got to have the grain of truth in it. And then you dial it all up."
"We're seeing if it'll work and whether the audience will come to it," says Murray. "And we haven't got to wait for someone to say yes, you spend so much time in comedy coming up with things and having to wait for someone to say yes."
"So many of the things we've done even in the last two episodes have gone viral, so there is a huge appetite for this sort of comedy. You want it to always be around."
‘I think if you were to ask our Paddington..." teases Forde. "You know, he's an energetic guy, wants to work a lot..."
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