The classic British comedy series reboot Spitting Image was released to BritBox on Saturday, according to Deadline. The 1984 satirical series featured rubber recreations of prominent people, including Ronald Raegan, Queen Elizabeth, and Margaret Thatcher. It initially ran for 18 seasons on ITV but the reboot was released to the BBC Studios streamer, BritBox, on Saturday.
This project has been in the works for years, with Deadline revealing in 2017 that platforms such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and NBC were interested in ordering the show. In order to make the current reboot happen, more than 100 puppets were developed by a team of artists making well-known figures, including former reality TV show host Donald Trump, former President of the United States Barack Obama, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson, singer Beyoncé, actor Brad Pitt (Fight Club, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), former Vice President of the United States Joe Biden, and TV host and actress Oprah Winfrey (The Oprah Winfrey Show).
The scripts for Spitting Image are said to be “ultra topical,” having had significant impact on politics and pop culture in the past. Comedian Matt Forde (Roast Battle), who voices Trump, said of his imitation, “You’re showing him for the populist he is, for the incompetent that he is, for the shallow idiot that he is. Spitting Image gives you so much freedom to punch every level of him. So, we have a way of doing satire on Spitting Image that no other show can really do,” via Variety.
After news of Donald Trump’s coronavirus diagnosis was revealed on Thursday night, a last minute episode of the reboot was rewritten. According to Deadline, the satirical reboot will launch on Facebook Premiere at 9pm for only 24 hours.