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[[File:spitting-image_185.jpg|frame|[[Take That|Just like the real thing.]]]]
'''''Spitting Image''''' was a British satirical puppet show which ran on [[ITV]] from 1984 to 1996. It was produced by Spitting Image Productions for Central. The series was nominated for 10 BAFTA Awards, [[Award Snub|winning only one]], for editing, in 1989.
It could possibly be one of the most influential shows in British television history. By virtue of using puppets they could get away with things that other shows could not.
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The show ultimately ended due to the fact that they couldn't afford the new puppets they would need for a change of government; that, and the relatively bland composition of the [[John Major]] government, which lacked the epic grandeur of the Thatcher years and - with the notable exception of Major himself - almost defied satire. Budgetary reasons make a revival too expensive.
The show has had several [[Spiritual Successor|Spiritual Successors]] such as the traditional animation ''2DTV'' and CGI ''Headcases'', but none have ever matched its popularity. The concept was brought overseas and foreign remakes have been made in [[Les Guignols
The show's team is also responsible for the famous video for "[[Land of Confusion]]" by [[Genesis (band)|Genesis]], which features puppets of noted personalities (and the three members of the band) similar to those featured on the show.
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* '''Thatcher's Cabinet at the Restaurant''': Mrs Thatcher's cabinet eat at a restaurant; she orders a raw steak, and when asked "What about the vegetables?" replies "They'll have the same as I'm having." (This line entered her legend, and people later thought she had really said it.)
** According to ''[[Private Eye]]'', one ''Cabinet minister'' not only thought he was ''there'' when she said it, but [[Cannot Tell a Joke|totally screwed up the punchline]] ("And the waitress asked 'what will the vegetables have?'")
* '''The President's Brain is Missing''': A series in which [[Ronald Reagan]]'s tiny brain makes a bid for freedom, at one point crawling into the dead Premier Chernenko's head and reanimating him to try and run the Soviet Union on American Republican lines. Half the jokes it coined were later lazily recycled by [[Spiritual Successor]] ''2DTV'' for [[George W. Bush]].
* '''John Major and the Peas''': Captured the public vision of [[John Major]] as dull and boring by literally giving him grey skin and having him indulge in inane conversations over peas with his wife Norma. It was also suggested that he had a crush on Virginia Bottomley, the writers proceeding to kick themselves for not choosing [[Reverse Funny Aneurysm|Edwina Currie]] instead.
* '''The Two Davids''': The Liberal-SDP Alliance was portrayed as an unequal partnership between the dominating SDP leader David Owen and the shy, literally smaller Liberal leader David Steel. Steel later blamed his depiction for ruining his career- Steel was taller!
** In fact, this was subverted in real life as most historical sources confirm Steel was the more influential of the two (he also maintained a longer career in the House).
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'''"von Willcox":''' "I know vat I mean." }}
* '''Home for Retired PMs''': All the living retired Prime Ministers (such as [[Edward Heath]], [[Harold Macmillan]] and [[Harold Wilson]]) live in a retirement home which they view as a prison camp and plot to escape from.
** With [[
* '''Paul Daniels''': "One Man and His Wig".
* '''Mary Whitehouse''': often seen in early episodes watching the show and simultaneously writing in to complain, overtly disgusted and yet secretly fascinated by it.
* '''The Royal Family''': Portrayed as a dysfunctional and yet somehow very relatable family:
** [[The Queen]]: seemed to be the most "normal" one of the bunch. Wore a rainmate and a tiara. Enjoys winding up Thatcher. Experiences occasional bouts of absentmindedness e.g forgetting to Troop the Colour or rifling through dustbins.
** Prince Philip: Prone to public gaffes. Perpetually in uniform and loves hunting. It appears that he and the Queen are quite [[Happily Married]] - he helps her to fake her own death and Troops the Colour for her in exchange for kebabs for breakfast.
** Prince Charles: Unpopular with the public and fond of New-Age. Seen talking to his vegetables at dinner.
** Prince Andrew: A womanizer, often seen winding up Charles.
** Princess Anne: Rarely seen - generally a bit down in the mouth. Likes her horses.
** Prince Edward: A wimpy student.
** The Queen Mother: A stereotypical drunken grandma with a Birmingham accent. Also fond of the horses, but more on the Ladbrokes side of things.
{{tropelist}}
* [[Bad Cop, Incompetent Cop]]: If you replace the words 'cop' with 'politician', you have the show's general portrayal of the Conservatives and Labour. To be exact, they portray the conservatives as evil money-hungry people with victorian values (and empathy), but point out that Labour was too incompetent to be worth voting for, so no-one did.
* [[Bilingual Bonus]]: You can hear President Mitterrand call Margaret a cow at one point. Plus the other puppet in the Ian Paisley ''Night Thoughts'' sketch is actually doing [[Shown Their Work|proper sign language]].
** In the Derek Jameson sketch about German television, Chris Barrie is speaking real German.
* [[Blackface]]: Parodied with the "The White & White Minstrel Show". [[Inverted Trope|Black people with whitefaces]] singing about Apartheid South Africa where "blackfaces don't belong with blacks".
* [[Bland-Name Product]]: [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Fauna]] Lo-cal Spread anyone?
** Reptiles Bland Blend Coffee, tastes more like [[Large Ham|Donald Sinden]] than ever before!
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* [[Gag Boobs]]: Claire Rayner.
* [[Glass-Shattering Sound]]: Thatcher's voice in one sketch. Then she got voice coaching... and ended up sounding like Hitler.
* [[Good Angel, Bad Angel]]: Neil Kinnock has Michael Foot as his angel and Jim Callaghan as his devil while he wrestles over whether or not to reappear on ''The Tube''. {{spoiler|He compromises by saying that he can't as he is rehearsing for ''[[Last of the Summer Wine]]'', which pleases them both.}}
* [[Henpecked Husband]]: Denis Thatcher.
* [[Homage]]: Several. The most famous one was probably their tribute to ''[[Cabaret]]'' with the Tory parties singing ''[[Those Wacky Nazis|Tomorrrow Belongs to Me]]''.
* [[Homoerotic Subtext]]: The Two Davids. Played for laughs.
* [[Insult Backfire]]: Norman Tebbit reportedly enjoyed his portrayal as a leather-clad bovver boy.
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* [[Lyrical Dissonance]]: "What a Wonderful World" becomes "We've Ruined the World."
** ''Spitting'' Image did this a lot, though, from a cheerful Paul McCartney-esque folk song about murdering estate agents (complete with violent, bloody non-slapstick visuals), the Four Horsemen singing about how "every silver lining has a cloud, and it won't be alright on the night" and General Pinochet singing a Chas-&-Dave style number about the joys of nuclear war. Probably freaked out a few kids.
* [[Multi National Shows]]: Three "Spitting Image" specials produced for the American Market and aired on NBC, one taking aim at the White House, one at Hollywood, and one at Ronnie Reagan in a parody of 50s sitcoms. Spitting Image has also inspired many international equivalents: Sid and Marty Kroff's ''[[D.C. Follies]]'', France's ''[[Les Guignols
* [[No Indoor Voice]]:
** HAROLD ANGRYPERSON
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* [[Stiff Upper Lip]]: Margaret on Cruise missiles being deployed in Britain:
{{quote|"How many times do we have to go through this? All it takes is the right attitude and you can withstand anything."}}
* [[Subverted Rhyme Every Occasion]]: All variations of the chorus for "I've Never Met a Nice South African"
* [["The Reason You Suck" Speech]]: "I've Never Met a Nice South African"
** And ''Every Bomb You Make''
* [[Throw It In]]: The only reason Geoffrey Howe missed out on the dancing in ''In the Mood'' was that the puppeteer got too tired since Howe was one of the heavier puppets and decided that he really needed to take a break.
* [[Trans
* [[Truck Driver's Gear Change]]: Parodied to death in "The Chicken Song."
* [[Unusual Euphemism]]: "Mr. Wobble Hides his Helmet".
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:British Series]]
[[Category:Sketch Comedy]]
[[Category:Puppet Shows]]
[[Category:
[[Category:TV Series]]
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