SPITTING IMAGE AXED BY ITV AFTER TWO SERIES

As reported by TV Zone in July, it has been confirmed that Spitting Image will not returning for a third run.

Earlier this year, it was confirmed that BritBox would stop commissioning original series, with most originals already production moving to ITVX - ITV's new streaming platform launching later this year.

BritBox confirmed to TV Zone in July the series will not be returning to the platform. Comedian Matt Forde has told the i Newspaper this month: "There is a huge public appetite for Spitting Image in this country. I just can’t believe it’s not on a mainstream channel at a time like this...

He continued: "It got crazy numbers when the specials were on ITV and the online figures were going through the roof. I thought it was madness not to have the whole series on mainstream ITV...

"They spent all that money bringing back this mega-brand only to hide it away on BritBox. It should have been on ITV, Channel 4, the BBC or Sky, where everyone could see it.”"

The series originally aired in 1984 on ITV, and was first cancelled in early 1996. It was then revived as an BritBox original in 2020. Two series have been produced for BritBox, as well as a few one-off specials which aired on ITV main channel.

In keeping with the 80s and 90s, scripts were written and new puppets made close to delivery to ensure each week’s episode was as topical as possible.

The most notable puppets from the latest series included Joe Biden, Boris Johnson, Prince Andrew, Vladimir Putin, Harry & Meghan, Beyoncé, Angela Merkel, Dwayne Johnson, Ed Sheeran, Jürgen Klopp, Elon Musk, Adele, Covid-19, James Corden, Emmanuel Macron, Mark Zuckerberg, Donald Trump, and Dominic Cummings

Previous episodes of Spitting Image are available to stream now on BritBox.