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Transnational Television Caricature: The global spread of Spitting Image 1984 - 1994

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journal contribution
posted on 2025-01-30, 10:25 authored by Hannah AndrewsHannah Andrews

  

This article examines the transnational journeys of the popular puppet caricature sketch programme Spitting Image (1984-96) at a moment of change in the global television industry. Satirical programming, which tends to be rooted in a specific time and place, is not an obvious candidate for the global television trade. Nevertheless, Spitting Image travelled, both in the sense of direct export of the series and as a television format, franchised across the globe. The article explores the origins of the series at a transitional moment in UK broadcasting, as a rare case of an independent co-production within the ITV network in the early 1980s. It traces the difficulties faced by its producers when attempting to export the series to the US market, with content deemed too ‘parochial’ for the American audience. It examines the series as a (qualified) television ‘format’, via the cases of the official Italian remake Teste di gomma (1987-88) and the French Les Guignols de l’info (1988 – 2018), informally inspired by Spitting Image. Finally, it details a failed attempt to remake the show in Post-Soviet Russia, and the political problems encountered by the puppet satire Kukly (1994-2002). 

Funding

British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grants SRG21_210915

History

School affiliated with

  • Lincoln School of Creative Arts (Research Outputs)
  • College of Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities (Research Outputs)

Publication Title

Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television

Publisher

Taylor and Francis

ISSN

0143-9685

eISSN

1465-3451

Date Submitted

2023-11-16

Date Accepted

2024-12-23

Date of First Publication

2025-01-16

Date of Final Publication

2025-01-16

Funder

British Academy/Leverhulme Trust

Relevant SDGs

  • SDG 9 - Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Open Access Status

  • Open Access

Date Document First Uploaded

2025-01-06

Will your conference paper be published in proceedings?

  • N/A

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