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.
While most politicians and pop culture figures of the time took their puppet parodies (fairly) on the chin, the new revival of the veteran comedy show has ruffled someone’s feathers… or should we say fur.
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.
“We’re baffled by that, to be honest,” says Murray. ‘If we were going to expect anything, it would be a hard stare from Paddington.”
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 hosts the shows podcast ‘The Rest is Bullsh*t’, a parody of the Goalhanger ‘Rest is’ sphere, alongside an equally caricatured Prince Harry.
“If you’re looking for [podcast] hosts, you need two national treasures. They were the first names on the team sheet,” says Forde.
While his characterisation may be extreme, Forde and Murray insist it is only intended for purely comedic purposes.
“It’s the oldest thing in comedy,” explains Murray. “We’re not saying we’ve done anything particularly original. [Paddington] is normally presented as this very ‘goody-two-shoes’ character and we’ve flipped him over. It’s a very Spitting Image thing to do – to take someone and say ‘Hey, maybe they’re the opposite.’”
“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.”
Is it potentially a case of miscommunication involving the ‘British sense of humour’?
“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.”
“In my experience, people find you funny taking the p**s out of things, until you take the p**s out of something they like. Then they don’t find you funny anymore.”
But it’s the fact the call for legal action has come from fellow creatives that really surprises the pair.
“I would imagine that the people at StudioCanal who’ve come to this are the sorts of people who not long ago were pretty outraged by Jimmy Kimmel being pulled off air,” explains Murray. “If they’re sensitive, creative people that’s probably how they felt about it.”
“But they’re trying to do that to our absurdist, ridiculous Paddington and that leaves me scratching my head.”
Whilst they may see a funny side in the call for legal action, (“We are literally talking about a fictional bear and a puppet show!” exclaims Murray at one point) the pair recognise that the dispute over their depiction of Paddington highlights a wider conversation on freedom of speech in our current political climate.
“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.
“They exist in governments; they exist in corporations. We’re living in an era where politicians can get you taken off the air and the consequences of that – and it’s not just comedy – will close people in all sorts of other industries down.
“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.
“Comedy is an easy first target because people don’t like being laughed at, but it’s not comedy that they have an issue with. It’s the freedom of speech.”
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.
“There was no one between us and the audience,” explains Murray, “That was what was brilliant about it.”
“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.
Hosting their show on YouTube has allowed for this greater freedom when creating the satirical sketches.
“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.”
And it seems the public would agree. The show’s viewing numbers on YouTube have hit nearly 12 million views and is reaching millions more across other streaming platforms.
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.
“There are different themes, different celebrities, that you want to be lampooning,” says Forde. “To be able to apply that in 2025 when you’ve got TikTok and X and Instagram and make something the younger generation really love – that’s a real thrill.”
It’s not just Paddington viewers can tune into watch; the show parodies a host of recognisable figures, 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.”
Parodying figures from all realms of the political spectrum, the pair maintain they never let their personal politics influence their character choices or depictions either.
“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.
“In a way, the politics falls away from it. These are characters you’re satirising. They just happen to be political ones.”
“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.”
The current run of Spitting Image will last for 12 episodes, but what about the show’s future?
“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.”
“I mean purely as a viewer, you think, why are these things so rare?” continues Forde. “It’s immensely frustrating that Spitting Image wasn’t around for so long.
“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.”
And what about our furry friend? It looks like he’ll be sticking around – he’s not heading back to Peru just yet.
‘I think if you were to ask our Paddington…” teases Forde. “You know, he’s an energetic guy, wants to work a lot…”
