When, many moons ago, I first heard of 'Spitting Image', I thought it would be at best a one-season wonder. The novelty of having puppets doing satire would in my view wear off quickly, leaving the show nowhere to go. As we now know, 'Image' ran for over a decade.It was originally produced by John Lloyd, one of the driving forces behind 'Not The Nine O'Clock News' so predictably it inherited that earlier show's healthy disrespect for authority and public figures. The voices of Chris Barrie ( magnificent as Ronald Reagan ), Harry Enfield, Jessica Martin, Kate Robbins and Steve Nallon ( more like Thatcher like she ever was ) were superbly matched to clever puppetry courtesy of Fluck & Law. Amongst the writers were Doug Naylor and Rob Grant ( later to create 'Red Dwarf' ), John O'Farrell and Mark Burton.The first few episodes were at best patchy, marred by canned laughter and some iffy material, but by the end of the first season the bugs had been ironed out. A regular item was 'The President's Brain Is Missing!' starring President Ronald Reagan. No-one then knew that Reagan had the first symptoms of Alzheimer's. The Reagan of 'Spitting Image' was gaffe-prone, frequently seen in bed with wife Nancy, read comics and loved Warner Brothers cartoons. In one episode, he authorised the use of Phantom jet fighters to assist Wile E.Coyote in the destruction of the Roadrunner. In another, he conducted a secret nuclear test up his own arse.British politicians also came in for a bashing; Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher dressed like Al Capone, smoked cigars, and was seen taking political advice from a 90-year old Hitler. The show ridiculed Labour leader Neil Kinnock's attempts to make his party electable ( it had been in opposition only five years when the show started ). In one sketch, he said to the Shadow Cabinet; "We must get rid of all the people who will be a liability at the next General Election.". At which point, the entire Shadow Cabinet left the room. Liberal leader David Steel later blamed 'Image' for his failure to become P.M., it caricatured him as a squeaky-voiced muppet living in the top pocket of David Owen.No review of the show can be complete without mentioning their treatment of The Royal Family. Though pro-monarchists wailed that it was insulting and unfair, I disagree. I thought the show gave them an unexpectedly human face, portraying them as ordinary people with normal fallacies. The Queen Mother, in particular, came across as a lovable Beryl Reid type fond of a flutter on the horses. When the Royals sang a parody of Queen's 'We Are The Champions' ( entitled 'We Are The Windsors' ), it sounded like a new National Anthem.'Image' was lucky enough to be around when Thatcher was dumped by the Tories and replaced by the ultra-grey John Major. The writers and performers succeeded in making the man more interesting than he really was.The show got into trouble on more than one occasion. For instance, a joke at the expense of gun collectors soon after the Hungerford massacre in 1987 provoked predictable self-righteous fury from the tabloids.'Image' also spoofed '80's and '90's pop culture, such as 'Rambo', 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' ( or Turds as they became ), pop groups like 'Wham!', 'Culture Club', and 'The Pet Shop Boys' ( their hit 'Go West' was guyed as 'How The Hell Do We Keep Getting Away With It?' ). No respect was shown for anyone or anything.It overstayed its welcome, unfortunately, ending the year before Labour's 1997 landslide victory. Despite many imitations, it remains unequalled.Perhaps the show's unsung heroes were the people inside the puppets, such as Louise Gold and the late Alistair Fullerton. Another underrated aspect was the songs. 'The Chicken Song' sent-up 'Agadoo' by Black Lace' and became a hit in its own right. 'We've Screwed Up The World' was a bleak parody of Louis Armstrong's 'Wonderful World' with Satchmo bemoaning our increasingly polluted planet. 'Every Job You Take', performed by Sting, rounded off the first series.'Image' provided I.T.V. with one of its last great comedy shows, and helped make the nightmare of the Thatcher/Reagan years partially bearable.

This was a hugely welcomed relief for the pressure of almost two decades of Conservative government worldwide (the Tories in the UK, and the Republicans in the US). Remember that this series started only 5 years before the Berlin Wall fell. I can only hope and pray that in these times when "news" is just another corporate commodity, someone will revive this series. I keep imagining John Kerry donning a bandana, smearing on the greasepaint and taking an M60 to the Republican team - Dick Cheney trying to scuttle away in vain, Dubya having his satisfied smirk wiped of his face by a 7.62mm round and John Kerry screaming his head off and curling his lip like Johnny Rambo. Is that just me? Or is that a terroristic threat nowadays? I think an American Spitting Image should be a lot more violent than this British version. But let there be no mistake - the venom in this series was incredibly potent. Margaret Thatcher was a favorite target. Thatcher sits in a restaurant with the rest of her cabinet (Howe, Tebbit, etc.). The waiter comes over and asks: "Would you like to order meat, ma'am?" Thatcher: "Yes. Rare." Waiter: "Vegetables?" Thatcher, making a broad arm movement to the boys: "Oh, they'll have the same".Tebbit in jackboots and leather who always salutes Thatcher with "Yes, Leader". Thatcher peeing standing up in the men's room.Anyway, even if you don't know every detail of the British political scene 20 years ago (neither do I), still get a hold of this gem and see how real political satire is made. There was a Russian version of Spitting Image that was very popular too.

All satire bites. Of course this series was vituperative. Most, if not all humour is at the expense of somebody else. So what better targets can there be for humour than the rich, famous and powerful? The other reviewer who expressed his disgust at a programme that could mock a certain baby should take this into consideration: any child born into the family of Windsor will be one of the most privileged and pampered people in the world from the very first day of its life. "Spitting Image" was not evil. It didn't stigmatize the large numbers unemployed, force the poll tax on people, starve public services of cash. It didn't widen the gulf between the rich and the poor. It simply provided satire. If one doesn't like "Spitting Image" then one won't like any good satire at all. The series also launched the careers of many of this country's most popular comic actors. The puppets, mannerisms and voices were spot on. The 80s and early 90s were a very difficult time for a lot of people in the UK. "Spitting Image" was a fine example of how we were able to laugh at ourselves and this crazy world we live in.

What on earth went wrong? From its start in 1984 through to 1993 this was the best satire series on TV, but when Giles Pilbrow took over as producer in 1994 things went from bad to worse. The witty humor turned into spiteful name-calling and the whole thing adopted a very down-market, tacky feel to it. Though the first 1994 series shows promise to begin with, before long it descends into childish, playground-style sniping at people. Satire is much more effective if it's subtle, but 'subtle' is a word which is obviously missing from Pilbrow's dictionary. By the 1996 (final) series, things were at an all-time low. The comical, imaginative voices were replaced by the same smug, self-satisfied tones which cropped up time and time again, the series seemed to center more on pop groups rather than politicians and public figures and most of the songs had become dire. Though the 1996 series had a few good ideas, rather than humorous sketches there was an insufferably smug voice relating political facts and lists of statistics. More of a documentary than a satire show. This approach also displays a very lazy, interest-lacking attitude.The older Spitting Image series are unmissable - hilarious, well-made, well-thought-out. But Pilbrow ought to be ashamed for running this great series into the ground. The only good he ever did the show was stopping it in 1996 rather than dragging it to even more ignoble depths.