Beyonce, Boris, Obama, Brand - meet the stars of Newzoids, the new Spitting Image
ITV's new animated puppet show will poke fun at politics and pop culture, from President Barack Obama to Kim Kardashian's backside
ITV has commissioned a new topical show that bears an uncanny resemblance to a certain satirical comedy that aired on the channel some decades ago...
Just like 1980s and 90s series Spitting Image, Newzoids will use puppets to poke fun at pop stars, politicians and tabloid favourites "depicting our most talked about famous faces in a way they have never been seen before."
The six-part series, featuring the voices of impressionists including Jon Culshaw and Debra Stephenson, promises to make light of anything and everything, from David Cameron to Jeremy Kyle, Wayne Rooney to Simon Cowell, President Barack Obama to Kim Kardashian's backside – not to mention those featured in the image above, who you may recognise as Beyonce Knowles, Boris Johnson, Vladimir Putin, Nigel Farage, Russell Brand and Andy Murray.
Newzoids will use a "groundbreaking mixture of low-tech traditional puppetry and state of the art animation" to put a "satirical and surreal spin on the stories and celebrities we read about every day."
"ITV has a rich history of playing popular satirical comedy in peaktime on its main channel, and it seemed a good time to revive it this year," said Elaine Bedell, ITV's director of entertainment and comedy. "We are pleased to be adding to our growing comedy portfolio with this funny and biting look at the world of politics and celebrity."
The puppet show is being produced by Factory, and Horrible Histories' production company Citrus. The writing team consists of Pete Sinclair, Sarah Morgan, Madeleine Brettingham, Gabby Hutchinson Crouch, Colin Swash, Annabel Port, Dan Gaster, Carey Marx, Tom Neenan, Jason Hazeley and Joel Morris.
ITV's original puppet sketch satire Spitting Image ran between 1984 and 1996.
