University of Cambridge

09/29/2023 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/29/2023 23:50

Spitting Image: A Controversial History

Now, a grand and grotesque selection of puppets, sketches, letters of complaint and even Margaret Thatcher's handbag are going on display at Cambridge University Library - home to the Spitting Image archive - in a full retrospective exhibition of the TV phenomenon.

Spitting Image: A Controversial Historyis a free exhibition unravelling the history and legacy of the satirical puppet show and the impact it had on British politics, culture and celebrity, for good and ill.

Going on display are UL puppets including Princess Diana, Margaret Thatcher and the Queen Mother, as well as dozens of never-before-seen sketches, caricatures and other memorabilia drawn from the Spitting Image archive, the first sections of which arrived at the UL in 2018 via series creators Roger Law and Peter Fluck.

It was today announced that the entire Spitting Image archive had been donated to Cambridge University Library under HM Government's Cultural Gifts Scheme, kindly making possible the Library's retrospective on the show.

The exhibition has also borrowed one of Margaret Thatcher's famous handbags from the Churchill Archives Centre at Cambridge University, while other puppets going on display include Tory Party grandees Michael Heseltine and Norman Tebbit (on loan from the Hyman Collection), as well as former England footballer Gary Lineker (on loan from the National Football Museum).

Also on display for the first time is the original pilot script of Spitting Image as well as letters to and from the crew and producers highlighting the immense stress of creating a show featuring complex puppets in a rapidly and ever-changing news environment.

It was not uncommon for new sketches and puppets to be created from scratch as the show hurtled towards its Sunday deadline.

Visitors to the exhibition will also be able to read for the first time manuscript letters written by the political and celebrity 'victims' of the show who were encouraged to share feedback on their representation in the first two series of the show.

Those who wrote about being immortalised by Spitting Image included Jeffrey Archer, Jimmy Hill, politicians Douglas Hurd and David Steel, as well as celebrity agony aunt Claire Rayner.