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The latex likenesses are back on show in a major event at Cambridge University, and it includes the models of Margaret Thatcher, Michael Heseltine, Rishi Sunak, and Princess Diana
For years they were the satirical face of politics, showbiz and royalty with no one in public life immune to their merciless send-ups.
And now the Spitting Image puppets are back on show in a major free exhibition at Cambridge University. Latex dummies including Margaret Thatcher, Michael Heseltine, Rishi Sunak, former Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev and Princess Diana are included in the display.
There are also sketches, memorabilia and letters of complaint to the show, which ran on ITV from 1984 to 1996. It returned on Britbox in 2020 for two seasons. Series producer John Lloyd revealed he would get “two Royal Mail bags of letters every week”. Even the royal household wrote in.
John said: “There were letters which said, ‘I’ve been unemployed for eight years. I was going to kill myself and I thought I’d wait til Sunday for one last laugh and it was so funny I can carry on another week.’ Another letter was, ‘You communist b*****d, I hope you get cancer and die.’”
The entire archive of Spitting Image has now been donated to Cambridge University under the Government’s Cultural Gifts Scheme. It allows important works of art and heritage items to be held for the benefit of the public or the nation. John said having the exhibition at the university was a “fantastic honour”. Spitting Image: A Controversial History will be at Cambridge University Library from today until February 17.
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