ITV to launch new topical puppet show Newzoids
ITV is to launch a new satirical puppet show.
Newzoids, which will broadcast in the run up to the General Election, is described as a "topical puppet animation sketch show poking fun at pop stars, politicians, sports faces and TV favourites, and depicting our most talked about famous faces in a way they have never been seen before."
The show will combine "high-energy puppetering, snappy writing and pinpoint accurate impressions" with "a cast of outrageous and off the wall characters based on some of the world's most prolific celebrities."
This new commission from ITV comes nearly 20 years after the end of Spitting Image, the network's famous puppet sketch show.
The new six part series will include the voices of impressionists such as Jon Culshaw and Debra Stephenson with a "groundbreaking mixture of low-tech traditional puppetry and state of the art animation" putting "a satirical and surreal spin on the stories and celebrities we read about every day."
ITV explains: "Imagine a world where David Cameron and Nick Clegg battle it out on Jeremy Kyle, where Ed Miliband joins Ant & Dec on I'm A Catastrophe... Get Me Out Of Here, and where Professor Brian Cox finds an extraordinary new planet in the solar system - Kim Kardashian's backside."
The channel adds: "In the world of Newzoids, anything can happen and no one in the public eye is safe from the Newzoids treatment. Amongst the roster of famous (and infamous) faces on the Newzoids roll call are Ant & Dec, Wayne Rooney, Beyonce, Harry Styles, Prince Harry, David Cameron, Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg, Barack Obama, Russell Brand and Simon Cowell." The publicity photo released today also reveals puppets of Nigel Farage, Andy Murray, Boris Johnson and Vladimir Putin will appear in the series.
Newzoids has been developed by Citrus Television, the comedy-focused production company helmed by original Horrible Histories creative team Caroline Norris, Giles Pilbrow and Dominic Brigstocke.
Comedy writer Pilbrow, who worked on Spitting Image and ITV's 2001 to 2004 animated satirical show 2DTV, told the The Guardian that he hoped the new format would avoid comparison with previous shows. "I hate the word satire. It says you are on a mission to achieve something; our main mission is to amuse people. If you set out with an agenda to bring down the government you are going to fail," he said.
He added: "2DTV was a very different vehicle [to Spitting Image] and this again is very different. It's a kind of hyper-real cartoon puppet environment. Things change over 20 years. It has a different look, a different pace, a different style of jokes."
But, much like Spitting Image and 2DTV, a fair proportion of Newzoids will be written and filmed close to transmission to ensure it stays topical.
The writing team features "a blend of established and up-and-coming talent", including Madeleine Brettingham, Dan Gaster, Jason Hazeley, Gabby Hutchinson Crouch, Carey Marx, Sarah Morgan, Joel Morris, Tom Neenan, Annabel Port, Pete Sinclair and Colin Swash.
Elaine Bedell from ITV comments: "ITV has a rich history of playing popular satirical comedy in peak time on its main channel, and it seemed a good time to revive it this year. We are pleased to be adding to our growing comedy portfolio with this funny and biting look at the world of politics and celebrity."
ITV's last satirical sketch show was the 2008 animated comedy series Headcases, which launched with 4 million viewers but dropped to an average of 3.3 million across its 8-part run.
Newzoids is expected to launch this spring.