New Spitting Image puppets revealed as reboot plans are confirmed

Donald Trump's puppet is one of the first to be revealed by the team behind the Spitting Image reboot.

Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are among those expected to be lampooned in the rebooted version.

A pilot is said to have already been filmed to help sell the planned new British-made series to American television networks.

Spitting Image, which was launched in 1984, reached an audience peak of 15 million and featured famous caricatures of Margaret Thatcher, John Major, Ronald Reagan and The Queen.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are set to getting starring roles in the new-look Spitting Image.

Chris Barrie, Rory Bremner, Steve Coogan, Adrian Edmondson, Harry Enfield and Alistair McGowan were among the comics to voice characters.

However dwindling viewing figures saw the show cancelled in 1996.

The new show is being made by the London-based entertainment firm Avalon, which works which some of the biggest-name comedians who appear at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe each year. It has lined up up the writer Jeff Westbrook, a TV writer best known for his work on The Simpsons and Futurama, as showrunner for the Spitting Image reboot.

Roger Law, one of the creators of the original series, said he wanted to revive Spitting Image as a "public service satire" in response to the current political landscape.

Vladimir Putin's Spitting Image puppet was revealed to coincide with an announcement of a rebirth for the show.

He told The Guardian: "It’s pretty chaotic out there. As far as I’m concerned, it’s better than shouting at the television set, isn’t it? So I thought, let’s give it a go.

"Puppetry brings a sort of violence and reality, and energy to the screen. You must have been to the cinema to see these crash bang wallop films, and they bore you. But there’s nothing like a puppet punching a puppet."

Has admitted that the prospect of depicting

Westbrook said: "Today’s world does seem to have an especially large number of evil goofballs who deserve taking down.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is set to be lampooned in the new Spitting Image.

"It’s true that Britain has a special tradition of caricature and satire, but I think that audiences around the world are sophisticated enough to enjoy it. If not, we can also put in some puppets bonking heads with a coconut sound."

Impressionist Luke Kempner has confirmed he is lending his voice to the show, writing on Twitter: "This is my latest project I've been working on!! So exciting and a true honour!! Watch this space!"

Caricaturist Adrian Teal also said he has been working on the programme, tweeting: "Well, it's official! It's been my privilege over the last few weeks to work on several of the #caricature puppet designs (including Trump) for the mission to bring the TV satire juggernaut Spitting Image back to the screen."