US election special to air on Halloween

The revived Spitting Image is to air on broadcast TV for the first time, with a special to mark the US Presidential election.

An episode dedicated to the Trump-Biden showdown will air on ITV at 10pm  Saturday October 31, three days before the nation goes to the polls.

It is half of a two-part special, both of which will drop on streaming service Britbox on the same day

The satirical puppet show has been credited with delivering record sign-ups for the subscription-only platform. 

Reemah Sakaan, BritBox's chief creative officer, said: ‘We’ve been excited about the timing of the US election for this series of Spitting Image for months… and it certainly doesn’t seem to be letting us down in terms of material for satire, so we commissioned a bonus episode that we are excited to share with both ITV and BritBox audiences.’

Kevin Lygo, ITV’s director of TV added: ‘This is a great chance to celebrate Spitting Image’s noisy return after 18 years and give ITV viewers a taste of the full series, available on BritBox.’

Programme-makers Avalon had previously claimed that America’s NBC network had been ‘too nervous’ to follow through with plans for a US version of the show,

• Sky One's Russell Howard Hour is also dedicating its episode at 10pm on November 5 as US Election Special.

Published: 21 Oct 2020