Spitting Image is a raunchy, rude puppet show for grown-ups that ran on Britain’s ITV network from 1984 to 1996, and was recently revived on YouTube. It sits in the same category as shows like South Park — treating any public figure as a target for mockery and serving as an ongoing test of the right to free speech. The leaders of each of Britain’s major political parties — Conservative, Labour, and Reform — are all recurring figures on the revived show, as is Donald Trump. The sketches are framed as part of a podcast called The Rest is Bullshit, which is hosted by Prince Harry and…Paddington Bear.
“Pads” is a parody version of the character from the beloved children’s books by Michael Bond and their popular film adaptations. His inclusion on the show has led to a brutal copyright crackdown by Canal+ and the Bond Estate, who filed a claim with Britain’s High Court that accused Spitting Image of violating their intellectual property rights over Britain’s most profitable bear. Although the court has yet to respond to the complaint, this was enough to convince YouTube to pull down every episode of the show, leading “Prince Harry” to sadly announce, “We’re sad to announce the sudden death of five of our YouTube episodes. They were subjected to a brutal takedown, mercilessly erased from existence by Studio Canal lawyers. All of them were removed more quickly than the title ‘prince’ from Uncle Andy.”
Mockery of Prince Harry is perfectly acceptable to Brits, but the show’s portrayal of the mild-mannered bear from Michael Bond’s beloved children’s books caused consternation in many quarters. The portrayal of Paddington on Spitting Image is a wild-eyed, coked-up party animal with a heavy, stereotypical Latino accent. Frank Skinner wrote in The Observer that the show was at its funniest when skewering those who “deserve it,” but that there was nothing funny about lampooning Paddington, a totally inoffensive and deeply loved character. Paddington is nearly an official symbol of Britain, having famously dined on marmalade sandwiches with the late Queen in a short film made for her Platinum Jubilee, and lately becoming the best friend of the Japanese Ambassador to the United Kingdom.
Pads, the chaotic Paddington parody puppet from Spitting Image. Photo courtesy of Spitting Image.
“They were subjected to a brutal takedown, mercilessly erased from existence by Studio C. Anal lawyers.”
Still, even if some found the choice of a fictional bear as a cast member on a show that has always been about mocking real people, there is a long tradition of parody in British filmmaking with clear protections under the law.
Until lately.
Britain has backtracked on free expression in recent years, giving longer prison sentences to those guilty of rude social media posts than to rapists. Canal Plus and the Michael Bond Estate claim that the ratty-looking, foul-mouthed puppet on Spitting Image somehow violates their trademark, although the parody version bears little physical resemblance to the G-rated bear from the popular films. Also, children should theoretically have no chance to confuse the drug-dealing “Pads” with the real Paddington as Spitting Image is a show that is most definitely not for children.
Spitting Image is vulgar and harsh, but celebrities always recognized that to be featured on the show was a kind of compliment. Being caricatured with an ugly, exaggerated puppet was proof of being on Britain’s A-list. The lawsuit also seems like a misstep, which will make Canal Plus seem even more mean-spirited than the jokes on Spitting Image, casting a colder light on Paddington’s wholesome image. Filing a lawsuit against “Pads” has also just drawn more attention to Spitting Image, ensuring that more people will see his drug-addled rants in the future.
The makers of Spitting Image told Radio Times that they were “baffled” by the lawsuit, but also that their parody bear was going nowhere. The show quickly rallied and released a new episode appropriately titled We’re Getting Sued. To keep the episode from immediately being taken down by YouTube, “Pads” is no longer wearing his iconic red hat and blue coat, but instead a black shirt bearing the outline of a hand with its middle finger raised. If this wasn’t a clear enough message of defiance, later in the episode, “Pads” was dressed as a parody version of Pudsey Bear, another trademarked character used to raise funds for the British charity Children in Need.
Pads dons a parody Pudsey Bear costume in a defiant Spitting Image episode. Photo courtesy of Spitting Image.
“Britain has backtracked on free expression in recent years, giving longer prison sentences to those guilty of rude social media posts than to rapists.”
Time will tell if the principled stand on free expression taken by Spitting Image will help push back against the way copyright claims can be weaponized against filmmakers, or if it will prove an expensive blunder by a small studio that lacks the financial and legal resources of a juggernaut like Canal Plus.
Spitting Image is too little known outside Britain and too niche with its audience to rally many to its defense, but the case of its entire relaunch being swallowed into YouTube’s memory hole highlights a broader problem for filmmakers who publish their work online. While digital piracy is a massive problem and stolen content should be taken down, it is also far too easy for corporate interests to weaponize copyright law against legitimate forms of artistic expression, such as parody. And it is not in the interest of platforms like YouTube to investigate whether a copyright claim is legitimate or just a way to bully filmmakers into compliance. It’s far easier for YouTube to just yank any content with a copyright claim and force filmmakers to spend their time and energy proving their right to free artistic expression.
For now, clips from the yanked episodes can still be found on the show’s social media accounts while the legal fight over their right to be on YouTube plays out. “Pads” remains the co-host of The Rest is Bullshit, although it is likely he will not be directly dressed as Paddington Bear for now. Whether all episodes of Spitting Image will be back online anytime soon is impossible to say, but filmmakers who want to have the right to mock public figures — even sweet, G-rated ones — should be rooting for the coked-up bear.
