This 1988 'Spitting Image' special was, as far as I know, only broadcast once on ITV. Ronald Reagan had served two terms as U. S. President and was about to be succeeded by George HW Bush. So the Spitting Image production team marked the end of his tenure with a spoof biography. I am not going to describe it in detail ( that would spoil the fun ) so let me just say that I think it is one of the jewels in the Spitting Image crown. Chris Barrie was Reagan's voice, and the late Alistair Fullerton provided his movements. Back in the day, it seemed inconceivable that Reagan, hardly the world's greatest actor, was sitting in the Oval Office. Who voted for him? Spitting Image portrayed him as a wrinkled, senile old fool.
'Bumbledown' was partly written by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman ( as soon as Hislop left the show, they did a caricature of him! ). So bizarre was Reagan's tenure that, watching it now, it is hard to separate the satire from what happened in real life. For instance, Reagan's Iran-gate answers ( quoted in the show ) are entirely genuine. As well as comedy, this also works as a potted history of the Reagan years.
Funniest moment - Reagan attending a nuclear disarmanent talk in Geneva dressed first as a native American and then as Darth Vader! Gorbachev, the then Russian premier, looks baffled.
'Bumbledown' was partly written by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman ( as soon as Hislop left the show, they did a caricature of him! ). So bizarre was Reagan's tenure that, watching it now, it is hard to separate the satire from what happened in real life. For instance, Reagan's Iran-gate answers ( quoted in the show ) are entirely genuine. As well as comedy, this also works as a potted history of the Reagan years.
Funniest moment - Reagan attending a nuclear disarmanent talk in Geneva dressed first as a native American and then as Darth Vader! Gorbachev, the then Russian premier, looks baffled.
