YouTube best place for Spitting Image amid Kimmel show suspension – Al Murray

Spitting Image co-writer Al Murray has said YouTube is the “best place” for the satirical series in light of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talk show being suspended following comments made about assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

The comedy puppet show, returning on the week of Donald Trump’s second state visit to the UK, promises skits featuring the US President, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and the King.

Asked about the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, comedian Murray, 57, told the PA news agency: “It’s kind of remarkable that it’s happening and this is really why YouTube, to us, seems the best place for us to be, because there’s no one between us and the audience, in particular, which is his issue, if you want.

“There’s him, there’s the broadcaster and all that.

“Whereas two years ago, we did Idiots Assemble, a musical of Spitting Image, Matt (Forde) and I worked on that.

“And what was wonderful about that is there was no one between us and the audience.

“It was us, the show, and how the audience felt about it, rather than sort of various filters you go through and we think we’re kind of in that same position with going on YouTube.”

Spitting Image made a return to TV after 24 years in 2020 when it aired on BritBox.

The show will now be available on YouTube in 12 short-form vodcast-style episodes under the name, The Rest Is Bulls*!t, a nod to the Goalhanger Podcasts that begin with the title “The Rest Is”.

Co-writer Forde, 42, agreed that being on video platform YouTube gives the writers more creative freedom.

It comes after ITV was forced to write off episodes of Spitting Image that featured the Queen, at a cost of £9 million, following her death in 2022.

Forde told PA: “I think whatever commissioner you’re working for, on any other platform, inevitably you go through a process.

“And I think you see in America, you see with Jimmy Kimmel, the pitfall is that pressure can be applied by other powerful people…

“If other people get in the way, it becomes watered down, it becomes timid, or it can get taken off air at a moment’s notice.

“If you’re in control of it, you are giving your stuff direct to the people, and there are no other voices or interests preventing you from mocking powerful people.”

Forde added: “With The Rest Is Bulls*!t we are reflecting the world of 2025, and beyond. You know these are the new things, these are the ways that people are consuming media and getting their news and their opinion.

“So modern Spitting Image has to reflect the modern landscape.”

He added: “I think the public really feel like they’ve been deprived of something vital for quite a while in having really punchy stuff that’s really funny and really silly and a really good laugh that doesn’t take itself too seriously.”

ABC reportedly pulled Kimmel’s show after several ABC-affiliated stations refused to air it, objecting to comments the host made during shows on Monday and Tuesday.

The comedian told his audience “many in Maga land are working very hard to capitalise on the murder of Charlie Kirk”, who was shot during an event on a Utah University campus on September 10.

In response to the suspension, Mr Trump told a UK press conference: “Jimmy Kimmel is not a talented person. He had very bad ratings, and they should have fired him a long time ago.”

Commenting on how he imagines Mr Trump would respond to Spitting Image, Forde said: “He’d hate it. He’d absolutely hate it.

“He’s got such a thin skin. I think it’d drive him absolutely mad. I think he’d hate the way the puppet looks, the way it sounds, and he’d hate what we do with it.”

The new series of the satirical puppet show, known for taking aim at high-profile figures including Mr Trump and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, is to feature new puppets that depict Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, US vice president JD Vance and leader of North Korea Kim Jong Un.

An all-new episode will be available to view at 8pm on Friday on the official Spitting Image YouTube channel.