Tooth and Claw: The Inside Story of Spitting Image by Lewis Chester
December 31, 2007 by rosyb
Written in 1986, this is not a new book, however it is a sadly overlooked one and now appears, even more sadly, to be out of print. (Hence no picture.) However, in these days of Amazon and Ebay, second hand copies can easily be located on the net and if you are interested in comedy, television or just a cracking good read - I recommend you get your hands on a copy.
The painfully funny story of the most expensive TV series ever made (at the time) - Tooth and Claw is a tale of monumental triumph in the face of quarrels, incompetence and exploding chemical concoctions. Hilarious from start to finish, Tooth and Claw is perfect for anyone interested in comedy whether they be those (like me) that remember the whole Spitting Image phenomenon in the 80s, or teenage comedy fans who will hear about how some of the most well-known names in comedy (Steve Coogan, Rory Bremner, Chris Barrie, not to mention Red Dwarf writers, Grant and Naylor) got their big breaks.
But what makes this story particularly special is the wonderful cast of characters: Fluck and Law, the two Marxist puppet-designers, who had never actually made a puppet in their lives: offered this extraordinary opportunity on the back of their work photographing clay 3D models of politicians for magazines; boyishly charming Oxbridge-oozing John Lloyd (producer) - with his schoolboy humour and a penchant for bottom jokes. Add to this the money-man who just wants to write, the American satirist and the chemical student straight out of university who put in charge of an entire foam-making department - and you have a recipe for a great story, high drama and a lot of explosiveness (and that’s not just the foam).
The book is also interesting in giving a sense of a portrait of television - and society - at a very politically-conscious time. There has been political satire since, but since the Iraq war there seems to have been a greater appetite for it again. Now, with Bremner, Bird and Fortune and the likes of social commentator Mark Thomas, comedy seems to have become more political again and there has even been talk of reviving Spitting Image itself (though you wonder how they would make the programme today). There couldn’t be a better time to dip into this book and realise that no dream - however totally uneconomical or patently ridiculous - can’t be achieved with the right number of madmen and women, enough chutzpah and the secret recipe for foam.
Published by Faber&Faber 1986: ISBN-10: 0571145574, ISBN-13:978-0571145577
Sadly, Americans mostly know of this series mainly from the Genesis music video for “Land of Confusion”, which was a perfect fit. And even then, many of my fellow countrymen & women didn’t ‘get it’. I would guess the book would have far greater appeal & understanding on your side of the Pond.
Probably true, Jackie. Mind you, it was the Reagan and Thatcher double-act that really made Spitting Image for a long time…but you’re probably right.
Spitting Image was the best! As a result I could never look at Ken Clarke without seeing him as an oily snail. And Thatcher in her pinstriped gangster suit - it was exactly right. Must try to find a copy of the book. They did a special programme which they showed after polls had closed on that horrible election night in (?) 1987, which was one of the most powerful - and depressing - pieces of television I ever remember seeing.
Thinking of that pin-striped suit, I think it very much suited that kind of sharp brash time also - the yuppie era etc. And Thatcher was the caricaturists’ gift, wasn’t she? I still remember all the Gerald Scarfe cartoons of her face as an axe etc. I’m not sure Gordon Brown would be the same sort of Spitting Image material somehow!
But think what they could do with Dubya (Pres.George W. Bush)!
Oh yes - Bush and Blair would have worked really well. I wonder if that is why they were thinking of bringing it back.
Hi Rosy
You’ve persuaded me to track down this book on Ebay, it sounds wonderful!
Yes, Thatcher was a caricaturist’s dream. But somehow, they all turn out to be… I’ve been a reader of “Private Eye” for 20 years (ouch!) and I always think “oh this new chap Major/Blair/Brown is so dull, there’s no way they can satirize him”. And then John Major’s Underpants come along (was that Steve Bell ?), then Tony Blair as the Vicar of St.Albions, and now Gordon Brown as a sour-faced Kim Jon-Il style despot (”Decrees from the Desk of the Supreme Leader In the Age Of Change!”)… I love it !!!
But yeah, it would be great if they brought Spitting Image back. (And how many ITV shows can we say that about ??)
Loved this review. Even searched the net for an image to go with the book, but could find nothing. Pah.
Bush and Blair on Spitting Image: bring it on. I’ll even sing the Spitting Image record: The Chicken Song, was it called? - my favourite song when I was six years old. Mind you, the B- side was a bit dubious (”I’ve Never Met A Nice South African”
“There couldn’t be a better time to dip into this book and realise that no dream - however totally uneconomical or patently ridiculous - can’t be achieved with the right number of madmen and women, enough chutzpah and the secret recipe for foam.”
Yes! Consider me inspired
I loved Spitting Image! I really want to read this book now.