From Whitehall To Downing Street , Comedy And Politics
It’s not just Boris in trouble! we’ve been having a go at politicians for over 60 years.
In 1962, we were introduced to the long running radio sitcom The Men From The Ministry. It went on to run for 15 years, but it wasn’t the only show to poke fun at the establishment it seemed to begin a love for satire.
For this post we thought we’d let the clips do the talking, as we look back on just some of the great comedy and satire that has tickled us over the years.
Men From The Ministry
This long running Radio sitcom was among the first to poke fun at Whitehall, originally it clocked up a mammoth 147 episodes before it ended in 1977.
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Yes Minister
Starting in 1980 Yes Minister poked fun directly at the Whitehall establishment. The antics of Jim Hacker and friends kept us laughing for three series until 1980
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Yes Prime Minister
Jim Hacker proved to be so popular with his party he found himself leading them to Government. Yes Prime Minister gave Hacker and co five series at the top of government before ending in 1988. It’s been said to have been a favourite of then PM Margaret Thatcher.
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Not The Nine O’Clock News
This BBC comedy poked fun at the news rather than necessarily the Government, but what else is the news for? Not The Nine O’Clock news began in 1979 and ended in 1982 after 4 series.
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Bremner, Bird and Fortune
Running for 16 series top satirists John Bird and John Fortune joined up with top satirical impressionist Rory Bremner .
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Spitting Image
The Grand Daddy of all satire shows Spitting Image was biting satire at it’s best. Must see Sunday night TV it hit our screens in 1984 and ran until 1996. After a long break in which it was thought the show was over it returned to streaming service Brit box in 2020. Whilst to date it’s managed 2 series it lacks the bite of the original.
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2DTV
The successor to spitting image used animation to poke fun at the politicians and celebrities of the day. It arrived in 2001 and came to and end in 2004.
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Headcases
This rather clever series sadly only lasted 6 episodes in 2008.
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Newzoids
Seven years after headcases in 2015 Newzoids was hailed as the new Spitting Image. Promising biting satire it lasted jut 2 series.
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