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Spitting Image Productions Limited, 1960 - 1973, 1979-1999, 2000 - 2018

 Sub-Fonds
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.10275/3

Scope and Contents

This section of the Roger Law Archive represents the activities of the company, Spitting Image Productions Limited, which was established in the early 1980s by Law, Peter Fluck, Martin Lambie-Nairn, John Lloyd, Tony Hendra, Jon Banks, and later, Reginald Greenwood. While the company was initially created to produce the satirical British television puppet series, Spitting Image, and the merchandising opportunities that came along with it; the business branched out to create other television programmes, produced by themselves and for various British television channels; produce commercials for external companies; and create its own short-lived London-based tourist attraction. As the activities of SIPL expanded, the company established new divisions and subsidiaries, such as Spitting Image Engineering/Spitting Image Projects, Screwball Films, Bazaar Films, and Nile Street Films. The work of these divisions and subsidiaries are represented to varying degrees in this section.

This part of the archive has been split into the following main sections: puppets and artwork created by the Spitting Image Workshop; productions files for Spitting Image and the other television programmes produced by SIPL; merchandise produced or licensed by SIPL; external publications and advertisements that either have interviews and other articles on Spitting Image, Roger Law and Peter Fluck, or feature the work of the company; a business activities section, which represents the work of SIPL outside of Spitting Image and other television programmes that were produced, largely focusing on productions and attractions that never went beyond the proposal/development stage; company and productions promotional work and public relations material; correspondence and internal communications files; financial and legal material; newsletters and other items produced as part of the company's internal culture, such as leaflets for Christmas parties; awards received by the company; and a section of miscellaneous items. There is also a section that contains material relating to Roger Law's personal life in this period.

While the operations of Spitting Image Productions Limited primarily ran from around 1983 to 1998, there is material that falls outside of those core years. Items prior to 1983 tend to be material used for reference or photographic items included in publications. As for the material that goes beyond 1998, once the company is essentially dormant, these tend to be merchandise items bearing the Spitting Image logo or financial accounts and pensions' documentation. There is, however, some photographic prints that may be post-1998, but this cannot be confirmed.

In 1992, Roger Law and the Managing Director of SIPL at the time, Joanne Beresford, established another company with other partners, called Spittoon plc (later Spittoon Limited). However, this company was a separate corporate entity in its own right and not a subsidiary of SIPL. Therefore, its papers have been separated from SIPL and given its own section in the Roger Law Archive.

In many of the catalogue descriptions for this section of the archive, the reference 'SI/number' appears alongside the mention of an item. This is an original reference number given to artwork, etc by Law's wife, Deirdre Amsden, who created the original catalogue of the archive's contents, known as 'the Bible.' These reference numbers can be used to search 'the Bible,' which is found in the Archive Documentation section of the archive; see entry MS Add.10275/7/5/3. 'The Bible' contains further background information and other details about items, which are not necessarily found within the descriptions of the library's catalogue.

Dates

  • Creation: 1960 - 1973
  • Creation: 1979-1999
  • Creation: 2000 - 2018

Conditions Governing Use

See sub-level descriptions for information on copyright ownership.

Extent

206 archive box(es)

16 outsize box(es) (Wooden crates.)

33 file(s) (Portfolios. Some of these items are in their original packaging, awaiting a custom portfolio.)

24 file(s) (Visifiles.)

5 file(s)

1 folder(s) (A very large piece of card, acting as a folder, holding a poster.)

3 tube

4 object(s) (Two puppets on stands, and two promotional book stands.)

Language of Materials

Czech

Dutch; Flemish

English

French

German

Hungarian

Italian

Japanese

Korean

Norwegian

Portuguese

Russian

Spanish; Castilian

Swedish

Turkish

Arrangement

See sub-level descriptions for information on arrangement of material.

Separated Materials

See sub-level descriptions for information on related material found in other parts of the archive.

Repository Details

Part of the Cambridge University Library Repository

Contact:
Cambridge University Library
West Road
Cambridge CB3 9DR United Kingdom