Roger Law is a caricaturist and ceramicist, best known for being one of the co-creators of the hugely popular satirical puppet television series, Spitting Image, which ran from 1984 to 1996 (rebooted for two series in 2020 and 2021).

Law was born in the small Cambridgeshire town of Littleport, on 6 September 1941. He spent his early school years at Littleport County Primary and Littleport Secondary Modern, before enrolling at the Cambridge School of Art in c. 1956 (now part of Anglia Ruskin University). It was at the School of Art that he met his long-time collaborator, Peter Fluck (born 1941), along with his wife and artist, Deirdre Amsden (born 1941), and illustrator/journalist Julian Allen (1942-1998).

Under the tutelage of Paul Hogarth (1917-2001), Law and Fluck were first introduced to the French satirical magazine, L’Assiette au Beurre, one of several influences that would shape their work for decades to come. Hogarth’s left-wing politics also rubbed-off on his students, with Law and others attending rallies organised by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and socialist groups.

Law’s professional life, along with those of Fluck’s and Amsden’s, began while they were still studying at art school, with illustrations by all three being published in the first issue of the Cambridge University student magazine, Ffobia, released in the autumn of 1959. Law’s work continued to appear in other student and local publications at the beginning of the 1960s, including East Anglian Magazine, Granta, and The Cambridge Review. In regards to Granta, Law and Amsden also collaborated as art directors for the magazine for a number of issues in 1961.

By 1962, Law and Amsden (married in 1960) had left Cambridge School of Art and relocated to London. It was around this time that Law began a number of short-term collaborations with satirist, Peter Cook (1937-1995), whom he had met during his student years in Cambridge. Cook opened a jazz/satire nightclub in Soho, The Establishment, in October of 1961. At some point, Law began producing, on a weekly basis, large cartoon strips that were hung on a wall, opposite the club’s bar. These strips were made using rolls of newsprint paper, and employed various artistic techniques, such as woodcut prints, collages, and felt-tip pen drawings. The contents of these strips commented on topics being discussed in the news at the time, or illustrated other ideas by Cook and Law.

In the summer of 1962, Law and Cook, along with Michael Frayn (born 1933), began a short-lived satirical page for The Observer newspaper, titled, Almost the End. This venture was soon stopped after the newspaper’s editor, David Astor (1912-2001), took umbrage at one of the comic strips that featured the British Home Secretary, Rab Butler, along with Butler’s wife. The depiction of Butler’s wife was regarded as crossing the line between a politician’s public life and their private life, which was taboo at the time. Nevertheless, Astor kept Law on staff on a part-time basis, and he supplemented his income with freelance work for a number of other outlets, including Private Eye, The Sunday Times (Law using the alias ‘Alan F. Gill’ for work in this publication), Topic, and Town. Law also produced artwork for various advertisement campaigns, including one for Imperial Chemical Industries and another for British Petroleum.

In 1966, Law jumped ship to The Sunday Times Magazine, working under graphic designer David King (1943-2016). They partnered up on a number of other projects, outside of that publication, including designing the album sleeves for The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s Axis: Bold as Love, and The Who’s The Who Sell Out. In regards to the latter, Deirdre Amsden also helped to make the ‘Medec’ and ‘Odorono’ props held by band members. King and Law had also previously designed the layout and provided artwork for the first issue of the black-orientated newspaper, Magnet, which was published in February 1965, and edited by novelist and playwright Jan Carew (1920-2012). Carew and Law were old friends, having shared a house together with Peter Fluck and their respective wives, while living in Cambridge. Carew's play, No Gown for Peter, incorporates Fluck's and Law’s experiences waiting tables at Trinity College, while they were studying at art school.

From 1966 onwards, Law also regularly produced artwork for the British women’s monthly magazine, Nova. It is in this publication that he initially began experimenting with plasticine model illustrations. His first attempt was a success, earning him a silver award from the Designers and Art Directors Association in 1967. Law’s use of plasticine model illustrations increased as the sixties waned, and were prominent by the early 1970s. In this period, these models were not just limited to magazines, also adorning the covers of books published by Penguin, which continued once Law began collaborating with Peter Fluck in the mid-1970s.

While Law was first and foremost an illustrator, he had always had to supplement his earnings with teaching jobs. From c. 1962 to 1967, Law had regular teaching gigs at the following art schools: Hornsey College of Art, the North-East Essex Technical College and School of Art, and Somerset College of Art. In 1967, Law was awarded a six-month Rockefeller Grant to be Artist-in-Residence at Reed College, an American liberal arts institution in Portland, Oregon. At the end of that year, Law and his family relocated to the United States, and he assumed his residency for the 1968 spring semester, which ran from January to May. During his time at Reed College, Law produced a puppet film with students and the English literature professor, Will Baker (1935-2005), which was titled: The Milkman - A Satire on Capitalism.

Following the end of his residency, Law stayed in the United States, producing freelance work for a number of publications in California, before driving across the country to New York. Once there, Law continued to engage in freelance work for Push Pin Studios and several magazines. However, Law’s hopes of remaining in the States were dashed when his visa was revoked at the end of 1968, and he was required to return home.

Once back in the United Kingdom, Law became a member of The Sunday Times Magazine’s editorial staff. However, between 1969 and 1975, he also produced illustrations for Nova and a host of other magazines. This involved continuing on with the plasticine model illustrations that he had initially experimented with back in 1966, and he collaborated primarily with photographer Bob Cramp (1945-2023) to create such work. He also resumed his guest lecturing at a number of educational institutions, including Oxford Polytechnic (now Oxford Brookes University) and Middlesex Polytechnic (now Middlesex University).

Following his return from the United States, Law’s work also began to branch out beyond illustration, and included performing research for journalists, conducting interviews, and writing his own articles for Nova and The Sunday Times Magazine. This involved interviewing controversial German architect Arno Breker (1900-1991), and travelling to Portugal to gather research for a story on the Carnation Revolution in 1974.

Inundated with work, Law left The Sunday Times Magazine in 1975 and soon began a partnership with Peter Fluck, known as Luck & Flaw. Occupying a former temperance hall in Cambridge, on Victoria Street, the pair embraced Law’s plasticine model illustrations, which became more refined and elaborate. Luck & Flaw initially worked with Bob Cramp and his assistant John Lawrence Jones (born 1951) to produce the photographic images for the illustrations, which were the end product. However, Jones eventually became their primary photographer, and this collaboration continued once Fluck and Law were involved in Spitting Image.

Luck & Flaw’s first commission was to produce artwork for a slip case that would hold paperback editions of several novels and short stories by P.G. Wodehouse. This was quickly followed by a series of front cover illustrations for the New York Times Magazine, published between December 1975 and February 1976. These covers featured plasticine model representations of the nominees for the 1976 United States presidential election: Jimmy Carter, George Wallace, Morris Udall, and Ronald Reagan.

Throughout the remainder of the 1970s, the partnership produced illustrations for a range of British and international publications, including: National Lampoon; the Dutch magazine, Panorama; Radio Times; the German publication, Stern; The Economist; and The Sunday Times Magazine. They also branched out into advertisements, and created artwork for covers of books published by the Penguin imprint, Pelican.

Luck & Flaw’s illustration of books eventually went beyond their covers. Between July 1978 and January 1979, the partnership with John Lawrence Jones undertook a major project to create an illustrated version of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. This was later published by the Penguin imprint, Allen Lane, in late 1979.

This project was quickly followed by another. Between May 1980 and March 1981, the partnership worked on models for an illustrated version of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. Unlike A Christmas Carol, the plasticine models produced for this project were life-size, and representations of some of the characters in Treasure Island were based on the regular patrons who frequented the same local Cambridge pub as Fluck and Law. However, once the work was completed, the results of this project were shelved due to a lack of interest from publishers. It was only in 1986, following the success of Spitting Image, that Luck & Flaw’s version of Treasure Island saw the light of day, published by Faber & Faber.

In 1980, Luck & Flaw entered the world of ceramic ware. Collaborating with a number of pottery and mould firms in Staffordshire, the partnership modelled a teapot in the shape of Margaret Thatcher’s head. This item began selling in November 1980. The teapot was quickly followed by a Ronald Reagan coffeepot and a Prince Charles (now King Charles III) loving cup in 1981, the latter a commemorative item produced to coincide with the royal wedding between Charles and Lady Diana Spencer. Luck & Flaw also produced a Marx Brothers condiment set; a number of egg cups in the likeness of British politicians and royal family members; and a set of mugs for the 1983 British general election.

In 1981, Peter Fluck and Roger Law were approached by graphic designer Martin Lambie-Nairn (1945-2020) with an idea to create a television puppet show, inspired by Luck & Flaw’s plasticine model illustrations. Development work soon began on what would become Spitting Image, with Tony Hendra (1941-2021) brought in as writer and producer, and John Lloyd (born 1951) and Jon Blair (born 1950) as producers. In the early stages of this development phase, the company Spitting Image Productions Limited (SIPL) was formed. Spike Bucklow was later enlisted to perfect the foam latex used to make the puppets.

A ten-minute proof-of-concept pilot was made in January 1983, which was partially funded by the entrepreneur and inventor, Sir Clive Sinclair (1940-2021). Sinclair had provided finance as part of the project’s development, but pulled out of any further involvement in late 1982, leaving the project in dire straits. Roger Greenwood, owner of the training film company, Esprit, was approached and he agreed to provide funding for the completion of this initial pilot, in exchange for using the puppets in his training videos.

Impressed by the proof-of-concept pilot, Central Independent Television agreed to finance a 30-minute pilot, which was delivered in the summer of 1983. This pilot was not, and has never been, aired. However, Central were once again impressed by what they saw and the potential for the show, and a full series was green-lit. A workshop for making the puppets was established at Limehouse Studios in the London Docklands, and filming took place at Central’s studios in Birmingham.

The first series of Spitting Image began airing on 26 February 1984. However, after six episodes, Tony Hendra left as head writer, due to creative differences with John Lloyd and other members of the production team. The partnerships of Rob Grant and Doug Naylor (born 1955), and Ian Hislop (born 1960) and Nick Newman (born 1958), took over as the primary writers, which saw an improvement in both the scripts and the popularity of the show. It should also be mentioned that throughout the series’ life, the producers encouraged members of the general public to submit sketches of their own, which were regularly incorporated into the episodes.

The subsequent success of Spitting Image led to not just a plethora of merchandise, but also a branching out of Spitting Image Productions Limited’s activities, such as producing television advertisements, providing puppets and production for the music video to the Genesis single, Land of Confusion; creating puppets for the children’s television show, Round the Bend; and establishing a research and development department in animatronics, led by Peter Fluck, known as Spitting Image Engineering. In 1989, SIPL also relocated to new premises at Plumbers Row, Aldgate.

However, by the end of the 1980s, Spitting Image Productions Limited were in financial trouble. Spitting Image Engineering almost bankrupted SIPL, and William Sargent (born 1956), founder of the visual effects company, The Framestore, bought a controlling stake in SIPL and became chairman of the company in 1990. Sargent subsequently left in 1992, having put the company on a firmer financial footing, and was replaced by Joanna Beresford (born 1956) as company director.

As the 1990s progressed, Spitting Image Productions Limited continued to expand its work beyond Spitting Image. In regards to television and short-films, SIPL and its subsidiary, Screwball Films Limited, produced the following: a comedy show for the BBC, The Mary Whitehouse Experience, which originally began as a radio production in 1989; the 1991 six-episode puppet show, Winjin’ Pom; a theatrical version of Sergei Prokofiev’s symphonic tale, Peter and the Wolf (this was done in collaboration with Christopher Swann, in a partnership called Spitting Swanns Limited), which aired on BBC 2 over Christmas 1993; the Academy Award-nominated short-film, The Big Story, in 1994; a stop-motion animated soap opera, Crapston Villas, which aired for two series on Channel 4, between 1995 and 1998; a pilot comic strip show, The Strip Show, which was aired by Channel 4 in December 1995; and the production of a stop-motion animated pilot based on George Herriman’s cartoon strip, Krazy Kat, in 1996.

Beyond television and short-films, Spitting Image Productions Limited also opened its own public attraction in London, in 1991, called Rubberworks, which displayed animatronic versions of Spitting Image puppets. This attraction closed a few years later. There were plans to open another Rubberworks at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, but this never happened. SIPL also moved to new London premises, Cairo Studios, in the summer of 1994.

The early to mid-1990s also saw Roger Law explore his interests in ceramic ware. Law collaborated with a staff member from the Spitting Image Workshop, Pablo Bach (born 1962), and ceramicist Janice Tchalenko (1942-2018) to produce sculptures for several exhibitions. In 1993, sculptures relating to the Seven Deadly Sins were exhibited at the Victoria & Albert Museum. In 1996, a series of ceramic pots were made for display as part of the Modern Antiques exhibition, held at the Richard Dennis Gallery.

In regards to Spitting Image, the 1990s saw the steady decline in the quality of its writing and in its viewership, and its final series aired in 1996, ending the programme’s run after 12 years and 18 series. There was a subsequent attempt to revive the show in 2006. However, these plans fell through, as a consequence of a disagreement between Roger Law and Peter Fluck with the producers of an ITV documentary on the series, over the creation of two puppets in the likeness of television presenters, Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, which were used as part of the programme. Interest in bringing back the show arose once more in 2017, originally for American television, before it was finally announced that the British digital television service, Britbox, would be the series’ new home. Two seasons of the show were aired between 2020 and 2021, before being cancelled again in 2022. Law was an executive producer for the rebooted series.

Following the demise of Spitting Image in 1996, Spitting Image Productions Limited and its subsidiaries, Screwball Films and Bazaar Films (the latter company primarily producing television commercials), continued to function. However, their operations began to be wound down at some point in 1998, and the Spitting Image puppets and the rest of SIPL’s archive were placed into storage. This was done due to Roger Law’s decision to relocate to Australia, and begin a new phase of his artistic life, focusing upon drawing and painting. Law would live in Sydney, on and off, between 1998 and 2012.

In order to help fund this new life, Law auctioned off many of the Spitting Image puppets and other items at two sales, held by Sotheby’s, in July 2000 and November 2001. The first auction was held online, in partnership with Amazon.com, and lasted two weeks. It was accompanied by a charity event for the London theatre, Hackney Empire, which involved an exhibition of puppets and other material at the Sotheby’s showroom, and a sale of select items to various celebrities and other attendees. The second auction included both puppets that failed to sell the first time and newly listed items. Both sales generated a lot of press coverage.

In 2005, Roger Law released his autobiography, Still Spitting at Sixty. The publication of this book was accompanied by two exhibitions. The first revolved around Spitting Image and was held at the Guardian Media Group’s Newsroom Gallery. The second focused on Law’s Australia-inspired artwork, displayed at The Fine Art Society’s former premises in London. Law had also previously exhibited some of his Australian artwork in 2000, at the Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London.

From 2006 to 2014, Roger Law made regular trips to the Chinese pottery city of Jingdezhen. There, Law explored his interest in ceramics further, creating his own pottery alongside craftsmen in their workshops. Some of Law’s ceramic output went on to be exhibited back in the United Kingdom, including a 2011 exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum, which centred around several international artists that used the ‘Porcelain City’ as inspiration for their work. His ceramics were also displayed by the Sladmore Contemporary Gallery in 2014 and 2017, and as part of a wider exhibition on Law’s professional life, held at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts in 2017 and 2018.

Alongside his artistic endeavours in Australia and China, Roger Law has kept himself busy with other activities since the cancellation of the original Spitting Image series. From 2008 to 2017, Law presented a number of programmes for BBC Radio 4, which revolved around art, ceramics and satire. He has also involved himself in a number of exhibitions held by various institutions, which have either focused on satire, the legacy of Spitting Image, or concerned other topics of interest. The most recent of these exhibitions has been one on the Chinese artist, Lin Jin (born 1958), which was held at the Ashmolean Museum in 2024.