Headcases
| Headcases | |
|---|---|
Lucy Montgomery Mark Perry | |
| Music by | Richie Webb Matt Katz |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes (including adverts) |
| Original release | |
| Network | ITV |
| Release | 6 April – 15 June 2008 |
Headcases is a British satirical animation show based on current affairs. It employed the same satirical style as Spitting Image, 2DTV and Bo' Selecta!, but using 3D animation created by UK Visual Effects and animation house Red Vision.
The programme's only series began on 6 April 2008, with weekly episodes until 11 May 2008, airing on Sundays at 10 pm. A seventh episode was televised on Friday, 30 May at 10:30 pm, and an eighth on Sunday, 15 June at 10 pm. The show included celebrities,
The show's name comes from the fact that all the subjects' caricatured faces are out of scale with the rest of their bodies.
Characters
Lampooning people in the public eye, the impressionists got the chance to caricature politicians, royals and celebrities alike. These included Prime Minister Gordon Brown, portrayed as an out of touch, weak, very austere Scrooge like Victorian and has a dark, miserable old character. His Chancellor, Alistair Darling, is depicted as a panicky cry baby who says, "We're doomed, doomed, doomed" while jumping around the room. There were also the forgetful Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, the vicious creature David Miliband and Tony Blair who, under the guise of Brown's adviser Ed Balls, tricks Gordon for money.
The
Liberal Democrat, leader Nick Clegg is portrayed as a desperate leader ready to use anything (such as offers at Pizza Hut suggested by his party) as an excuse for the Lib Dems' 'drive for change' influencing day to day Britain.
The Royal Family are set up in the same style as they were on Spitting Image; the reasonably sane but a senile
There were other international politicians that Headcases satirised, like
Celebrities impersonated include the populist and selfish former editor of the
Voice artists
- Rory Bremner
- Jon Culshaw
- Lewis MacLeod
- Kayvan Novak
- Daniel Maier
- Lucy Porter
- Jess Robinson
- Shelley Longworth
- Katy Wix
- Katy Brand
- Omid Djalili
- Phil Cornwell
- Lucy Montgomery
- Mark Perry
- Tom Hollander
- Andrew Lawrence
Writers
- Henry Naylor
- Kevin Day
- Mark Evans
- Lucy Porter
- Carl Carter
- Tony Cooke
- Simon Dean
- Richie Webb
- Marc Blakewill & James Harris
Reception
Sam Wollaston from The Guardian gave the show a mixed review, saying that the writing was good, but the animation was "soulless"[2] and the Daily Star simply called it "Hilarious". The show's debut opened with four million viewers, having the highest viewers of any programme for the first half of the show. However, the second half of the show was beaten by the news on BBC One.[3] The second episode also attracted 4 million viewers.[4]
Peter Fluck was critical of the series. His assessment was decidedly lukewarm: the CGI puppets "look pretty dead", it might not be rude enough, and, if he were younger, he would bypass television and broadcast on YouTube instead. However, he was encouraged by the likes of Rory Bremner among the impersonators.[5]
DVD release
On 15 June 2008, ITV announced that the only series would be available on DVD, which was released on 7 July.[6]
See also
References
- ^ "Headcases – About the Show". itv.com. 26 March 2008.
- ^ Wollaston, Sam (7 April 2008). "The weekend's TV". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 7 April 2008.
- ^ Tryhorn, Chris (7 April 2008). "Headcases starts with 4 million". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 7 April 2008.
- ^ Tryhorn, Chris (14 April 2008). "Foyle's War sweeps to victory for ITV". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 14 April 2008.
- ^ Johnston, Ian (6 April 2008). "Headcases? We were miles better, says Spitting Image creator". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 9 May 2022.
- ^ "Amazon.co.uk". Amazon UK.
External links
- Headcases at IMDb
- Headcases at British Comedy Guide
