Environmental activist Greta Thunberg will be portrayed on Spitting Image as a weathergirl warning about the heat, it was revealed today.
Bosses have already come in for criticism for lampooning the teenager.
But bosses of Britbox, which is where the reboot of the satirical puppet show will launch, argued she was fair game.
Reemah Sakaan, group director of SVoD at ITV, said the Swedish 17-year-old would be popping up to tell everyone how hot the earth is.
“It’s a very straightforward joke and is nothing to do with her as an individual,”she told the Broadcasting Press Guild.
Britbox boss Will Harrison said schoolgirl Thunberg had liked her puppet on her Twitter feed after it was revealed last week.
Sakaan said the show, which features over 100 puppet versions of famous faces, was able to go further with “public service satire” than the original, because it’s on a subscription platform.
She said: “If the show isn't stirring controversy it’s probably not doing what it set out to do,or being true to its origins.”
All the original 10 series of Spitting Image will become available on Britbox and bosses have also picked the 14 best episodes to go live when the new episode launches on 3 October.
They have also persuaded some of the stars of the original shows, which aired in the 80s and 90s, to take part.
Edwina Currie is one of the celebrities who will introduce her own puppet.
The new puppets include Charles and Camilla, Michael Gove and Dominic Raab plus Billie Eilish, Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, Idris Elba, Harry Styles, Brad Pitt, Elton John and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Spitting Image arrives on BritBox on October 3, 2020.
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