Co-production from Citrus Television and Factory set to air on the U.K. channel ITV.
A new ITV puppet show promises a biting look at the world of politics and celebrity.
The six-part series, called Newzoids, is a topical puppet animation sketch show poking fun at pop stars, politicians, sports faces and TV favorites, depicting some of the most talked about famous faces in a way they have never been seen before.
The new series aims to provide a combination of high-energy puppeteering, snappy writing and pinpoint accurate impressions, sending up the week’s news events using a cast of outrageous and off-the-wall characters based on some of the world’s most prolific celebrities.
Featuring the voices of impressionists including Jon Culshaw and Debra Stephenson, Newzoids’ mixture of low-tech traditional puppetry and state-of-the-art animation puts a satirical and surreal spin on the stories and celebrities read about every day.
In the world of Newzoids, anything can happen and no one in the public eye is safe from the Newzoids treatment. Amongst the roster of famous (and infamous) faces on the Newzoids roll call are Ant and Dec, Wayne Rooney, Beyonce, Harry Styles, Prince Harry, David Cameron, Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg, Barack Obama, Russell Brand and Simon Cowell.
The writing team consists of a blend of established and up-and-coming talent including Pete Sinclair, Sarah Morgan, Madeleine Brettingham, Gabby Hutchinson Crouch, Colin Swash, Annabel Port, Dan Gaster, Carey Marx, Tom Neenan, Jason Hazeley and Joel Morris.
“ITV has a rich history of playing popular satirical comedy in peaktime on its main channel, and it seemed a good time to revive it this year,” said Elaine Bedell, Director of Entertainment and Comedy for ITV. “We are pleased to be adding to our growing comedy portfolio with this funny and biting look at the world of politics and celebrity.”
Newzoids is a co-production for ITV between production company Citrus Television and animation studio Factory. The series was commissioned by Director of Entertainment and Comedy for ITV, Elaine Bedell, and Claire Zolkwer, Commissioning Editor, Comedy Entertainment, ITV.
Factory previously co-produced the highly acclaimed Strange Hill High with CBBC, and developed the show's innovative puppet animation techniques in-house.
Factory is currently co-producing Scream Street with Coolabi, due to air on CBBC in 2016, and making the highly anticipated Clangers, a co-production from Cbeebies, Coolabi and Sprout, which will air on CBeebies in summer 2015.
Factory also recently completed Christmas special We Wish You A Merry Walrus for Disney and Club Penguin, which aired across EMEA in six languages in December 2014.
Source: ITV
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
