7 /10 1 Votes
7/10 TV Country of origin United Kingdom Running time 10–30 mins. Final episode date 23 December 2004 Networks ITV, STV, UTV | 7.1/10 IMDb Directed by Tim Searle Producer(s) Giles Pilbrow First episode date 14 October 2001 Director Tim Searle | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Created by Giles Pilbrow
Georgia Pritchett Starring Jon Culshaw
Jan Ravens
Mark Perry
Lewis MacLeod
Kate O'Sullivan
Enn Reitel
Dave Lamb
Alistair McGowan (Pilot) Genres Animation, Comedy, Satire, Sketch comedy Cast Jon Culshaw, Dave Lamb, Jan Ravens, Enn Reitel, Alistair McGowan Similar Headcases, Dead Ringers, Spitting Image, I Am Not an Animal, The Impressions Show wit | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2DTV is a British satirical animated television show that was broadcast on ITV in the United Kingdom from October 2001 to December 2004. Lasting a total of five series and thirty three episodes, 2DTV became the successor of the popular television series from the 1980s, Spitting Image, and the predecessor of ITV satirical animation from 2008, Headcases.
Contents
Background
2DTV employed the same satirical style as Spitting Image, but used animation rather than puppets. The animation was produced using computer graphics, frequently with animators working up to the day of broadcast. Series producer Giles Pilbrow was a veteran of Spitting Image, as were some of the voice artists on the show.
The series was directed by Tim Searle. 2DTV was first broadcast in March 2001, however, an unbroadcast pilot episode was recorded nearly six months beforehand. The pilot episode featured a resident newsreader, played by Alistair McGowan, however, his character was not carried over when an full seven part first series was commissioned by ITV. Each episode in the first series lasted ten minutes.
In April 2002, a second seven episode series began broadcasting, once again, with each episode lasting ten minutes. In July 2002, the series spawned its own official single, "Shoot the Dog", which was performed by George Michael. The music video for "Shoot the Dog" features an animated Michael, plus several other characters from 2DTV, performing the song.
In November 2002, an commercial for the home media compilation, The Best of 2DTV, was banned by the BACC. The commercial depicted George W. Bush taking a VHS out of its case, and putting it in a toaster. Ofcom stated that advertisements for products cannot appear to be endorsed by someone without their permission – in this case George W. Bush.
The original advert was reworked into a sketch in which Bush writes a letter complaining about his portrayal in the media as a moron, then "posts" the letter in a toaster. The programme creators then proposed a commercial satirising Osama Bin Laden, and were informed that this would also be banned on the grounds that Bin Laden would have to give permission for his image to be used. Another commercial satirised David Beckham by compiling his list for Christmas and asking his wife, "how do you spell DVD?".
The banning was later overturned on the grounds that the commercial was legitimate satire, and the commercial was shown unedited. The programme creators claimed that the controversy had generated more interest in the show than the adverts could ever have done alone. For the third series, each episode was extended to twenty minutes, including advertisements.
After the third series, many of the original cast members, including Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Mark Perry, decided to depart the series following an announcement that the fourth series would be extended to thirty minutes per episode. As such, new cast members Lewis MacLeod, Kate O'Sullivan and Enn Reitel were drafted in to take over. They appeared alongside the only remaining original cast member, Dave Lamb. All four returned for a fifth series in 2004, however, due to falling ratings, its broadcast occurred in the graveyard slot, and as such, the show was axed in December 2004.