ITV's new satire Newzoids gets mixed reviews after first showing

British TV channel ITV's new satire, Newzoids, - dubbed the modern-day Spitting Image - has received mixed reviews after its first showing on 15 April.

The six-part ITV series - where the likes of Kate Middleton and Prince Willam, Jeremy Clarkson, Nick Clegg, Jeremy Kyle and Andy Murray were ridiculed - had a range of edgy sketches, but many viewers were saying it was "no Spitting Image" - a reference to the 1980s satirical puppet show.

As the reviewer in the Independent newspaper put it: "But oh dear, what a forgettable start."

He added: "There was an Ed Miliband sketch, built around the idea that Ed Miliband is a geek who cannot eat a bacon sandwich, and a David Cameron sketch in which the joke was that he is posh. There were some Royal Family sketches too, hinging on the notion that they too are posh. Yes, such was the level of creative originality that went into the script writing."

But, he conceded: "There was, to be fair, one decent gag before the break, when Barack Obama described himself as the only black American to have run twice without getting shot in the back by a police officer, though I do wonder if they are the first to have come up with that one. The second half also had a mildly amusing sketch in which Nick Clegg appeared on the Jeremy Kyle Showto complain that David Cameron had lured him into bed on false promises. And I liked the song in which Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon sang Sod the English."

Tennis star Andy Murray was lampooned and is depicted on his wedding night as asking for someone close to home to be his "sex coach".

In the Twittersphere, reaction appeared to be more balanced.

One fan tweeted: "@ITV #Newzoids was great, it was so update Andy Murray & his wife was in it, and they only got Married about a week ago Very Funny(sic)."

Another said: "The Broadchurch sketch was pretty good."

While another added: "Newzoids is no Spitting Image but I guess it will have to do."

It wasn't all good, after just 10 minutes, someone tweeted: "Bloody awful. Embarrassingly bad."

Another added: "Been watching this #Newzoids programme for about 5 minutes and I've already drawn the conclusion it's about as funny as getting glassed."