The History of
The history of Spiteful Puppet which is now a fully owned property of AUK Studios.
Spiteful Puppet was formed in 2014 by ex-directors Iain Meadows and Matt Hopper, with investment from CEO Andrew Swaisland, who then brought on board Gary Haberfield as a fellow director. Spiteful Puppet gained a foothold in the audio market with their first release – ‘HOOD’. This was writer/director Iain Meadows take on the legend of Robin Hood, with a twist, and starred Lee Ingleby (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Inspector George Gently) as the titular hero. From there, a BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast was secured, and the series won a BBC Audio Drama Award and a New York festival Award too.
In 2016, Barnaby Eaton-Jones was officially brought on board to produce and adapt an unproduced ‘Robin of Sherwood’ feature-length script called ‘The Knights of the Apocalypse’ as an audio drama (from the pen of the late writer/creator of the seminal 1980’s television series) and then, in 2017, as a director; bringing with him a deal with ITV Global to produce more, new ‘Robin of Sherwood’ stories.
Winning a New York Festivals Award for ‘The Knights of the Apocalypse’, Spiteful Puppet suddenly shot up in prominence for such a young company in a very competitive field, with audio projects announced and produced continually on Barnaby’s creative suggestion.
The majority won awards (with the coveted Gold from New York Festivals going to a production of ‘Passport To Oblivion’, directed, co-written, and produced by Barnaby).
In 2018, Iain Meadows and Matt Hopper left as directors and Barnaby Eaton-Jones became the sole Creative Director. In the following few years, Spiteful Puppet produced bigger and better productions, linking with well-known IP and big companies for co-productions. The majority of their co-productions from 2020 to 2023 had mostly being funded be AUK Studios and executively produced by Paul Andrews; which has them to release yet more award-winning audios.
They branched out into theatre too, with the sold-out Edinburgh Festival show of ‘Musik’, starring Frances Barber, and written by Jonathan Harvey, with music from The Pet Shop Boys; which then transferred for a limited run in the West End.
In 2023, and due to Barnaby’s success with freelance productions via Audible, Spiteful Puppet became a co-producer of a 10-episode series called ‘Getting Better’; an audio drama to celebrate and educate, based on the originals of the National Health Service. Barnaby, via Spiteful Puppet, was on board as co-producer, co-director, and one of the ensembles of lead roles.
Spiteful Puppet’s success has always been built by following the same formula; finding an interesting project and assembling a regular and loyal team of creative friends in writing, production, acting and post-production.
Spiteful Puppet was acquired by its major co-producer/funder, AUK Studios, in late 2023, and Andrew Swaisland and Gary Haberfield both stepped down as directors, with Barnaby Eaton-Jones now fully at the helm as Creative Director of both the prior Spiteful Puppet legacy and then moving forward as part of the lead of AUK Studios ongoing creative productions.
It’s exciting to think what the future holds and one thing’s for sure… it’s going to be entertaining!
