Deep Fake: Neighbour Wars: ITVX release date, trailer, which celebrities are featured - is the show legal?

Deep Fake: Neighbour Wars is a new outlandish ITVX comedy series which follows a bunch of mismatched celebs living together on an estate where they argue over everything from Christmas decorations to pigeons.

The series features dozens of celebrities, but none of the stars you see on the screen were involved in filming in any way. That’s because they’re all deepfakes. Using new imaging technology, the likenesses of celebrities have been digitally imposed over an actors’ faces.

It’s essentially a much higher tech version of the 2000s BBC children’s show Hedz which lampooned everyone from Ant and Dec to Barack Obama. This is what to expect from the series, and how ITV got away with making it:

Which celebrities are on Deep Fake: Neighbour Wars?

The series sees Idris Elba as a handyman who gets into a tiff with bus driver Kim Kardashian over access to their shared garden. Greta Thunberg is a young mum who is enraged by Conor McGregor and Ariana Grande’s Christmas decorations which are up all year round.

Meanwhile, Rihanna and her baby Kevin Hart (presumably another joke at the Jumanji actor’s height) have their peaceful life upset when their neighbour, Usain Bolt, gets a new girlfriend - Fleabag star Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Adele has a falling out with Jake Paul when his pigeon’s keep ruining her awning.

Elsewhere, Beyonce  and Priyanka Chopra team up against Billie Eilish, and Mark Whalberg’s obsession with beekeeping tests his friendship with Chris Rock. Floyd Mayweather and Dua Lipa pick a fight with Matthew McConaughey over his large tree, and Nicki Minaj and Tom Holland - who have just got married - have a bust-up with Mark Zuckerberg.

But wait, there’s more - Andy Murray and his mum, Lorraine Kelly for some reason, pick a fight with RuPaul over her noisy chickens, and Olivia Colman and Jay-Z’s cat is stolen by Tom Hiddleston, forcing local policeman Will Smith to get involved.

More mismatched celebrity neighbours include couple Tyson Fury and Cardi B who are living next door to Simon Cowell, who is working as a mechanic. Harry Kane gets frustrated with Stormzy, and Gal Gadot restores the peace.

Is Deep Fake: Neighbour Wars legal?

You’d think that you own the right to your own face, but apparently that isn’t completely true. Deep Fake: Neighbour Wars was made without the involvement of any of the celebrities featured in the show, despite the fact that ITV is clearly making money by using their likenesses.

Legal expert, Ron Moscona, told Little Black Book: “This kind of show definitely tests the limits. It would need to make it abundantly clear that the deepfake images are not real and also that the show is not sponsored or approved by the individuals being portrayed.

“This is usually not a problem if the comedy clearly makes fun of celebrities by way of parody or pastiche. However, the deepfake technology – particularly if it is high quality – clearly increases the risk of people getting the wrong end of the stick.”

Episodes begin with an explicit disclaimer reading: “The powers that be made us put this at the start otherwise we may not have been able to get it on the telly. This is all fake.

“The stories are all made up. The real celebs have had nothing to do with this. Our celebs are all played by actors. Their faces are all DEEP FAKED.”

Episodes also carry a ‘Deep Fake’ watermark at the top of the screen to ensure that anyone tuning in part-way through understands the nature of the show.

However, this doesn’t stop screenshots and clips from the show being shared on social media out of context long after the series has aired. This could cause problems for the celebrities involved - although the series plot lines are quite outlandish and it’s unlikely that many people would believe that Kim Kardashian is actually working as a bus driver.

So, for now the use of deepfakes in a parody show like Neighbour Wars is perfectly legal, but it’s possible that the law may change in the coming years and place more restrictions on how deepfake technology can be used in entertainment.

Is there a trailer for Deep Fake: Neighbour Wars?

Yes there is, and you can watch it right here:

When is Deep Fake: Neighbour Wars on TV?

There are six episodes in Deep Fake: Neighbour Wars and they all landed on ITVX on Thursday 26 January. The series is expected to air on ITV in instalments later this year, but an official air date has not yet been confirmed.