Dead Ringers and 2DTV, and other shows like Bo Selecta! and Monkey Dust, have this delusion that they're being oooh dark, edgy and bitingly satirical and cruel, when actually they're just conforming to the standard, accepted views of what represents satire and black comedy these days. Most modern satire has become like a lovable labrador, which occasionally tears up a cushion, and which everyone is quite fond of and would miss if it went away. It's kind of: 'You've been naughty, but we love you anyway.'
Perhaps I'm mistaken, but the number of complaints (if any) for Dead Ringers etc. isn't even in the same galaxy as those of Spitting Image. I don't think they should just be about number of complaints, but it's a good ruler against which to measure how (maybe only superificially) effective satire is. 'How funny' is also pretty useful too....
Spitting Image, up until about 1992, was fantastically cruel and fuck you, especially by today's standards. I recently saw a Diana sketch which said, in almost the bluntest terms, that she's as thick as pig shit. Granted she was alive then, although that's not necessarily a barrier, but the only thing resembling that level of satiric vitriol are the cartoons of Steve Bell.