BBC SWITCHES ON CHRISTMAS AS IT LAUNCHES WALLACE & GROMIT CHRISTMAS IDENTS

To celebrate their long-awaited return to the BBC this Christmas Day in their new film Vengeance Most Fowl, Wallace & Gromit will be taking over the BBC this December with specially-commissioned Christmas idents exclusively for the BBC.

Aardman have created three festive Wallace & Gromit idents which will appear across BBC One throughout December and will launch on the channel tonight, Saturday 30th November, after Strictly Come Dancing.

The idents feature Wallace, Gromit, Wallace’s newest invention, the ‘smart gnome’ Norbot, and supervillain Feathers McGraw. They were filmed at Aardman’s studio in Bristol and directed by Jay Grace (Shaun the Sheep, Moominvalley) and produced by Ben Barrowman.

Ident one – Christmas Jumpers

Wallace, Gromit and Norbot settle down to watch TV at home in matching Christmas jumpers, amidst an array of Wallace’s inventions designed to make relaxing on the sofa even easier…

Ident two – Big Light-Up

Gromit’s attempt at a more traditional Christmas tree is quickly usurped by Wallace’s own, mechanical version.

Ident 3 – Ice Sculpture

Wallace, Gromit and Norbot are outside making ice sculptures, when Norbot’s soon takes a familiarly sinister turn….

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is Wallace & Gromit’s first adventure since A Matter of Loaf and Death, which premiered on the BBC in 2008.

The highly anticipated feature length film sees Gromit’s growing concern as Wallace becomes over-dependent on his inventions - which proves justified when Wallace invents a ‘smart gnome’ that seems to develop an evil mind of its own. As events begin to spiral out of control, it’s up to Gromit to put aside his qualms and battle sinister forces, or Wallace may never be able to invent again!

But who could possibly be behind such evil actions?! Rightfully behind bars for all this time, Feathers McGraw is back with vengeance. Feathers McGraw was last seen in 1993’s BAFTA and Academy Award winning short The Wrong Trousers.

The voice cast features Ben Whitehead as Wallace, the eccentric, cheese-loving inventor from the North of England who lives with his best friend and loyal pooch, Gromit. Peter Kay returns as Chief Inspector Macintosh alongside Lauren Patel (Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Lloyd of the Flies) as his latest eager recruit PC Mukherjee.

Reece Shearsmith (League of Gentleman, Inside No.9) stars as Norbot, Wallace’s latest smart gnome invention. The new film also features cameos from Diane Morgan (Afterlife, Motherland) as a local TV news reporter, Adjoa Andoh (Bridgerton, Invictus) as the judge, Muzz Khan (Brassic, Galavant) as the host of Up North News, and Lenny Henry (Three Little Birds, The Rings of Power) as Mr Convenience.

Sean Clarke, Managing Director of Aardman, says: “You truly know Christmas has arrived when the BBC reveal their iconic idents, so it was an honour and privilege to be asked if we could this year mark the return of Wallace & Gromit with some unique and entertaining idents that I’m confident will bring a smile to everyone’s face throughout the festive season.”

Charlotte Moore, Chief Content Officer for the BBC, says: “We’re so excited to have Wallace & Gromit back on the BBC this Christmas Day and what better way to mark their return than by taking over the airwaves with three joyous festive idents created especially by the masterful team at Aardman. 

"Now famous around the world, Wallace & Gromit are a true homegrown success story and at the BBC we’re incredibly proud to continue our longstanding relationship and premiere their new adventure, Vengeance Most Fowl.”

Wallace and Gromit’s previous adventures can be streamed on BBC iPlayer.