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Beloved animated series returning to the BBC after 16 years with brand new episode
One enthusiastic fan said they 'couldn't be more excited'
A BELOVED animated duo are returning to screens in a brand new adventure.
The pair made their debuts in 1989 with the short film A Grand Day Out, which was directed, animated and co-written by Nick Park.
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Now, Wallace and Gromit will make a comeback sixteen years after their last film appearance, 2008's short film A Matter of Loaf and Death.
It is also almost two decades since the Oscar-winning feature film Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, which premiered in 2005.
The new film is also feature-length with a 70 minute runtime and is titled Vengeance Most Fowl.
Iconic supervillain Feathers McGraw will return to the franchise, following his previous appearance in 1993’s Bafta and Oscar-winning outing, The Wrong Trousers.
More on Wallace and Gromit
The devious and manipulative penguin's sinister plot saw him rent out a room at Wallace and Gromit’s house, hoping to use Wallace’s techno trousers to steal the blue diamond.
In Vengeance Most Fowl, Gromit’s concern grows as Wallace becomes over-dependent on his inventions - a worry 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 reservations and battle sinister forces, or Wallace may never be able to invent again.
The film is being made by multi-award-winning and independent studio Aardman.
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Ben Whitehead returns as Wallace, while comedian Peter Kay reprises his role as Chief Inspector (formerly PC) Mackintosh from The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.
New cast members are Lauren Patel and Reece Shearsmith, with cameos from the likes of Diane Morgan, Adjoa Andoh and Sir Lenny Henry.
Wallace and Gromit's 'The Big Fix Up' is an augmented reality game starring Aardman's beloved characters
Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park, who directs Vengeance Most Fowl, said: “I’d had the idea of a film about garden gnomes turning bad for more than a decade, but I could never work out what made them bad.
“It occurred to me that the single most asked question I get when I meet fans is, will the penguin Feathers McGraw, Wallace and Gromit’s original antagonist from The Wrong Trousers 30 years ago, ever return?
“We’ve had fun bringing him back in cameo capacities but now, three decades on, it felt like the right time.
“Then it hit me: What if Feathers was involved with these gnomes?
"I’d had the idea of a film about garden gnomes turning bad for more than a decade, but I could never work out what made them bad. "
Nick Park
"We’re hoping that this film will appeal to fans of “Gnome Noir” everywhere and that people will be gratified when they see what Feathers has been up to since The Wrong Trousers.”
Fans of the franchise also expressed their excitement, with one writing on X: "Just when we needed this most!"
Another added: "Greatest villain of all time. Heck, greatest plot twist of all time."
A third shared: "Couldn’t be more excited."
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Wallace and Gromit: Films and TV Series
Beloved animated characters Wallace and Gromit made their first appearance in 1989. Over the following decades, they have become ingrained in popular culture and have won prestigious awards. Let's take a look at their extensive filmography.
Films
- A Grand Day Out (1989): The pair's very first adventure, a short film which premiered at an animation festival in Bristol. It was broadcast on Channel 4 on Christmas Day 1990. It was also the first time that Last of the Summer Wine actor Peter Sallis voiced Wallace.
- The Wrong Trousers (1993): This second short film premiered in 1993 and introduced the villain Feathers McGraw. It won the Academy Award for Best Short Film.
- A Close Shave (1995): The duo's third short film which also featured the debut of Shaun, the future title character of Shaun the Sheep.
- Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005): The first feature-length Wallace and Gromit film, which featured the voices of Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter and Peter Kay alongside that of Peter Sallis as Wallace. This film's critical acclaim included winning a number of awards, namely the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
- A Matter of Loaf and Death (2008): The fourth Wallace and Gromit short film. This was a murder mystery which starred Peter Sallis, Ben Whitehead, Sally Lindsay and Geraldine McEwan.
- Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (2024): The second feature length Wallace and Gromit film. It features the return of Feathers McGraw and is also the first full film performance for Ben Whitehead as Wallace. He previously shared the role with Peter Sallis in A Matter of Loaf and Death.
TV series
- Wallace and Gromit's Cracking Contraptions (2002): A series of ten stop-motion animation shorts of approximately one to three minutes each. All ten shorts were aired on BBC One.
- Wallace and Gromit's World of Invention (2010): A science-themed miniseries and Peter Sallis' last acting project before his retirement. Sallis died in 2017, at the age of 96.
Vengeance Most Fowl will premiere on BBC and BBC iPlayer this Christmas and will be available globally on Netflix this winter.
Meanwhile, Wallace and Gromit’s previous adventures are available on BBC iPlayer.
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