''Wallace and Gromit's World of Invention'' is a British science-themed miniseries, starring

Peter Sallis Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

Ashley Jensen Ashley Jensen (born 11 August 1969) is a Scottish actress and narrator. She was nominated for an Emmy for her role on the television series '' Extras'', in which she appeared from 2005 to 2007. She was a cast member of the ABC series '' Ugly ...

Jem Stansfield Jeremy Stansfield (born 1970) is a British engineer and television presenter who is best known for presenting the BBC One science show '' Bang Goes the Theory''. Career Stansfield has a degree in aeronautics from Bristol University and, befo ...

, and

John Sparkes John Sparkes (born 6 January 1954) is a Welsh actor and comedian. He portrayed Barry Welsh, presenter of the HTV Wales series '' Barry Welsh Is Coming''. He has also had major roles in ''Naked Video'', '' Absolutely'', ''Fireman Sam'', ''Shau ...

, produced by

Aardman Animations Aardman Animations Limited (also known as Aardman Studios, simply Aardman or Aardman Animation and stylised as AARDMAN as of 2022) is a British animation studio based in Bristol, England. It is known for films made using stop-motion and clay ani ...

, which aired on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

during 2010, from 3 November to 8 December. The programme focuses on inventions based around various themes, and consists of live-action films interlaced with animated

claymation Clay animation or claymation, sometimes plasticine animation, is one of many forms of stop-motion animation. Each animated piece, either character or background, is "deformable"—made of a malleable substance, usually plasticine clay. Tra ...

segments hosted by characters

Wallace and Gromit ''Wallace & Gromit'' is a British stop-motion comedy franchise created by Nick Park of Aardman Animations. The series consists of four short films and one feature-length film, and has spawned numerous spin-offs and TV adaptations. The series ce ...

, featuring a side-plot connected to that episode's theme. While Sallis reprises his role as the voice of Wallace, live-action film segments were either narrated by Jensen or presented by Stansfield, with Sparkes providing the voice of Wallace and Gromit's unseen archivist Goronwy, a unique character for the programme. The programme ran for six episodes and was the last production that Sallis performed in before his retirement from acting due to ill health. Its creation was aimed by the BBC at inspiring a new generation of inventors, according to a press statement released prior to the programme's broadcast.

Production

The series was commissioned by Jay Hunt, controller of BBC One, and Jo Ball, following a meeting to discuss the concept of the programme, with Alison Kirkham from the BBC and Miles Bullough from Aardman as the executive producers. The show's concept was to take a look at real-life inventors, contraptions, gadgets and inventions, from an educational point of view, but interlaced with the light-hearted humour associated with Wallace and Gromit.

Format

Each episode is focused on a specific theme that underlines the various inventions explored by the programme, as well as the side-plot of the animated escapades of Wallace and Gromit - while the former acts as host, the latter mainly tries to focus on running the film equipment the pair uses in the basement of their home. The side-plots often focus on an invention that Wallace has created to improve the pair's lives, inspired by the topical theme of the episode. Often the invention backfires due to bad construction or a mishap. Most of the programme consists of live-action segments. Most of these are narrated by Ashley Jensen, and focus on a novel invention and/or a modern inventor, with the exception of a recurring segment entitled "It Never Got Off the Drawing Board", which is presented by Jem Stansfield (referred to as Wallace's "science correspondent") and focuses on an invention that never got past the design or prototype stage. In a segment entitled "Contraption Countdown" and narrated by Wallace's archivist Goronwy (voiced by John Sparkes), the show features a countdown of five or six inventions documented in archive footage, connected to the episode's theme.

Episodes

Home release

On 13 December 2010, a DVD of the entire series was released, which also included a pamphlet of ideas for inventions and six short video demonstrations. A Blu-ray release had followed on 13 March 2012 in America by

Lionsgate Home Entertainment Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...

References

External links

Official Wallace and Gromit website
* * * * * {{portal bar, Animation, United Kingdom, Television, BBC Wallace and Gromit 2010s British children's television series 2010 British television series debuts 2010 British television series endings BAFTA winners (television series) British children's animated science fiction television series British stop-motion animated television series English-language television shows BBC Television shows Television series by Aardman Animations Science and technology in the United Kingdom Television shows set in Lancashire British television series with live action and animation