Wallace & Gromit creators: 'Feathers McGraw has languished in prison for 30 years – thinking of revenge'

Speaking at Deadline's Contenders London event over the weekend, creator Nick Park opened up on his vision to make a return to Feathers.

"The idea of McGraw coming back in was a slightly later breaking idea," said Park. "Just machines going wrong seemed a bit normal. We needed something with a bit more bite, and someone with an actual clear, sinister motive.

"Feathers McGraw was obviously the perfect candidate, having sat in jail for 30 years, languishing, thinking of nothing but revenge. It seemed like the perfect motivation for a villain."

When the news of Feathers's return was announced, the internet quite simply couldn't believe it, with reactions of joy and fear all wrapped into one spilled across social media - and the same was to be said for those working behind the scenes!

Executive producer Carla Shelley admitted that "the whole room got chills" when it was revealed Feathers would be returning.

"When Nick shared with the rest of us in the studio that Wallace was inventing a smart gnome, we all got quite excited," Shelly explained.

"A little later on in the process, when he revealed that Feathers was going to come back, the whole room got chills."

While lips have remained firmly sealed about what to expect from the upcoming 70-minute special, fans can be assured they will laugh and cry at Wallace and Gromit's latest adventure.

"I think we're going to make everybody cry. We're going to surprise everybody, and make you laugh as well. It's really emotional. That's what's at the heart of it," said Shelley.

With Vengeance Most Fowl taking place more than two decades after the original, the film has a new take on "a tech-obsessed world", with Park explaining that Wallace's invention is "kind of a metaphor for how we're in love with tech, and sometimes it gets in the way of relationships".

But while plenty has advanced since Wallace and Gromit made their debut on screen, "the heart and soul of it hasn't changed at all", according to director Merlin Crossingham.

"The technique is exactly the same as it always was. Move it, take a frame. Move it, take a frame," he said.

"We really tried to shoot as much as possible in front of the camera. It was only if we couldn't do that that we looked at alternatives that were appropriate to tell the story."

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There will be some familiar voices returning to helm the film, with Ben Whitehead back as Wallace, as well as Peter Kay returning as Chief Inspector Mackintosh.

But there are also some new cast members, including Lauren Patel (The Effects of Lying) and Reece Shearsmith (Inside No. 9).

Diane Morgan (Motherland), Adjoa Andoh (Bridgerton) and Sir Lenny Henry (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power) will all make cameos too!

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer this Christmas.

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