Vengeance Most Fowl star explains why there's no end in sight for Wallace & Gromit

"There's a timeless quality to it," he said. "Even with new technology in it, there's still rivets and hammers and a guy botching things up in his shed. I think that's nice. I think that's believable. It's very real."

No matter what hijinks our stop motion heroes get up to, there's always time for a cuppa and a cheese sarnie. It's not just that Wallace & Gromit are relatable though.

"For the most part," added Whitehead, "Wallace & Gromit is just so funny. It's really funny. The characters that they bring into these films are really good. It's a simple story that's very well told. There's a bit of [cartoonist] Heath Robinson in there.

"But it's quite original. It feels like it's been harvested from the world, rather than from an existing animation or film or whatever. Even though they do loads of film references throughout the movie."

Read more:

• Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl review – Britain's premier stop-motion heroes are better than ever
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"That's another thing as well," he continued. "Those references are really endearing. Minute little touches. What they do is so detailed. I was so excited walking around the set. They'll do, like, little postcards and a postcard rack and things like that, which will be actual real postcards. The fine detail of these films is incredible."

An immeasurable amount of work goes into crafting these films, but how long can Aardman Animations keep this up? Last year, the factory that supplies the studio clay went out of business, and with all the ways that culture has evolved over the years, will Wallace & Gromit be forced to change and adapt to stay relevant?

"I don't think that much will change," said Whitehead. "There's lots of games, virtual reality and things like that, but I think everyone knows that the heart of it is the stop motion."

For many original fans of Wallace & Gromit, acting legend Peter Sallis was also the heart of this franchise, voicing Wallace as far back as 1989's BAFTA-winning short A Grand Day Out. But after he retired in 2012 (before passing in 2017), Sallis was replaced by Whitehead who's since done an incredible job of taking over as Wallace.

"I did step into someone else's shoes for this role, and I could never hope to fill them. As an actor, it's always like, 'I really hope I keep this job.' I'm doing this job and I'm enjoying it, but I'd love for someone else to do it after me. I'd love for these characters to be going on so long that when I'm not able to do it anymore, whether I'm retired or whatever, then someone else will do it."

As Whitehead's work on Vengeance Most Fowl has already proved, there's plenty of life left in Wallace & Gromit even after key members of the team leave, whatever the reason might be. That's just as well, because it's impossible to imagine British culture, and cinema as a whole, without everyone's favourite inventor and his loveable mute dog. That would be most fowl indeed.

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer at 6:10pm on Christmas Day.

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