Netflix documentary series Penguin Town tells the cute and rather bizarre story of a group of penguins who invade a South African town every summer, causing chaos as they waddle down the streets causing traffic jams and set up homes on beaches and in car parks, much to the amusement of their human neighbours.

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The eight part series, available on Netflix from Wednesday 16th June, follows the endangered African penguins as they show up in Simon’s Town and settle down to breed, and is narrated by actor and comedian Patton Oswalt.

Who is Patton Oswalt?

Penguin Town narrator Patton Oswalt’s voice may already sound familiar – he voiced Remy the culinary rat in the 2007 Pixar animated movie Ratatouille and Max the dog in 2019’s The Secret Life of Pets 2, and has provided voices for animated series Kim Possible, We Bare Bears and Robot Chicken. He is also the narrator of the US sitcom The Goldbergs.

Born in Portsmouth, Virginia, 52-year-old Oswalt began his career performing stand up comedy, which he continues to this day. He won TV roles on Seinfeld, Veronica Mars and The King Of Queens, and has appeared in movies including 22 Jump Street and Young Adult. Most recently, he has co-created and provided voices for episodes of Marvel’s animated series M.O.D.O.K and will also lend his voice to play Matthew the Raven in the upcoming TV adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman.

Oswalt married true crime writer and journalist Michelle McNamara in 2005, and they have a daughter, Alice. McNamara tragically died in her sleep in 2016, and following her death Oswalt announced he would complete the non-fiction book his wife had been writing about the Golden State Killer, a serial killer responsible for at least 13 murders in California. The book, I’ll Be Gone In The Dark, was published in 2018 and also adapted into a hit TV documentary series.

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Penguin Town arrives on Netflix on 16th June. If you’re looking for something else to watch, visit our TV Guide. Check out our Documentaries hub for all the latest news.

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