BBC Celebrates 40 years Of Aardman with New Documentary and more

Beloved British animation studio Aardman are a staple of the Christmas TV schedule in the UK. The Wallace and Gromit shorts are just some of the festive treats from those masters of stop-motion that show year after year. This Christmas a brand new short featuring Shaun The Sheep- entitled The Farmer's Llamas will air on Boxing Day on BBC One. Earlier that same day the Beeb will also debut a brand new documentary commissioned to celebrate Aardman's upcoming 40th anniversary.

A Grand Night In will explore the history of the multiple-Oscar-winning studio, taking in all their major successes such as Wallace and Gromit, Morph, Creature Comforts and Shaun The Sheep. It will even feature some brand new animation starring their break-out stars Morph and Wallace and Gromit.



The documentary will also feature contributions from celebrity Aardman fans including animation luminaries  Terry Gilliam, John Lasseter and Matt Groening. It will air at 2:25pm on Boxing Day, and will then be available for 30 days to viewers in the UK via iPlayer. 

The documentary is preceded by a repeat showing of the very first short starring Britain's favourite man and dog duo with A Grand Day Out at 2:00pm.

The 30 minute Shaun The Sheep in The Farmer's Llamas will air at 6:15pm, and will then also be available on iPlayer. The special is also available now to Amazon Prime subscribers in the United States. Animated Oscar winner Curse Of The Were Rabbit will air on BBC Three on the 27th, while A Matter of Loaf and Death will show on BBC One on the 28th. Chicken Run gets an airing on the 30th, while The Wrong Trousers will close out the fun on New Year's Eve afternoon.

Aardman also produced an exclusive cover for the 'legendary Christmas issue' of TV listings guide Radio Times, which you can see below

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