Wallace and Gromit 2024: Who does the voice of Wallace after since Last of the Summer Wine legend Peter Sallis died
Wallace and Gromit Vegence Most Fowl sees a welcome return for Nick Park's beloved characters this Christmas day. The stop-motion pair are back for a new episode, their first major TV appearance in more than decade.
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl will air at 6.10pm on BBC One on Christmas Day and see the pair face Gromit’s growing concern as Wallace becomes over-dependent on his inventions - which proves justified when Wallace creates a ‘smart gnome’ that seems to develop an evil mind of its own.
As events begin to spiral out of control, it’s up to Gromit to put aside his qualms and battle sinister forces, or Wallace may never be able to invent again. Wallace is being voiced by Ben Whitehead, who has voiced the character officially since 2012 when the original voice actor, Peter Sallis, retired due to ill health.
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Peter, who voiced Wallis from 1989 until 2012, died in 2017, aged 96, and was a constant feature on UK TV for decades, starring as Norman "Cleggy" Clegg in Last of the Summer Wine from its 1973 inception until the final episode in 2010 as well as voicing the hapless inventor from the Aardman universe.
Ben first voiced Wallace in 2009 in Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, which is a four-part adventure game. For the latest TV & Showbiz news, sign up to our newsletter.
His first official time voicing the character was in 2012 for Wallace & Gromit's Musical Marvels. Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl will also see the return of Feathers McGraw, who was last since in the 1993 BAFTA and Academy Award-winning short The Wrong Trousers.
The Wrong Trousers saw the manipulative and calculating penguin - already a wanted criminal - rent out a room at Wallace and Gromit’s house where he sought to use Wallace’s techno trousers to steal the blue diamond. Rightfully behind bars ever since, he’s now back for revenge.
Creator Nick Park told the BBC this week that making the first film since Peter's death was emotional. He said: "It has been quite emotional [doing this production] since we lost Peter, he was such an original, unique voice," says Nick Park of Sallis, who died in 2017 at the age of 96.
"So it's very hard for anyone to step into his shoes. But we have been blessed with a youngish actor whom we've known for many years who can do a fantastic Wallace impersonation.
"He's stepped in very kindly, and is just great. It's hard to tell them apart." Whitehead is a 47-year-old actor and voice artist who has said he's 'honoured' to take on the role but feels "enormous pressure!" He added: ""Because it's a very popular character. I got to work with Peter [Sallis] a couple of times for [2005's] The Curse of the Were-Rabbit film.
"So yeah, there's a great deal of pressure with that. And I feel very grateful to Aardman for giving me so much time to build the character.
"You kind of have to do the 'hmm' and the 'hee-hee'," he continues - demonstrating some Wallace-isms that sound indistinguishable from Peter Sallis's Yorkshire tones.
"Definitely the elongation of the vowels like 'cheeeeese'!"
