WALLACE & Gromit master-mind Nick Park describes his new film as “Cape Fear with penguins” – and only created it so he could share a fun joke about artificial intelligence.

His much-loved animation movie series about the loveable Plasticine pair makes an eagerly awaited Christmas Day return on BBC One after a 16-year hiatus.

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Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is out on Christmas Day[/caption]

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Iconic villain Feathers McGraw returns[/caption]

Sixth film Vengeance Most Fowl will include fun nods to 1991 psychological thriller Cape Fear, starring Robert De Niro, as well as the release from captivity of a former Wallace & Gromit penguin baddie now hell-bent on revenge.

But Nick, 66, reveals the inspiration for his festive comeback — featuring eccentric inventor Wallace’s latest creation, AI-generated robotic gnome Norbot — began with a two-word gag.

The whole film beganwith a joke…the AI robot was an excuse to have Wallace saying ‘AI, lad!’ to him

Creator Nick Parker

He explained: “I’ve got too many ideas, although the idea for this one came about accidentally.

“It often starts with a joke, a doodle or a sketch — and this time was no different. Creating an AI-generated robot was an excuse to have Wallace saying, ‘AI, lad!’ and we built the whole film around that.”

It is 35 years since his movie saga’s first instalment, 1989 short Wallace & Gromit: A Grand Day Out, and Nick added of the latest film:

“It is also a kind of love letter to the fans and to the legacy of Wallace and Gromit.”

Viewers will see Wallace and Norbot become prime suspects for a crimewave and, while Wallace pleads his innocence, it is up to his loyal beagle Gromit to battle their dastardly penguin nemesis Feathers McGraw.

Eureka moment

Feathers, confined behind zoo bars for 30 years after Wallace and Gromit turned him over to police in the 1993 Oscar-winning short Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers, is now free and plotting to settle a score with the popular pair.

Nick revealed Feathers — another of his Plasticine figures, who disguises himself as a chicken by wearing a red rubber glove on his head — was brought back in a eureka moment as the film’s creative aces brainstormed for a new storyline.

He said: “It sounds crazy, but it was a lightning strike — there was Feathers McGraw on the shelf. We had a wonderfully motivated villain, someone who was put away by Wallace and Gromit. So it became like Cape Fear with penguins.”

“I could never find a good reason or context to bring Feathers back before.”

Nick added: “He’s been in the zoo plotting his revenge for years — that’s what made him such a good villain. There’s a real personal edge to it.

“You’ve got to love your villains, otherwise you can’t tell their story.

“Feathers is that silent, cold, sinister character. I guess it’s the art of minimalism and nuance, and achieving a lot by doing very little.

“You just believe in what he’s thinking, that he’s a totally alive, sinister, enigmatic, mysterious villain.

“Feathers is perfect for what we needed, he answers all the story problems. That’s what we’ve played on big-time with this film.”

Nick also tells how he wanted to bring to kids his own childhood experience of being thrilled watching TV shows such as Doctor Who while hiding nervously behind the sofa.

But he added: “Feathers is a fun villain. We never go to very dark places — it’s cartoon level. I used to love being scared as a child, watching Doctor Who while hiding behind the sofa, so this film is a bit scary but hopefully in a way that’s fun.”

No character has ever died in the Wallace & Gromit films.

Nick said: “We have thought about killing characters off but I try not to go there, so there’s always a chance of redemption.” And the genius movie-maker does not shy away from the issues of the day, including AI.

Nick said of his introduction of Norbot: “Wallace and Gromit are still quaintly old-fashioned, with the modern thread of up-to-date tech, but they won’t get totally up to date, ever.

“If it’s got any kind of serious message it’s really just a question of, ‘Is technology actually taking something away from our human experience or is it enhancing?’.”

Following a hugely successful promotional tour of the US, globally renowned Nick has returned home to Preston, Lancs, where he was born to a seamstress mum and architectural photographer dad.

He insists he has never forgotten his roots nor been seduced by the glitz and glamour of Hollywood.

Nick said: “I never thought playing with Plasticine would lead to going to Tinseltown.”

And he added of his animation characters: “I sometimes have to pinch myself when I hear people on TV reeling off their names, thinking, ‘I just thought of those as a stupid idea as a student, but now they’re like a household name and people quote them all the time’. The warmth for these characters is incredible.”

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An animator getting the characters in position for one of the Christmas special scenes[/caption]

Nick will watch the Christmas Day special at home with his family in Preston, over a glass of wine and a hot mince pie with cream — like so many of us.

He said: “It’s very much part of my Christmas tradition. I’ll be with my wife and stepson, and we’ll be sitting down to watch it. After that, I’ll have a long lie down.”

He cannot wait to see on screen the results of an 18-month labour of love for him and a team that includes 35 animators.

He said: “People often say, ‘You must need a lot of patience for animation’ . . . which is true.

‘Sad loss of Peter’

“If we had a good week, we’d film about a minute of the film.

“I always think it’s more your loved ones and your friends that need the patience, because they kind of lose you for a while.”

He added of the sure-fire ratings sensation: “Watching when it’s going out live, you feel like you’re watching along with everyone else.

“It’s important, going back to the days when we all watched the same things on telly and talked about them. Wallace & Gromit appeals to such an age range. Grandparents and children can watch it together. I love the idea that it brings families together.”

But it will not be the only TV he will look out for this Christmas.
Nick said: “I’ll also be watching Gavin & Stacey, Doctor Who, and Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing — one of my favourite programmes, as I love the banter.”

Poignantly, the new film will also feature the new voice of cheese-loving Wallace, Ben Whitehead, as he replaces veteran actor Peter Sallis who died in 2017 aged 96.

Peter had played the role since Nick wrote to him while a student in 1983, and the star agreed to work on A Grand Day Out in return for a £50 charity donation. He went on to appear in all the other Wallace & Gromit films — The Wrong Trousers, 1995’s A Close Shave, 2005’s The Curse of The Were-Rabbit and 2008’s A Matter Of Loaf And Death, as well as video games and ads.

But when Peter’s eyesight began to make it hard to read his words, he sometimes asked Ben to step in.

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Wallace and Gromit in festive attire[/caption]

Nick said: “We’ve been so blessed, since the sad loss of Peter, that the character can live on. It’s very much a tribute — and his were very big shoes to step into.

“We’ve known Ben for years — he started off playing a background villager in The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit, and we discovered he could do a fantastic mimic of Wallace.”

He added of filming the latest movie: “Ben is so attentive to the way Peter did everything, so it was the most eerie feeling, as he would start chatting in character, just the way Peter did.

“He’d studied him so much and has it down to a tee. I wonder if audiences will tell the difference.”

Nick also hopes fans will enjoy new creations including Norbot, voiced by Reece Shearsmith.

Nick also persuaded Peter Kay to reprise the part he played in Curse Of The Were-Rabbit, as PC Albert Mackintosh.

Laughing, Nick said of Peter’s screen character, “He’s been promoted, he’s Chief Inspector now,” and added: “Peter has been brilliant He’s a comic legend and to have him say yes is such an honour.”

The film also features cameos from Philomena Cunk comic Diane Morgan and Sir Lenny Henry, and Nick said: “At the end of the day I just want to entertain people, make people laugh and to feel they’ve had a really great time with the characters.”

So can we also expect another film after Vengeance Most Fowl? Well, Nick has no plans to call time.

He said: “If you’ve got that creative impulse you can’t just put your feet up.

“You want to keep trying new things, and Wallace and Gromit keep offering new opportunities so I’ve got no intention of retiring just yet.”

• Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is on Christmas Day at 6.10pm, BBC One

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The last Wallace and Gromit came out 16 years ago[/caption]

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Creator Nick Parker says the film is ‘like Cape Fear with penguins’[/caption]

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CHLOE Madeley has spoken for the first time about being groped by a rugby star, revealing: “He grabbed my a*se”.

The Sun on Sunday revealed last month how it happened as she was in a DJ booth with her then-husband James Haskell.

Mark Hayman

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2018 David M. Benett

Chloe reveals how she doesn’t want to ‘belittle anyone else’s awful experiences’[/caption]

He wrote about it in a book he co-wrote — saying one player propositioned Chloe while his “supposedly squeaky clean” team-mate touched her bum.

Speaking exclusively to our Fabulous magazine, Chloe, 37, said: “I don’t want to belittle anyone else’s awful experiences at the hands of disgusting men and I would never want to be insensitive.

“But this incident was such a non-event for me.

“Everybody had been drinking for multiple hours. It happened so quickly and I was like, ‘OK, some guy just grabbed my arse’.

“I told James about it on the way home. He was really good and asked how I felt. I said, ‘Hmm, everyone was drunk,’ and I honestly never thought about it again until he wrote the book.”

But fitness trainer Chloe, who split from England rugby star James in 2023 after nearly ten years together, added: “I don’t think it’s OK for men to touch women or say inappropriate things thinking it’s ‘banter’.

“But it was one of those situations where I didn’t feel threatened and no trauma had been inflicted.

“It was just a thing that happened. In that particular environment, it wasn’t particularly surprising.

“I was hesitant to come out and say that. Either I lie and pretend it was soul-destroying or tell the truth and look insensitive, which I’m not trying to.”

BRITAIN’S creaking rail network has seen trains delayed by 259 years in a decade.

Services have been late for a total of 136million minutes since 2014 and 15,499,548 in the last year — more than 30 years.

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Britain’s failing rail network has seen trains delayed by 259 years since 2014[/caption]

Despite all the hold-ups, fares have risen by 34.3 per cent on average during the same period, according to the Rail Delivery Group.

An annual season ticket between Reading and London has gone from £4,088 to £5,600, and a Portsmouth to London one from £4,308 to £5,896.

The data was released after a request by Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe and comes ahead of another inflation-busting fares rise in March.

Bruce Williamson, of campaign group Railfuture, said: “It’s very frustrating for passengers who want an affordable and not overcrowded railway that gets them from A to B reliably. They are not getting a better service but they are paying more for it.

“Under British Rail, the railways were starved of investment for decades. We are still paying the price with clapped-out rolling stock and a lack of electrified lines.

“At the same time, the Government has billions to keep a freeze in fuel duty for motorists — but nothing for a more environmentally-friendly form of travel.”

The Department for Transport said the figures were unacceptable and showed Britain’s railways were not fit for purpose.

A spokesman promised the “biggest overhaul in a generation” as the railways return to public ownership.

He said it would “end years of waste and fragmentation”, bringing together track and train for “reliable and high-quality services alongside simpler ticketing and fares”.

NEARLY 1,000 sex offenders were spared prosecution if they signed up for therapy, went to a library or joined educational courses last year, under measures first proposed by David Lammy.

Shock figures show police ­forces across England and Wales used the controversial Outcome 22 to take no further action on 992 reported offences over the 12 months to March.

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Nearly 1,000 sex offenders were spared prosecution under measures first proposed by David Lammy[/caption]

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Outcome 22 was introduced by ex-Home Secretary Sajid Javid, who adopted recommendations made by Labour MP David Lammy in a 2017 report[/caption]

The provision, which was brought in to tackle low-level crime by young, first-time offenders, allows cops to halt proceedings if an accused ­person agrees to take courses to “prevent reoffending”.

But we can reveal the disposal tool is being applied to a string of vile crimes, including grooming, flashing, sexual assault and rape, up to four times as often as in 2020.

Last night, the statistics sparked calls for the Government to stop using Outcome 22 over fears the soft-touch punishments make a mockery of law and order.

Former Met detective Peter ­Bleksley said: “With each and every agreement, a victim is cheated of seeing justice in court. There is no way this tool should be used for sex offences — let alone this often.”

Last year’s total for England and Wales is more than triple the 278 sex offences disposed of using the ­measure in the scheme’s first year, after it was introduced in 2019 by the Home Office.

It is just 200 shy of the record 1,167 disposals for sex offenders set in 2022.

And for some serious crimes, including sexual assault on a girl under 13, the rate of Outcome 22 ­resolutions has quadrupled — from 23 to 104 — in just four years.

Accused predators who agree to join diversionary courses do not get a criminal record as they need not formally admit to an offence.

Outcome 22 was introduced by then-Home Secretary Sajid Javid, who adopted recommendations made by Labour MP David Lammy in a 2017 report about the treatment of minorities in the justice system.

Mr Lammy, now Labour’s Foreign ­Secretary, suggested cops could delay charges and instead focus on the ­rehabilitation of suspects before they had to enter a plea.

Last year’s offenders included 87 alleged rapists and 58 accused flashers, who were all reported to police and faced probes.

But instead of them being charged, cops instead gave them the option to take “educational” courses to discourage reoffending.

Examples of so-called diversionary measures given in a booklet issued by the National Police Chiefs’ ­Council include watching films about the impact of offences on victims.

It also says offenders can channel their energy from crime into ­“something else, such as sports, arts or libraries”.

Our figures show at least 206 victims — 133 girls and 73 boys — were under the age of 13.

That includes 14 alleged crooks probed on suspicion of sexually assaulting girls under 13 in ­Nottinghamshire, who were then let off by the county’s police force.

Victims under 13

And Greater Manchester police issued 24 disposals to suspects probed over alleged sexual activity with children under the age of ­consent.

In Merseyside, 13 accused were put on courses after being investigated for grooming — the most for any force in the country.

Across all sex offences, Essex police used the most diversionary measures, doling out 101 — including nine for alleged rapes.

The intervention tactic is mostly used with teenagers who have committed minor offences, such as petty theft or cannabis possession.

But it has increasingly been used for serious crimes, including sex offences and violent beatings — sparking fears police are failing to properly prosecute offenders.

It was also used 499 times for allegations of having a bladed weapon, 72 times for gun crimes and 4,000 times for assault causing an injury last year.

‘Far too much power’

For all offences, Outcome 22 was applied 24,300 times — 153 per cent higher than the 9,600 given in the scheme’s first year.

Mr Bleksley fumed that cops using diversionary resolutions for sex offences may be abusing their power.

He said: “This measure is overused and, in some cases, abused to prevent people being sent where they should be going — prison — because there is no capacity.

“It’s giving police far too much power. Their job is to gather evidence, arrest people and put cases together for the CPS. They should not be judge, jury and executioner which, essentially, this allows them to do. The punishments must fit the crime.”

Former Tory frontbench MP Sir Alec Shelbrooke called on Labour to reverse the changes proposed by one of Keir Starmer’s most senior Cabinet ministers.

He said: “This is cheating victims, justice and making a mockery of law and order.

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He added: ‘There is no way this tool should be used for sex offences — let alone this often’[/caption]

“At the very minimum, you would expect these people to be put on the sex offenders’ register if they have admitted to an offence. That can be done at a magistrates’ court.

“We need to crack down so that we don’t have a load of offenders running around the streets who are known to the police, because they’ve been dealt with this way but aren’t registered sex offenders.”

Dr Alison Heydari, NPCC lead for Out Of Court Resolutions, said: “Community resolutions and other out-of-court resolutions are only used in a small number of sexual offence cases. They may be typically applied where children share inappropriate images or in cases of sex between under-age children.

“We have made it clear that out- of-court resolutions are not to be used in serious cases. Officers take into consideration all circumstances of a case, with victims’ wishes at the centre of the decision-making.”

SO WHAT IS OUTCOME 22?

THE little-known Outcome 22 allows police forces to let offenders carry out a rehabilitation activity in return for any future charges being dropped.

Crooks must undertake a diversionary, educational or intervention course as a form of punishment – though they avoid getting a criminal record and don’t have to admit any offence.

It was introduced in 2019 to divert more first-time, petty offenders away from clogged-up courts.

A guide issued to police ­forces states it may be used in “low-level sexual offences, where education is provided as a result of the investigation but no formal outcome is given”.

Examples of “interventions” that offenders can receive include family support and housing, drug or benefits help.

And so-called “diversionary” measures include criminals’ energy being put into “sports or libraries” instead of offending.

An Outcome 22 disposal is only recorded after an offender has completed their activity.

Absconders, meanwhile, can be re-arrested and face full criminal proceedings.

THE Christmas market killer threatened to slaughter innocent people months before the horror car attack which left five dead and 205 injured.

German authorities were warned three times by Saudi Arabia about doctor Taleb al-Abdulmohsen’s chilling plot to murder.

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Horror car attack in the city of Magdeburg left five dead and 205 injured[/caption]

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Authorities were warned three times about doctor Taleb al-Abdulmohsen’s chilling plot to murder[/caption]

They included disturbing posts that “something big will happen in Germany”.

Britain is on high alert for copycat attacks after Friday night’s mayhem in the city of Magdeburg, where a child of nine was among the dead.

Al-Abdulmohsen, 50, was arrested at the scene after his BMW ploughed into revellers at the crowded market.

Among the casualties were 41 people described as gravely ill and 86 being treated for serious injuries.

Yesterday several UK police forces urged the public to be vigilant.

It has emerged that Saudi Arabia repeatedly alerted German police about their citizen al-Abdulmohsen, living in Germany since 2006.

Four months before the attack, he wrote online in Arabic: “I assure you: if Germany wants war, we will have it. If Germany wants to kill us, we will slaughter them, die.”

He then wrote: “Is there a path to justice without slaughtering German citizens indiscriminately?”

It was unclear if the police acted upon the warnings.

We can also reveal that in 2023 al-Abdulmohsen asked 48,000 followers on X: “Would you blame me if I randomly killed 20 Germans because of what Germany is doing against the Saudi opposition?”

A woman reported the now­deleted post but again it was unclear if police took any action.

Prosecutors yesterday said murder and attempted murder charges were being prepared against the suspect.

One said it was not clear if the attack was terror-related and the motive may have been “a disgruntlement with the way Saudi Arabia refugees are treated in Germany”.

PM Sir Keir Starmer said he was horrified by the “atrocious” attack.

HOUSTON Texans CJ Stroud was emotional after his Houston Texans teammate wide receiver Tank Dell’s devastating knee injury on Saturday.

The Texans’ second-year wideout Dell suffered the injury in the team’s Week 16 road game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

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Houston Texans wide receiver Tank Dell injured on the ground after catching a touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 16[/caption]

Stroud threw a 30-yard touchdown to Dell, who caught it in the endzone.

However, Dell collided with teammate Jared Wayne, who dove towards him and hit his knee.

Dell then held his knee as medical personnel rushed and eventually carted him off the field.

Stroud was on one knee during the sequence and was in tears at seeing Dell get hurt.

Texans running back Joe Mixon was then seen consoling the quarterback.

STEPHEN A. SMITH warned New York Jets star Aaron Rodgers to stop feuding with his ESPN colleague Ryan Clark and focus on finally winning a second Super Bowl.

The two NFL stars have been embroiled in a heated rivalry after Clark, 45, called out Rodgers, 41, in a scathing rant on First Take, labeling the quarterback a “fraud”, “tone-deaf” and “blatantly hypocritical.”

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Smith warned Rodgers to stop feuding with Clark and focus on the Super Bowl[/caption]

Rodgers responded by claiming ESPN has been transformed into a bounty of “unfounded” or “asinine” takes.

Smith, 57, chipped in and insists the Jets star should just concentrate on his game as he reminded him he hasn’t won or competed in a Super Bowl since 2011 when he won it with the Green Bay Packers.

The First Take presenter added that going after Clark is “not winnable” and should instead focus on his career as it is going in the “wrong direction”.

Smith said on the Stephen A. Smith Show: “In the end, it comes back to what I’ve said about Aaron Rodgers many times: My man, ball and win.

“Because the reality is — as great as you are — you haven’t won a Super Bowl since 2010. You haven’t been to the Super Bowl since 2010.

“And now your career is going in the wrong direction based on wins and losses.

“They want you to dial it back, roll it back to next year with you Davante Adams here next season and beyond — do something about it, bro; show us what you got left.

“Going after Ryan Clark, that ain’t gonna do much for you. Ryan Clark and I have gone at each other in the past; you don’t have a platform every day like I do.

“You don’t want to go at Ryan Clark. That is not a winnable situation for you, Aaron Rodgers.

“In fact, it’s almost as bad of a situation as it has been you going out on the field on Sundays in the Jets’ uniform.

“You might want to think about that — just friendly words of advice.”

Is it that time of year already?

Much like its iconic palm trees, California's bison were brought out west 100 years ago by Hollywood producers filming westerns -- but now on Catalina Island they're dying off.

A hiker discovered the dead woman, believed to be in her 50s or 60s, "lying face down" on the eastern bank of the Hudson near Bard Rock on the sprawling estate roughly 90 miles north of Manhattan on Dec. 6.