Wallace and Gromit return after 10 years for Prince Charles’ 70th birthday celebrations
The Prince of Wales was most amused and amazed as a host of stars reunite for a star-studded night
Wallace & Gromit return to TV with a new sketch – a birthday message for Prince Charles –for the first time in 10 years, and it's no small feat bringing the famous clay characters to life.
"The animation took 15 people a month to make," says Merlin Crossingham, Wallace & Gromit creative director.
But it was actually pulling together a cover for this Saturday's TV Mag that proved the real challenge.
"Creating a still image for the TV Mag cover was actually a lot trickier than animation.
"The sculpting has to be of a higher level, as it is very hard to make a puppet feel alive in a still image.
"It is a lot more fiddly and takes more time than most people would expect and it took two days in the studio, one to prepare and one to shoot."
Wallace & Gromit were among great company at Prince Charles' 70th birthday celebrations which took place in the London Palladium.
Comedy duo Alexander Armstrong and Ben Miller were delighted to perform together again for the first time in eight years as part of a starry ensemble – even if it meant banishing the terrible attack of stage fright that Ben suffered the first time they played in front of Charles and Camilla.
“I had the biggest ‘whitey’ [going pale and feeling sick] I’ve ever had when we did the Royal Variety back in 2008,” reveals Ben, 52.
“We were playing the RAF pilots [from The Armstrong & Miller Show].
There were about 50 acts in a queue backstage and when we got to the front, I started hyperventilating.
I couldn’t even remember my name. I was more nervous than I’d been about any other show.”
“You can’t really anticipate what it feels like to play the London Palladium for the first time,” says Alexander, 48.
“Knowing you have royalty in the audience just times everything by 100. It electrifies the room. You think: ‘We better not cock this up.’
"But they clearly enjoyed it. When Prince Charles laughs, he does that full-throated laugh. The shoulders go. It’s not just a polite laugh. That’s very reassuring when you’re on stage.”
We Are Most Amused & Amazed – a combination of comedy and magic carefully selected for Charles himself – was recorded last month, and will air the day before the Prince of Wales’ birthday.
There are also two special films shown on the night, introduced by Kylie Minogue and Cheryl (below), which chart Charles’ life and the work the Duke of Cornwall has done over the 42 years since he used his severance pay from leaving the Royal Navy to set up the charity.
It has helped more than 900,000 disadvantaged people in the UK between the ages of 11 to 30 to turn their lives around.
“Dynamo started out with the Prince’s Trust, will.i.am has a scheme with it [to engage disadvantaged young people with technology and science], Idris Elba was helped by
it [with a £1,500 grant to the National Youth Music Theatre],” explains Alexander.
“Xander and I were watching the film about Charles that Kylie introduces,” says Ben.
“It made me feel proud to be British. When you see all that Prince Charles has done, it’s very moving. It’s so honourable.”
The evening ended on such a high that when the curtain went down, Ben’s wife Jessica teased him that he put his arm around His Royal Highness.
“I strongly deny that!” laughs Ben. “She said to me: ‘You were a bit overfamiliar.’
"But he is one of those people that instantly puts you at ease, so there is a real danger that I might have put my arm around him because I felt so relaxed in his presence.
"He’s so chatty and so fun – and so is Camilla.”
We Are Most Amused And Amazed – a combination of comedy and magic carefully selected for Charles himself – was recorded last month, and will air the day before the Prince of Wales’ birthday.
There are also two special films on the night, introduced by Kylie Minogue and Cheryl Tweedy, which chart Charles’ life and the work the Prince’s Trust has done over the 42 years since Prince Charles used his severance pay from leaving the Royal Navy to set up the charity.
It has helped over 900,000 disadvantaged people in the UK between the ages of 11 to 30 turn their lives around.
“Dynamo started out with The Prince’s Trust, will.i.am has a scheme with it [to engage disadvantaged young people with technology and science], Idris Elba was helped by it [with a £1,500 grant to the National Youth Music Theatre],” explains Alexander.
“Xander and I were watching the film about Charles that Kylie introduces,” says Ben.
“It made me feel proud to be British. When you see all that Prince Charles has done, I found it very moving. It’s very honourable.”
The evening ended on such a high that when the final curtain went down, Ben’s wife Jessica teased him that he put his arm around His Royal Highness.
“I strongly deny that!” laughs Ben.
“She said to me: ‘You were a bit overfamiliar.’
"But he is one of those people that instantly put you at ease, so there is a real danger that I might have put my arm around him because I felt so relaxed in his presence.
"He’s so chatty and so fun – and so is Camilla.”
We are most Amused & Amazed, Tuesday 8pm, ITV
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