The film was broadcast on the BBC on Christmas Day and will later be available on Netflix(Image: BBC)

Wallace and Gromit fans left 'rediscovering fear' as new film airs on BBC

Aardman's newest Wallace and Gromit adventure, a Vengeance Most Fowl, has left fans of the animated inventor and his canine sidekick terrified

by · The Mirror

Viewers settling in to watch the new Wallace and Gromit film on Christmas Day were left terrified after 'rediscovering' a fear.

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl premiered on BBC One and iPlayer at 6.10pm, but just minutes into the animated adventure, viewers realised there was one thing that still left them terrified: the character of Feathers McGraw.

The silent penguin first appeared on screens in the 1993 short The Wrong Trousers, where he was ultimately imprisoned for his crime of trying to steal a diamond. The latest feature-length adventure brings him back in front of viewers as he plots his escape from the city zoo after being imprisoned there, and emerges intent on getting revenge.

The film's synopsis reads: "Gromit’s concern that Wallace is becoming too dependent on his inventions proves justified, when Wallace invents a 'smart' gnome that seems to develop a mind of its own. When it emerges that a vengeful figure from the past might be masterminding things, it falls to Gromit to battle sinister forces and save his master… or Wallace may never be able to invent again."

Wallace and Gromit are back on TV( Image: BBC/Aardman Animations/Richard Davies/Stuart Collis)

One viewer tuning into the highly-anticipated film shared: "Reliving my childhood and rediscovering my fear of Feathers McGraw." Meanwhile another BBC viewer added: "Pretty sure the penguin from Wallace and Gromit was one of the scariest villains from childhood."

"That Feathers penguin chap in Wallace and Gromit used to scare me as a child and today as an adult it still haunts me," a third viewer shared. However, other viewers reported finding the gnomes in the new film more 'terrifying' than Feathers.

"Nightmares at this Wallace and Gromit me, them gnomes are f****** terrifying," said one spooked viewer, as another wrote: "This gnome robot in the new Wallace and Gromit is f****** SCARY oh my god and his black eyes? No thank you." One even likened it to Netflix's dystopian horror series Black Mirror, writing: "Wallace and Gromit giving me the Black Mirror creepies."

Feathers McGraw returns in Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl( Image: BBC/Aardman Animations/Richard Davies/Stuart Collis)

Aardman animator Nick Park previously told the Independent of his surprise over Wallace and Gromit fans finding Feathers McGraw so terrifying.

"Over the years, I’ve been constantly surprised by the amount of people who genuinely hate him [Feathers McGraw]," he told the publication. "But look," he continued, "He’s only a four-inch tall piece of plasticine.”

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is available to watch on BBC iPlayer and premieres globally on Netflix from January 3, 2025