HAVE A CHRISTMAS HAY TREAT

Scheffler, are now part of the BBC Christmas firmament, starting with The Gruffalo in 2009.

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BOUNDER: L-R: Terry Thomas inspired the voice of Reginald Rake, provided by Rob Brydon

Painstakingly created by the production company Magic Light Pictures, the short films are remarkably faithful to the source material.

"They're not allowed to make changes," Julia says firmly. "They're not allowed to change the script at all. We turned down ages ago a Hollywood offer to do the Gruffalo. They would have just done a 90-minute film, probably the Gruffalo and the mouse go to the moon or something like that, and I just wouldn’t be interested at all."

But this year there is a notable change to the adaptation. In the book, a fire in the scarecrow’s field is started by a cigar wielded by the baddie Reginald Rake, but on TV the fire starts when he is roasting marshmallows, in accordance with broadcasting rules banning smoking in children’s programming.