Tag Archives: Quentin Blake

Helena Bonham Carter to Star in BBC Two’s Virtual Staging of Pantomime Classic “Cinderella”

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It’ll be a wicked Christmas for Helena Bonham Carter.

The part-Spanish actress will star opposite her The Crown co-star Olivia Colman in a socially distanced, virtual staging of pantomime classic Cinderella for BBC Two, with Richard Curtis executive producing.

Helena Bonham Carter

Bonham Carter and Colman will perform from the safety of their homes for the Comic Relief special, which airs on Christmas Eve and will be brought to life with illustrations from iconic children’s illustrator Quentin Blake.

Colman plays the fairy godmother, while Bonham Carter features as the wicked stepmother Lady Devilia. Meanwhile, the breakout star of Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit, Anya Taylor-Joy, will play the title role.

Other cast includes The Night Manager star Tom Hollander and Guz Khan as Baron Hardup and Buttons respectively. Daisy May and Charlie Cooper, the stars and creators of This Country, have been cast as the evil step-sisters. The pair are siblings in real-life.

Written by the Dawson Brothers, and based on an original script by Ben Crocker, Cinderella: A Comic Relief Pantomime for Christmas will be a retelling of the timeless panto classic. It is made by Crook Productions.

Curtis said: “It’ll be very funny and merry — and also a great seasonal opportunity to raise crucial funds for the projects that will help the most vulnerable people, at home and abroad — especially now when Covid has made things harder than ever for many.”

The BBC has promised other starry cameos, including an “incredibly famous person wearing an incredibly unconvincing horse costume.”

Helena Bonham Carter to Narrate Animated Television Adaptation of Quentin Blake’s Children’s Story “Clown”

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Helena Bonham Carter is clownin’ around…

The 54-year-old part-Spanish actress and The Crown star will narrate an animated Channel 4 adaptation of Clown, a children’s story written and illustrated by Sir Quentin Blake.

Helena Bonham Carter

Channel 4 has commissioned Eagle Eye Drama, the production company recently launched by the team behind global drama streamer Walter Presents, to make the 30-minute special using hand-drawn animation techniques.

Quentin Blake’s Clown will bring to life the adventures of a little toy clown, thrown away with a load of old discarded toys, as he goes on a journey to find a new loving home for himself and his friends.

Accompanying the program will be a short making-of feature, which will include contributions from Blake, Bonham Carter and the key animators and executives.

Channel 4 head of drama Caroline Hollick commissioned the special and it is supported by a grant from the BFI’s Young Audiences Content Fund.

Quentin Blake’s Clown is directed by Luigi Berio and executive produced by Massimo Fenati, with Eagle Eye’s Jo McGrath and Walter Iuzzolino overseeing the project. New Regency is distributing.

Fenati said: “An exciting jigsaw-puzzle of incredibly gifted animators from all over Europe have embraced this creative challenge enthusiastically and everyone on the team feel privileged to be working from such wonderful source material.”

It continues Channel 4’s tradition of animated Christmas specials, following adaptations of The Snowman, The Tiger who Came to Tea, and We’re Going on a Bear Hunt.