James Acaster and Rose Matafeo join Spike Milligan's Badjelly cast
James Acaster, Rose Matafeo, Jo Brand, Tim Key, Colin Hoult and Richard O'Brien are among those to have joined the all-star comedy cast voicing Badjelly, the animated television adaptation of a Spike Milligan children's story.
As British Comedy Guide reported last year, the UK-New Zealand-Canadian production stars Miriam Margolyes as Badjelly, the "wickedest witch in all the world", with Kiwi comic and Flight Of The Conchords star Rhys Darby as the mischievous Binklebonk the tree goblin.
Acaster voices Officer Appletree in the series while Matafeo is Cobblestone, with Brand as Unfungi, Key as Badjelly, Hoult as Toodleloo and Anglo-Kiwi actor and The Rocky Horror Show creator O'Brien playing Bearded Mountain.
Further Kiwi and Australian talent, including stand-ups Guy Montgomery, Josh Thomson, Kura Forrester, Madeleine Sami and Ray O'Leary are also among those freshly announced for the series, which is set to air next year, half a century after Milligan published Badjelly The Witch: A Fairy Story.
No UK broadcaster has yet to be be publicly linked to the project.
The newly announced voice cast join the already disclosed Julian Barratt, Kiell Smith-Bynoe, Roisin Conaty, Katherine Parkinson and Joe Wilkinson in the 13-part series.
"There's something so classic about some storytelling that when you hear something like Badjelly, you are with your family" Darby told Animation Magazine.
"You're a kid. It's suitable. It's silly. It's optimistic, and all of your worries disappear. And I think creating a world like Spike has with Badjelly - it's an escapism that we definitely need right now and you can do with your family. And I think that's important because keeping together and feeling happy outside of whatever situation you're in for any small amount of time is a really positive thing."
Spike Milligan - Badjelly The Witch: A Fairy Story
Badjelly The Witch can turn children into sausages or chop them up to make boy-girl soup. She can turn policemen into apple trees or bananas into mice and she is the wickedest witch in all the world.
Searching for Lucy, their cow, Tim and Rose become lost in the great black forest. There they meet Binklebonk the Tree Goblin, Mudwiggle the worm, Silly Sausage the grasshopper and Dinglemouse. When they are captured by Badjelly, it is Dinglemouse who saves them by escaping and fetching his friend Jim the Giant Eagle.
A charming fairy tale which has delighted children for many years, this edition is copiously illustrated with Spike Milligan's own drawings which have been specially adapted and beautifully hand coloured.
First published: Thursday 19th October 2000
- Publisher: Virgin
- Pages: 64
- Catalogue: 9781852279653
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