Jason Donovan to voice animated CBeebies comedy
CBeebies, the BBC's channel for small children, has announced that singer Jason Donovan will star in new animated comedy series Boj.
Set in the Australian Outback, the series follows the life of Boj, who is a Bilby - a rare marsupial.
Boj has burrowed to Giggly Park with his musical parents Mimi and Pops where they now live in their simple, ramshackle underground burrow at the heart of their new neighbourhood. This cosmopolitan community has never seen anything quite like the Boj family with their joyful back-to-basics lifestyle.
Donovan will voice the part of Pops, with Hollyoaks actor Josie Taylor playing Mimi. The role of Boj has gone to nine year-old Ziggy Badans. Other actors involved include Dave Benson Phillips, who will be memorable to a generation of children for hosting Playdays and long-running 1990s kids' game show Get Your Own Back.
Talking about the main character, the BBC says: "Boj is full of creativity and messy fun and since popping up as the new kid in Giggly Park he's made lots of new buddies. Everyone loves Boj's upside-downy, topsy-turvy ways. With his improvised 'Boj-a-boom' ideas Boj can solve everybody's problems, and when Boj gets boj-ing he builds friendships and bonds the whole community together like never before."
Jason Donovan comments: "It's a pleasure to be involved in such a well-crafted project. I'm interested in great characters, great stories, great songs and Boj has all those things and more. As a good Aussie dad Pops is very close to my heart and I'm looking forward to that special time before my daughter Molly starts school when we'll enjoy watching Boj together."
CBeebies executive Kay Benbow adds: "I think Boj will charm both children and adults and I'm thrilled to welcome Jason Donovan to the channel. The series is beautifully animated with quirky characters and plenty of humour. I'm sure the series will become a favourite with our audience."
The comedy, which is made up of 52 episodes at 11 minutes each, is expected to air on CBeebies from late Spring. The channel also confirmed that Justin Fletcher will return for a fourth series of his sketch show Gigglebiz.