Beloved duo Wallace and Gromit finally return for a new adventure with many returning faces this Christmas – but the film will be the first without actor Peter Wallis.
Vengeance Most Fowl sees nation’s favourite cheese-obsessed inventor and his canine companion grappling with a ‘smart gnome’ that begins to exhibit a mind of its own. Meanwhile their enemy from The Wrong Trousers, Feathers McGraw, is plotting revenge and aims to thwart Wallace and Gromit.
The film is not only the first Wallace and Gromit film in 16 years but the first feature without the original Wallace actor Peter Sallis. Ben Whitehead took over the role in the 2010s after Sallis’ declining health made acting increasingly difficult. and he has voiced Wallace in shorts, exhibitions and features since.
Peter Sallis was a renowned TV actor, who was famous for playing Norman “Cleggy” Clegg in Last of the Summer Wine in all of its 295 episodes. He was also a successful stage actor, appearing opposite Judi Dench in Cabaret, as well as Sir Laurence Olivier, and Orson Welles.
In 1983, Nick Park wrote asking him to be the voice of a clay character called Wallace. Peter agreed to do it in exchange for a £50 fee to his favourite charity.
It took six years for the first Wallace and Gromit film, A Grand Day Out, to reach the screen.
Nick said: “He was my first and only choice for Wallace. His silliness started the moment he greeted you at the door and didn’t stop when the mic was switched off. He had naturally funny bones and was a great storyteller.”
The film was nominated for an Oscar and the follow-ups The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave both became Oscar winners in 1993 and 1995. He also voiced Wallace in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit in 2005 and A Matter of Loaf and Death in 2008 as well as other smaller Wallace and Gromit projects.
In his later years, Sallis suffered from the eye condition macular degeneration and used a talking portable typewriter with a specially illuminated scanner to continue working.
His final voice role as Wallace in 2010’s Wallace & Gromit’s World of Invention and he retired from acting years later due to declining health.
Speaking at the 25th anniversary of Leith School of Art, Park said in 2014: “He’s not too well. It’s a big question for us, whether to keep going. We have got an understudy who has stepped in sometimes, Ben Whitehead, a young actor in London.
“He actually started off doing the stuff Peter didn’t want to do, like video games, or if we needed a voice for an exhibition. He was doing some of the voices on The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and stood in for Peter sometimes.”
Peter Sallis passed away from natural causes at Denville Hall, a retirement home for actors, on June 2, 2017.
Nick Park had previously spoken about how difficult it was to make a Wallace and Gromit film without Peter Sallis. Ahead of the release of Vengeance Most Fowl, Nick Park reflected to the BBC: “It has been quite emotional (doing this production) since we lost Peter, he was such an original, unique voice.
“So it’s very hard for anyone to step into his shoes. But we have been blessed with a youngish actor whom we’ve known for many years who can do a fantastic Wallace impersonation.
“He’s stepped in very kindly, and is just great. It’s hard to tell them apart.”
Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl airs at 6.10pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Christmas Day.