A pre-production drawing of Gromit in action (Aardman 2007)

Nick Park interview

Aardman Animations has announced that the cheese-loving inventor and his loyal dog will star in Trouble At' Mill - to screen on BBC One in late 2008.

Creator Nick Park said: "The story takes Wallace and Gromit in a direction we haven't seen before - both emotionally and technically."

Shooting starts in January at Aardman studios in Bristol.

Trouble At' Mill is a murder mystery that sees Wallace and Gromit running a bakery business - with their house converted into a granary with ovens and robotic kneading arms.

Hollywood 'pressure'

The new film will reunite Nick Park with writer Bob Baker who co-wrote both The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave.

It is the first outing for Wallace and Gromit since The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, which won the Oscar for best animated feature in 2006.

Mr Park said he was looking forward to making a short film after the pressure of a Hollywood feature.

I'm making this for myself again and the people who love Wallace and Gromit

Nick Park

"This one we're making for the BBC. It's going to be a seven or eight-month shoot. That's faster than we've ever done it before," he told the BBC News website.

"It's nice to be out of that feature film pressure now. I don't feel like I'm making a film for a kid in some suburb of America - and being told they're not going to understand a joke, or a northern saying.

"I'm making this for myself again and the people who love Wallace and Gromit."

A video interview with Nick Park about Trouble At' Mill can be seen at www.wallaceandgromit.com.