But here’s the twist. Wallace and Gromit are quintessentially British; part of the delicious humour in their films is verbal, and rooted in Wallace’s florid, somewhat old-fashioned mode of northern speech. Consequently, they are far more popular in Britain than anywhere else. The reverse is true of Shaun the Sheep. The only sound to issue from him is ‘baa’ – no cultural obstacles or language barriers for the rest of the world there. Yet in his British homeland he has yet to achieve the same kind of recognition or breakthrough he enjoys abroad. ‘Shaun is easily Aardman’s biggest global brand,’ Clarke says. ‘We’re [broadcast] in 170 countries. Don’t ask me to name them all. But you’d never know it from this country.’