The BBC dropped its adorable first look at its new Christmas animation, Tiddler, on Friday.  

The half-hour special will follow the story of a small grey fish with a big imagination who gets lost in the deep wide ocean, until he’s saved by his own storytelling.

From Emmy and BAFTA winning and Oscar-nominated producers Magic Light Pictures, it will be voiced by a stellar cast led by Hannah Waddingham as the narrator. 

She will be joined by Saltburn star Lolly Adefope as Miss Skate, Jayde Adams as Plaice and other characters, plus Gavin and Stacey’s Rob Brydon in the multiple voice roles of Fisherman, Whale, Starfish and Anchovy.

Tiddler will also feature the voices of child actors Reuben Kirby in the тιтle role, and Theo Fraser as Johnny Dory.

It is set to air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer this Christmas and will follow the story of a little fish with a big imagination.

The BBC dropped its adorable first look at its new Christmas animation, Tiddler, on Friday

The half-hour special will follow the story of a small grey fish with a big imagination who gets lost in the deep wide ocean, until he’s saved by his own storytelling

The magical story comes from the UK’s number one picture book creators Julia Donaldson and Alex Scheffler and is being produced by the BBC and Magic Light Pictures.

The synopsis explains that every day Tiddler tells a different story to his teacher and his friend Johnny Dory about why he’s late for school. 

His stories stretch from riding on seahorses or swimming around a shipwreck to being captured by a squid.

Word of mouth helps them travel through the ocean and so, when Tiddler gets lost, he realises they may help him find a way home.

The film is dubbed an underwater adventure about the power of imagination and finding confidence in yourself – and how to be content as a little fish in a big ocean.

Hannah gushed: ‘Voicing the narrator for this Christmas special from Magic Light Pictures has been a real joy to record. 

‘Tiddler is the tale of the storyteller in all of us, and helps children understand what it’s like to be a small fish in a very big pond and we’ve all felt that in life. 

‘I have loved reading the books by Julia and Axel to my daughter over the years and it’s so lovely to get to bring one of them to screen in this beautiful animation.’ 

Th e magical story comes from the UK’s number one picture book creators Julia Donaldson and Alex Scheffler and is being produced by the BBC and Magic Light Pictures

The synopsis explains that every day Tiddler tells a different story to his teacher and his friend Johnny Dory about why he’s late for school

His stories stretch from riding on seahorses or swimming around a shipwreck to being captured by a squid

From Emmy and BAFTA winning and Oscar-nominated producers Magic Light Pictures, it will be voiced by a stellar cast led by Hannah Waddingham (pictured) as the narrator.

The film is the 12th animated special of the work of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler to be produced by Magic Light Pictures for the BBC. 

Last year’s animation, Tabby McTat, saw an audience of 8.6million tune in to watch the heart-warming story of a busker and his cat.

Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama, says: ‘Magic Light’s adaptations of Julia and Axel’s work have well and truly established themselves as part of our national fabric, thanks to their winning ability to take us to wonderful worlds packed with lovable characters. 

‘We can’t wait to introduce viewers to Tiddler, the little fish who’s sure to make a big splash when he arrives on the BBC this Christmas.’