Wallace and Gromit star in new science show

A still from the Wallace and Gromit film 'A Matter of Loaf and Death', ©BBC and Aardman Animations

Claymation characters Wallace and Gromit are to star in a new TV show about inventions on BBC One.

Wallace and Gromit's World of Inventions will be made by Aardman and broadcast peak-time some time in 2010. A statement published by the BBC describes the show:

In Wallace and Gromit's World of Inventions, Wallace will take a light hearted and humorous look at the real-life inventors, contraptions, gadgets and inventions, with the silent help of Gromit. The series will aim to inspire a whole new generation of innovative minds by showing them real, but mind-boggling, machines and inventions from around the world that have influenced his illustrious inventing career.

The series was commissioned by Jay Hunt, controller of BBC One, and by Jo Ball. Hunt said that she hoped the series would be a mainstream success, similar to the channel’s genealogy show Who Do You Think You Are?:

We've got to be creative about how we take difficult subjects and bring them to a mass-market audience. It's got to be done in a way that doesn’t say, 'Sit up straight and eat your bran and here’s a bit about the Nazi's.'

The series will feature two executive producers: Alison Kirkham from the BBC and Miles Bullough from Aardman.