Paddington’s big screen outing thanks to the Queen

Saturday: Paddington - (BBC One, 7pm)
Floral tributes are laid at the gates of Balmoral in Scotland following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on ThursdayFloral tributes are laid at the gates of Balmoral in Scotland following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday
Floral tributes are laid at the gates of Balmoral in Scotland following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday

We know what you’re thinking – usually we’re bigging up a drama or a shiny-floor show on a Saturday night, but here we are waxing lyrical about a film instead.

It’s not, however, any old film – it’s Paddington. Since the death of Her Majesty the Queen was announced on September 8, Michael Bond’s most famous creation has popped up everywhere, with mourners even leaving marmalade sandwiches, as well as pictures and toy versions of the bear from darkest Peru at Buckingham Palace and beyond. So many such items were delivered that the authorities eventually asked well-wishers to stop bringing them.

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They were inspired, of course, by Paddington’s appearance alongside the Queen in a memorable, touching and hilarious sketch written as part of her Platinum Jubilee celebrations earlier this year.

At the time, Bond’s daughter, author Karen Jankel, described the memorable moment as “such an honour,” adding: “I did know that it was going to happen and I did have to keep the secret. It makes me enormously proud of what my father created. So when something like this happens, it’s such an accolade, it’s such a tribute really to his creation and what he did, so very.”

Bond passed away in 2017, but Jankel is sure he would have approved of the sketch: “I think he would have absolutely loved it. I think he would have been very, very pleased on behalf of Paddington, and I think the part that he would have been particularly pleased about was the marmalade sandwich, because you know that Paddington keeping his marmalade sandwich under his hat is very important to the story. And the thought that the Queen keeps one in her handbag, I think he would have really been chuffed to bits about that.”

Many of us grew up reading Bond’s stories and were bewitched by an animated 1970s TV series, narrated by Michael Hordern. But it’s the 2014 movie which brought Paddington to a whole new generation; it’s now receiving a timely reshowing.

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If you’re one of the few who has somehow missed it, here’s the plot: the titular bear makes his way from his Peruvian home to London, where he’s taken in by a kindly family. However, a devious taxidermist thinks he’d make the ideal subject for her latest museum exhibit…

Ben Whishaw voices the duffel-coat wearing bear, while Hugh Bonneville and Sally Hawkins play Mr and Mrs Brown, who try to keep Paddington away from the evil clutches of Nicole Kidman’s Millicent. The all-star supporting cast also includes Julie Walters, Peter Capaldi, Jim Broadbent and Matt Lucas.

Thanks to great animation and a wonderful screenplay by writer-director Paul King, it was a huge success and was followed by a sequel that many claim is even better than the original – thanks in no small part to a barnstorming performance from Hugh Grant as a dastardly actor. It’s rather fittingly being broadcast on Monday on BBC One at 6.50pm, following coverage of the Queen’s funeral. It should provide us all with a much-needed, heartfelt pick-me-up during an emotional time.

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