The famous rabbits are making a return

This 46-year-old tale of adventure is reimagined for a new generation.

WATERSHIP DOWN BBC ONE, DUE TO AIR AT XMAS. SEE RADIO TIMES

Hear the names Fiver, Bigwig, Hazel and Captain Holly and a chord is struck with many a 40-something who grew up with Richard Adams’s tale of a plucky band of rabbits fleeing Sandleford Warren in search of pastures new. This Christmas, we meet those legendary characters again, in a two-part animation for BBC One, voiced by the likes of James McAvoy, Nicholas Hoult, Gemma Arterton and Ben Kingsley.

Adapting an intensely loved classic from page to screen is always a challenge, particularly when the 1978 animation is indelibly burned on our collective memories – uncomfortably brutal yet widely adored as a tragic, beautiful portrayal of courage and adventure in an English countryside replete with teeth and claws.

“We know how strongly people feel about Watership Down, and we don’t shy away from the dark themes Adams explores in the novel,” says series producer Georgia Dussaud. “We are interpreting his story as an action adventure with an underlying context. So we see the death, we see the brutality – but it’s not gratuitous. It’s suitable for a family audience.”

While the bloodshed is toned down, the female roles – a minority in the novel – are dialled up. Clover, a hutch rabbit, has a more significant part and Strawberry, a member of Cowslip’s ‘cult’, has been made a doe.

“You become very attached to the characters, particularly Hazel, who is trying to make his way in the world and become a leader, and goes about it with real humility,” says Georgia. “Leadership using wit and intelligence over force and ego is a theme of the novel that feels highly relevant to the world we live in today, as does a respect for nature and other living beings.”