50 Years of Mr Men with Matt Lucas

Channel 4 (1 x 60 mins)

Matt Lucas celebrates 50 years of The Mr Men and Little Misses, telling the amazing story of the colourful little characters who changed global publishing forever and follows the launch of a competition to find two new characters for their special anniversary.

Matt goes behind the scenes with the Hargreaves family, and learns the story of how Roger came up with these stories and creations, and how the story that started with a 'tickle' in 1971 took the literary world, then television, by storm to become one of Britain's most successful brands.

Roger's son Adam, who has been chief creative since his father's death, allows Matt privileged access to his artistic process and the anarchic heritage he has both preserved and grown. Matt tracks down Roger's creative collaborators and uncovers the secret story of the pioneering world of the iconic animations from the 1970s and 1980s, and the product designs that made the Mr Men a truly global enterprise.

Matt goes truly 'method' with the Mr Men and is given an acting masterclass in how to become Mr Bump and Little Miss Sunshine before taking to the streets in character and meets the superfans who illustrate how much these stories have impacted generations of children the world over.

After meeting some illuminating experts who help him to explore the enduring magic of the Mr Men and Little Misses, Matt holds a birthday party to celebrate this special birthday and announces, by way of an animation he has created especially, the winning two characters - with jelly and ice cream of courseā€¦