Nick Park said that he had been looking for someone suitable for a while now and heard her voice whilst driving down the motorway one day. As soon as he got back to his office he looked her up and obviously she accepted as soon as she was approached by Aardman.

Her unique voice will certainly bring something to the character, it gives us a good idea of the approach they will be taking with her, and it’s great to welcome Sally into the Wallace and Gromit family.

To see her at work on the improvising sketch show “Thank God you’re here!” follow this link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLfiQJp7FIM

This should be something really special for everyone involved and as over 70 museums have already it’s set to be something really big.

It will take place during the Museums and Galleries Month (from Friday 16th to Sunday 18th May), and for more information you can visit www.mgm.org.uk

Her previous work includes playing the famous Shelley Unwin in Coronation Street and Tracy in one episode of Phoenix Nights, as well as appearing as herself in many, many interviews.

This is still to be confirmed officially, but the rumour originated on IMDB.

The exact reason for the change is not being given, but as the international sales team are apparently responsible for the change it is probably because it’s more language-barrier friendly.

It will probably sell better overseas, as it's a lot more of a 'normal' phrase, but it's a mouthful too, so I'll reserve judgment for now!

Remember though - 'Curse of the Were-rabbit' switched between that and 'The Great Vegetable Plot' a number of times during production, so it's not final.

Original article: Everything's go at Aardman studios, as Trouble at' Mill finally hits production! At the moment Peter Sallis is being recorded in London for his lines, even on his birthday! (see other article)

However, the Production Manager, 'Beeky', is apparently ill at the moment with Chicken Pox. Unexpected, but in true Aardman fashion everyone's just pushing on to keep to schedule.

More updates coming soon...

I managed to get hold of 4 articles from national newspapers, and one from my local paper.

The Guardian produced a neat looking article mainly focusing on the fact that they won’t be making another feature film rather than the actual story of Trouble at’ Mill. A very nice picture of the duo accompanied it. Another fairly large article was presented to us via. The Independent, who had a black and white picture of the two to draw peoples attention to the article, which mainly focused on the plot outline.

Small articles were presented in both The Times (accompanied by the publicity sketch of Wallace and Piella cuddling) and the Daily Mail (with small images of the duos head at the top of the rectangular article. However the Daily Mail did print the story on their third page – whereas the Times’ article was buried deep inside.

The best story however has to come from my local paper – The Western Daily Press. As I live near Bristol the paper always reports on Aardman stories, and this was no exception. The article was nearly a page large and had loads of the publicity pictures with it. Three paragraphs outlined the plot, went into a bit more detail, and then talked about the way in which it is being produced and the fact that it is not another feature film.

I was a little surprised by how small the articles were overall though, and how they weren’t big stories, especially after how big a deal was made of the split with DreamWorks. Still, at least it made the major newspapers.

The papers weren’t quick enough to get the story in today, but the BBC have already released an article on it – a picture link to the story was actually on the home page this morning!

So what more do we know now? Well Piella was the correct spelling according to BBC, and her last name has been put as ‘Bakewell’. From pictures released (see below) can we presume that Wallace gets closer to her than he has ever achieved with a woman before?

As an extra to the plot, as well as running the local bakery Wallace and Gromit are troubled to find that other local bakers are starting to disappear in mysterious circumstances…

As to the production side, filming actually starts in January and should take seven or eight months – which is the fastest that they have ever worked! Don’t worry though; the release date is still set as late 2008. Nick Park has been quoted as saying of the production that:

"The story takes Wallace and Gromit in a direction we haven't seen before - both emotionally and technically."

So I’d already identified the emotionally part, but the technical side is what really interests me. What could this mean? The image of Wallace and Piella on a gondola is particularly interesting – could they be animating the water frame by frame, or will they use the method I think would have worked for Flushed Away and use CGI water with plasticine models? On the other hand, this picture might not actually mean anything and might just be a doodle!

A slight blot on the announcement was brought up after Nick commented:

“It's nice to be out of that feature film pressure now. I don't feel like I'm making a film for a kid in some suburb of America - and being told they're not going to understand a joke, or a northern saying.”

Now Nick Park is not a nasty guy by any means at all, so I’m sure he didn’t mean this in a derogatory way, but some people have taken offence to this. They’re not angry with him, they know he doesn’t mean to offend them, but some are admittedly quite annoyed.

Still, this film is shaping up to be a superb one and I just hope it can retain that magic from all the others. They’ve never slipped up before though, so I’m hopeful that they won’t now.

A special news bulletin podcast will be coming out tonight with everything in it.

OUR SPOILER POLICY: Now that this new film is being talked about, I thought it was time to implement a spoiler policy. I will openly report on any official release or information given by Aardman/BBC, but rumour will be presented in such a way that you need not worry if you don’t want to hear too much. If you don’t want to know anything more than official talks, please avoid our ‘Trouble at’ Mill’ area on the forum, as this is going to be an open to talk area. Apart from that, you should be fine!

Pictures from bbc.co.uk

Nick Park took a break from work to finally give away secrets about the next Wallace and Gromit film. Here's the basic outline:

TITLE: Trouble at' Mill
WHAT: 30 minute short for the BBC
WRITTEN BY: Nick Park and Bob Baker
BASIC STORYLINE: Wallace and Gromit have built a windmill on the top of 62 West Wallaby Street, and now run a door-to-door delivery service of bread for their new bakery business - 'Top Bun'
LOVE OF WALLACE'S LIFE: Piella [spelling?!] (who rides her bike in the morning)
OUT: Late next year

So, sounds incredibly exciting, eh! You can see the full interview from which this info. was drawn here: http://www.wallaceandgromit.com/forum/view/9

A few pointers for you:

* Just as a reminder, Bob Baker worked on both The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave as a sort of 'gag inputter', and his work was thanked through the naming of the shop next to Wendolene's Wools as 'Bob the Baker'.

* Notice the limited edition Dalek in Nick's window (and they're not cheap!) during the interview. Either Nick is into Doctor Who, or it's a reference to Bob Baker who famously worked on the series during the late 60s/early 70s, writing several scripts and inventing the character of K9!

* Nick Park has obviously not yet entered the world of 'blogging', but I doubt he will ever forget what it is now! He gets top marks for trying again though - you wouldn't have know if they hadn't kept it in!

* If you're careful, you'll notice that when Nick makes the mistake about the blog, he wipes his nose in exactly the same way as Wallace does - a habit I'm ashamed to say that I have picked up from watching the films so many times!!

...So where to find out more... Well, as he eventually said, a new blog is being opened on the Wallace and Gromit site with up to date information on the next film, so keep checking www.wallaceandgromit.com for that, but this site will also be a great place to check.
With my regular updates, a personal point of view on things, and with a weekly podcast, this should be host a different take on the leadup to the movie. Don't forget - I've now got close connections with Aardman, so will have lots of exclusive information and content hopefully too!
I advise that you sign up on the forum to always be at the very front of the Wallace and Gromit news.

So, take a breath, calm down, and lets get ready for another incredible film! I simply can't wait!