The Culture Show is intended for those within the art world, perhaps those of a more intellectual background, than many programmes that have featured the duo in the past and this meant it could assume that the audience were already aware of Wallace and Gromit’s history. With only one hour (or 30 minutes of Wallace and Gromit really), and 20 years of history, it was invaluable to cut through and get in-depth quickly.

Nick Park spoke with raw honesty on his cultural influences, giving some pieces of information away that he hadn’t really disclosed before. It also gave us a glimpse of the real ‘Polar Bear family’ from Creature Comforts – famously the family from Aardman’s local corner shop. For Aardman fans it gave tantalising glimpses into the Aardman world – from the modelmaking workshop to, most excitingly, one of the ‘draft’ sets for ‘Pirates!’ (can you guess which one?!)

Towards the end celebrities ranging from Terry Wogan to Claudia Winkleman spoke about why they love Wallace and Gromit, each bringing in their own unique takes on the character. Most interesting were Paul Merton and Ian Hislop, the pair who can so quickly rip someone apart on ‘Have I Got News for You’, and while they laughed at the cheesy puns (geddit? ‘Cheesy’?...) and the character of Feathers there was this underlying feeling that these things only added to the film. And if Paul and Ian couldn’t ridicule it...!

But, for me, the best part of the programme was the unintentional paradox of mixing Wallace and Gromit with culture. The duo, and Aardman as a whole, are undoubtedly British icons – a massive part of our culture – but are they art? Can you really have a conversation that moves from discussing Morph one minute to the art of the Russian Revolution the next? Peter Lord says he felt Morph never got the artistic recognition it should have done, so to test whether or not his feelings were correct he gave Morph private parts and created his film ‘Adam’ – which was then nominated for an Oscar. So can Wallace and Gromit fit in with the world of The Culture Show?

The moment when Mark Kermode asks Nick Park how far Gromit was inspired by the great silent comedians says it all. Nick admits that, far from using such ‘cultural’ references, one of the best character traits of Gromit – his quick looks at the audience – were actually inspired by an Eddie Murphy film in the 80s! The silent acting of Gromit isn’t some great artistic point Nick is making to the world – it was just something he discovered that Gromit could do instead of talking! His top reference point is his own childhood naivety – seemingly a mash of the Beano and an unformed impression of the World.

But that, for me, is what makes Aardman so totally unique. These aren’t people out to be rich, these are not just people out to stand among the world’s greatest filmmakers, these are just ordinary people who had a vision, had the guts to see it through, and do what they do for the sheer joy of it!