Wallace & Gromit creator teases a potential return for Feathers McGraw – and reveals hilarious hidden Easter egg moments

Criminal mastermind Feathers McGraw, the penguin who cleverly disguises himself as a chicken, returned last Christmas in Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, much to the delight of fans. He first appeared in 1993’s Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers, where he stole the Blue Diamond.

For his recent revenge, he escaped his prison (the zoo) and hacked Wallace’s smart gnome, Norbot, to create a whole army of evil minions to help reunite him with the precious gem. But he was once again thwarted by inventor Wallace and his loyal pooch Gromit, who swapped the diamond for a turnip.

We last saw Feathers, outsmarted and deflated, escaping on the back of a train, but crucially, he was not caught by the police, which means he’s still at large, always a firm fixture on a “wanted” poster. Where exactly is he then, if not in prison?

Talking exclusively to Radio Times, Wallace & Gromit creator Nick Park reveals, “He’s somewhere in Yorkshire. Well, who knows where he is? He doesn't let us know these things or what his plans are. A lot of people ask about Feathers McGraw, and the response since last Christmas has been brilliant. We're still reeling from it to be honest.”

Does that mean we can expect Feathers to return with another cunning plan? Park teases, “Watch this space... who knows? He’s unpredictable.”

With lots of unfinished business with his enemies Wallace and Gromit, he might come out of hiding when the time is right.

Until then, you can catch plenty of Easter eggs when rewatching Vengeance Most Fowl, a big part of any Aardman Animations film. Remember when Feathers actually made a very brief cameo at the end of Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget?!

Park, who directed Vengeance Most Fowl with Merlin Crossingham and co-created the story with Mark Burton, tells us some of his favourites. For instance, Feathers’s pet seal actually has a name.

“No one would ever know this, because it was more of a joke we had among ourselves, but we called him Ronseal, which is, I guess, a very British joke. It's Ronseal that you paint your fences with.”

Park, who’s from Preston, says the barge chase scene pays homage to his Lancashire roots. “My dad used to watch The African Queen on TV with Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, and that was the name of the boat, so we called one of the barges The Accrington Queen. Some people get that.”

Fans will notice that Gromit is an avid reader throughout all the films, and he’s often got his nose in a good book, with puns created from the titles or author names: Pup Fiction, The Dogfather, The Republic by Pluto, Crime and Punishment by Fido Dogstoyevsky.

Park mentions that in Vengeance Most Fowl, he’s reading a magazine about gardening in the future called Gardens of the Galaxy by Alan Titchmarsh. “We had to call up Alan to get permission to use that,” he explains. “He was very happy and supportive of it.”

Read our full interview with Nick Park, all about making our Christmas cover with Shaun the Sheep and Gromit, in our Christmas issue – in stores now.

Read more:

• Wallace and Gromit creator reveals whether Aardman Animations will use AI in future – and what they won’t compromise on
• Wallace & Gromit creators reveals how they celebrated Oscar nomination

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is available now on BBC iPlayer and Netflix.

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