Nick Park

Nick Park

Author: BBC Radio 4 December 14, 2024 Duration: 14:39

Through his passion for stop motion and modelling clay, we have come to love his silent (but wise) dog and well-meaning owner.

Wallace and Gromit are Nick Park’s most famous creations, but what more do we know about this Preston born Oscar winner?

He would use his mother’s home movie camera to record his early films; he studied animation at the National Film and Television School in Buckinghamshire; and joined Aardman Animations in the mid-80s.

Over the last few decades, Nick Park has gained critical acclaim for feature films, Chicken Run and Early Man. So, as we await the latest Wallace and Gromit offering this Christmas, Mark Coles has donned the RIGHT trousers to take a closer look at the multi-award winning animator.

Production Team Presenter: Mark Coles Producers: Bob Howard and Natalie Ktena Editor: Richard Vadon Sound: Gareth Jones Production Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele

Archive Credits Wallace & Gromit: A Grand Day Out directed by Nick Park (Aardman Animations/National Film and Television School) Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl directed by directed by Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham (Aardman Animations) Creature Comforts directed by Nick Park (Aardman Animations) Chicken Run directed by Peter Lord and Nick Park (Aardman Animations/Pathé/DreamWorks Animation) Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit directed by Nick Park and Steve Box (Aardman Animations/DreamWorks Animation) Wallace & Gromit Christmas Jumper Ident (Aardman Animations for the BBC) Merlin Crossingham & Nick Park on WALLACE AND GROMIT: VENGEANCE MOST FOWL at AFI Fest 2024 (American Film Institute) The Bike Ride (Collett Dickenson Pearce)


Each week, Profile from BBC Radio 4 takes a single name from the global conversation and builds a detailed portrait, moving far beyond the headlines. This isn't a simple biography or a news recap. Instead, through careful documentary storytelling and personal journal excerpts where available, the podcast constructs a nuanced examination of character and motive. You’ll hear from colleagues, critics, and sometimes the subjects themselves, piecing together what drives and defines the people shaping our world. The focus rests firmly on influence, whether in politics, the arts, science, or social movements, exploring how an individual's background and choices ripple through society and culture. Listening to this podcast feels like gaining a deeper, more textured understanding of the figures you think you know, revealing the contradictions and convictions behind the public image. It’s a thoughtful half-hour that challenges first impressions, asking what truly lies behind a name in the news.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Profile
Podcast Episodes
Maggie O'Farrell [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 14:37
Maggie O'Farrell was born in Northern Ireland in 1972. Keen to move away from The Troubles, her father took a job at the University of Wales and the family moved to Bridgend when Maggie was a child. At the age of eight s…
Itamar Ben-Gvir [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 14:38
Israel's national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has received international condemnation after he posted a video showing himself taunting activists kneeling with their hands tied behind their backs on board a Gaza-bou…
Rhun ap Iorwerth [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 14:50
Plaid Cymru's Rhun ap Iorwerth has been confirmed as Wales' first minister, calling it "the greatest privilege of my life".Born in Tonteg in south-east Wales, ap Iorwerth moved to Anglesey as a young child. His father wa…
Christopher Harborne [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 14:28
British cryptocurrency investor and billionaire Christopher Harborne made headlines when it was revealed he gave £5million to Reform Party leader Nigel Farage before he was an MP.Last year Harborne also gave a single don…
Jamie Oliver [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 14:59
Nearly 30 years ago, Jamie Oliver hit British TV screens with The Naked Chef, beginning a career arc that has seen him become a bestselling author and social campaigner.He started helping out in his parents' pub aged jus…
Emily Thornberry [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 14:46
Dame Emily Thornberry, Labour MP and the influential head of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee, is in the hot seat as the committee continues its ongoing investigation - dubbed ‘Scandelson’ scrutinisi…
Kristalina Georgieva [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 14:57
Kristalina Georgieva is not like previous heads of the International Monetary Fund. She grew up behind the Iron Curtain in Bulgaria, which was then part of the Soviet bloc. Born in Sofia in 1953, her father was a civil e…
Tom Fletcher [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 14:46
McFly front man and children's author Tom Fletcher has returned to his first love - musical theatre - penning the songs for Paddington the Musical which has just got its sticky paws on seven prestigious Olivier Awards. B…
Viktor Orbán [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 14:26
Viktor Orbán has been a powerful force in Hungarian politics for nearly 40 years, spending 20 of them as Prime Minister. This weekend he’s trying to win a sixth term in the top job, as voters go to the polls in parliamen…
Jed Mercurio [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 15:06
From over-worked medics to bent coppers, for the last 30 years Jed Mercurio has been responsible for some of the UK’s most successful TV series, including Cardiac Arrest, Bodies and Bodyguard. But Line of Duty is arguabl…