Bristol-based Aardman’s Shaun the Sheep has been voted the nation’s favourite BBC children’s character – beating veterans Postman Pat and Sooty and Sweep into second and third place.
The Claymation character, statues of whom will form charity trails around Bristol and London this summer, made his debut in Aardman's 1995 Wallace and Gromit film A Close Shave. He was given his own series in 2007 and has become a firm favourite since.
Unlike most of the other names making up the top kid’s TV character table, cheeky Shaun is multi-media star for the digital age.
Aardman animators are now working on his first big-screen adventure Shaun the Sheep Movie at the firm’s Bristol studio. The film, co-produced by French giant StudioCanal, is due for worldwide cinema release next year. 
And as well as his own website, games and merchandising, farmyard favourite Shaun is also an online video star across the ‘pond’ following a US content licensing agreement signed last month between Amazon and Aardman to launch an exclusive subscription streaming service. Other characters from the Aardman stable are covered by the deal including Oscar winners Wallace & Gromit and Rex the Runt.
In May Aardman launched Shaun’s Game Academy, which teaches children about coding and the process of making a game.
More than 41,000 people voted in the poll to find the top BBC children’s character from a shortlist put together by Radio Times and the British Film Institute.
It featured shows from the 1950s to the present day including The Magic Roundabout, Paddington, Willo The Wisp, The Wombles, Teletubbies and In The Night Garden.
Radio Times editor Ben Preston said: “Every generation has a favourite which lingers for a lifetime. Shaun the Sheep will be remembered in 50 years’ time, just as the children of the 80s voted for Postman Pat, and Sooty and Sweep remain hugely popular almost 60 years after they were first broadcast.
“It’s a testament to the enduring quality of British children’s television that a contemporary character topped the poll in a shortlist filled with classic programmes from the last seven decades.”
