James R | On 25, Dec 2021

“Superworm is long and pink, Superworm can grow and shrink.” Those are words you won’t be hearing in the BBC’s adaptation of Superworm, Julia Donaldson and Alex Scheffler’s picturebook. That rhyming couplet never made it to the book, ultimately being replaced by this familiar pairing, which wouldn’t be able to be misinterpreted as anything inappropriate: “Superworm is super-long, Superworm is super-strong.”

Not that anyone would wilfully misinterpret Donaldson’s work at any stage of a creative project. Several animations in to the BBC’s now long-standing tradition of bringing his books to the screen, that’s the astonishing achievement on display: the way that the team, directed by Sarah Scrimgeour and Jac Hamman, manages to expand a 7-minute poem into a 25-minute film without distorting or stretching the material. There’s no fat on this Superworm: it’s a lean piece of storytelling that fully understands the brief.

The story of this one, for those who haven’t read the book, follows a strong worm with amazing strength who finds himself in trouble thanks to his burgeoning ego. It’s brought to life with a playful love of the book’s witty verse by Matt Smith as Superworm, while Olivia Colman’s narration ensures things never get too saccharine. Rob Brydon, as always, is having a whale of a time as a cackling crow. The result, made and recorded during the Covid-19 pandemic, is a delightful ode to teamwork, equality and helping each other – a timely message that makes for a heartfelt addition to the Donaldson/Scheffler animated universe.

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