The Smeds and the Smoos (2022)

South Africans Daniel Snaddon and Samantha Cutler direct The Smeds and the Smoos, adapted by South African Julia Smuts Louw from Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s bestselling picture-book of the same name. Snaddon was previously a director on the 2021 Annie Award winner The Snail and the Whale, 2020 International Emmy-winning Zog, and the BAFTA-nominated and Annecy-winning Stick Man.

The Smeds and The Smoos tells the story of two warring families whose children, Bill and Janet, fall in love and run away together. Hotly pursued by their grandparents, Grandfather Smed (comedian Bill Bailey) and Grandmother Smoo (Adjoa Andoh from Bridgerton), the two young aliens lead their families on a chase across space, giving them the opportunity to find out they have more in common than they think.

Rounding out the cast are Ashna Rabheru (Sex Education) as Janet, Daniel Ezra (All American) as Bill, Rob Brydon (Gavin and Stacey) as Uncle Smoo, Meera Syal (Roar) as Aunt Smed and Oscar nominee Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water) as the narrator.

As Independent (UK) says, “There really couldn’t be a better allegory for Britain today than this pretty weird tale of a blue and red alien who fall in love… This is the West Side Story of our modern age; the Romeo and Juliet version of romance with a touch of… well, Brexit.”

The Smeds and The Smoos is the 10th TV adaptation of a Donaldson and Scheffler book for the BBC by Magic Light Pictures. Previous adaptations include the Oscar-nominated classics The Gruffalo and Room on the Broom.