'Shaun The Sheep' Is Getting A BBC/Netflix Christmas Special In 2021

Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king: We're getting a Shaun the Sheep Christmas special. Fans of the Aardman Animations series can flock to their televisions on Christmas day 2021, when a special 30-minute Shaun the Sheep Christmas special will premiere on BBC One in the U.K. and Netflix everywhere else.

Deadline broke the news that a Shaun the Sheep Christmas special is in the works at Aardman Animations, for a BBC and Netflix premiere in 2021. A Winter's Tale From Shaun the Sheep (working title) will follow everyone's favorite sheep "as his seasonal excitement turns sour when a farmhouse raid to get bigger stockings for the flock leads to baby lamb Timmy going missing."

The 30-minute episode will go into production in late 2020 and is directed by Steve Cox from a script written by Giles Pillbrow. Richard Beek produces while Mark Burton, Sarah Cox, and Carla Shelley executive produce the episode created by Giles Pilbrow and Mark Burton. The special won't hit the airwaves until Christmas 2021, when it premieres on BBC One in the U.K. and Netflix in the U.S., Latin America, Spain, CIS, and Greece.

"Aardman lovingly produce stories with warmth, personality and humor, so we are truly delighted that, following the huge success of The Farmer's Llamas, the next project in our continuing relationship is another wonderful Shaun the Sheep special," said Sue Deeks, the BBC's head of program acquisition.

The Shaun the Sheep Christmas special follows the last Shaun outing, the 2019 feature film A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon, which saw the wily sheep have a run-in with an alien, to rave reviews. But as beloved a property as Shaun the Sheep is to critics, and to the U.K., where its predecessor Wallace and Gromit is a cultural staple, Shaun the Sheep doesn't have quite the following Stateside, which is a real shame. So while Shaun the Sheep may very well be a great success on its BBC premiere, I wonder how it will do on Netflix for its international debut. At the very least, it can fill the hole in our hearts left by the Doctor Who Christmas specials, which have since moved to the less festive New Year's Day.