Morph revival to include revamped female character "with brains" to help balance out "male heavy" show

Morph revival will include a revamped female character “with brains” to help balance out the “male heavy” programme, creators have revealed.

Aardmann today has revealed the first photograph of the new Morph series set to hit screens in spring, with some surprise costars.

For the first time in 40 years, Morph will be joined not just by his sidekick Chas but with old friends Grandmorph and Delilah, who has had a makeover.

The previous “mumsy” character has been upgraded for a electric-scooter riding, tech-savy, know-it-all, saying goodbye to her old female typecasting.

Merlin Crossingham, Director of Morph said: “Delilah has changed in that she used to be mumsy and she had a bit of an old fashioned hairstyle, so we've given her more of a funky hairstyle.    “She's going to be the intelligent tech-savvy, more up-to-date of the gang.    “If something goes wrong, the boys will normally turn to her to help fix it.

Of the thinking behind her new traits, Croggingham said: “Morph and Chas obviously are both boys and then we needed to bring Delilah into it otherwise it was going to be quite male heavy.    He added that the decision “felt natural” especially as Morph and Chas are “idiots” who run around “being goofy”.

“We needed someone with some brains in the episode,” he said. “There was no reason why she shouldn't be the one who is clever”.

The 15 five-minute episodes will be available to watch on Sky Kids in spring 2020. Aardman had previously shown shorter one or two minute clips on the channel in 2016 and 2018.

The Epic Adventures of Morph series will also see Grandmorph on a skateboard and Morph, leaving the usual confines of an art desk to fly around… on a drone.

“Normally he lives on an artists desk and that’s fine if you’re goofing around doing odd jokes but in order to tell a bigger story we thought yes he should go out into the wider world,” said Crossingham.

“We’ve got one episode where he is possibly going to fly out over the city on a drone like it’s an airline.”

Morph will be shot using clay and traditional stop-frame animation without dialogue, at Morph’s original home, the multi award-winning Aardman studios in Bristol.

Lucy Murphy, Head of Kids Content at Sky comments: “Everyone loves Morph and we know when they meet Grandmorph and Delilah, and join Morph’s adventures beyond the desk the love will grow even stronger.”

Morph was created by Peter Lord and David Spoxton who had founded multi-Oscar-winning Aardman Animations four years previously.

The clay character made his debut on BBC1 alongside Tony Hart in 1977 in Take Hart and Hartbeat, later appearing on the BBC’s SMart in the 1990s.