Animated feature-length television special, ‘Fireman Sam: Alien Alert,’ to feature guest star David Tennant as the voice of humorous villain Buck Douglas.
CANNES, FRANCE – Mattel Creations has announced a new feature-length 2017 special for its CG-animated Fireman Sam that will feature multi-award-winning Scottish actor David Tennant as its guest voice. Mattel Creations is a centralized theatrical, television and digital content creation from Mattel Inc.
Tennant, who is most known for playing the Tenth Doctor in BBC series Doctor Who and for his work on Harry Potter, will voice the character of humorous villain Buck Douglas in Fireman Sam: Alien Alert, which is currently being produced by HIT Entertainment, a subsidiary of Mattel, and has been animated in China by Beijing-based Xing Xing Digital Corporation. The special is being distributed worldwide by Canada-based DHX Media who earlier in the year struck an exclusive deal with Mattel to distribute Fireman Sam content worldwide. First broadcast in 1987 in the UK, Fireman Sam celebrates his 30th Anniversary next year.
Fireman Sam: Alien Alert introduces a new location and characters in a storyline full of twists and turns, while delivering all the action and adventure kids know and love from Fireman Sam. This high drama special sees the town of Pontypandy getting a little over-excited at the arrival of Tennant’s character, alien-hunter-cum-TV-presenter, Buck Douglas, and the prospect of featuring on Buck’s ‘Alien Quest’ show. With UFO sightings and mild peril on the increase, Fireman Sam is determined to get to the bottom of the mysterious events.
Fireman Sam is currently riding high with 2015 NPD Data placing it as No.1 pre-school character property in Germany (four to five times higher than the second placed character property) and Top 5-character property in pre-school vehicles for key territories. It is also a Top 5 performing pre-school show across key markets and experienced double digit growth during 2015 with NPD data showing continued growth for Germany, France, Italy and Spain. In addition, Fireman Sam series 10 has recently struck deals with European broadcasters Cartoonito (UK), RTE Ireland, RTL Telekids (Netherlands) and VTM Kazoom Medialaan (Belgium).
Christopher Keenan, Senior Vice President Global Content & Executive Producer at Mattel Creations, commented, “Alien Alert is an action-packed Fireman Sam adventure for pre-schoolers, and we’re delighted to have the talented David Tennant on board as the voice of Buck. The special stays true to core Fireman Sam values - bravery, loyalty, heroism, community and teamwork - but takes us to new levels of excitement with a sci-fi slant that includes new characters, rescue vehicles, locations, and plot twists. Producing Alien Alert has been an incredible joy and we're confident that our young audience will be captivated by our most dramatic Fireman Sam story yet.”
Josh Scherba, SVP of Distribution for DHX Media, added, “DHX is thrilled to be distributing Fireman Sam around the world, and this new feature will make a great addition to the franchise.”
Fireman Sam currently airs in over 18 countries including France (France 5), Italy (Rai/Cartoonito), Germany (Kika), Poland (MiniMini), Spain (TVE), Israel (Hop) and Belgium (VTM Kzoom). The Alien Alert special is expected to launch in May 2017.
Source: Mattel Creations
