Watch extracts of animated fairytales ahead of world premiere

The last voiceover work done by Rik Mayall is to receive its premiere in Manchester next month.

He narrated six fairytales before his death in June last year, originally as audiobooks. Then writer Mike Bennett made them into children's animations, which will now be screened at the Greater Manchester Fringe.

He said: 'They were certainly Mayall's last work in terms of audio. We do our own twists on the Grimms and other writers. For instance, we've got Beauty and the Beast, but he utilises a lot of his own characterisations. It's been remixed, let's say that. They are completely different versions to the originals.'

He added that Mayall was easy to work with, and performed the audiobooks like a stand-up routine.

'He was a wonderful guy to work with – very giving, very generous,' he said. 'I had to make everything socialist; Aladdin had to be a socialist.'

Beauty And The Beast, Aladdin and Three Little Pigs will get their world premiere at the Manchester show, Short Tails And Tall Stories.

'It's surreal, anarchic and fun,' Bennett added. 'The emphasis is on wordplay, escapism, with a light-hearted message. It's not dark in terms of the way I think anyway. It's fun with a bit of dark humour. No darker than Roald Dahl.'

The second half of the show, at the King's Arms Theatre in Salford, will feature local actors providing live voiceovers for other animated stories.

Bennett has previously written for Tony Blackburn, Bobby Davro and Anita Harris. and worked with Manchester music stars including Mark E Smith of The Fall and Ian Brown of the Stone Roses.

Short Tails and Tall Stories takes place on Sunday November 8 at 2pm. Tickets cost £5 and are available from www.greatermanchesterfringe.co.uk.

Published: 27 Oct 2015