''Watership Down'' is a CGI-animated

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

drama television programme directed by

Noam Murro Noam Murro (; born ) is an Israeli film director and film producer. He is best known for directing the films '' Smart People'', '' 300: Rise of an Empire'', and the BBC miniseries ''Watership Down''. Early and personal life Murro was born and rai ...

. It is based on the 1972 novel of the same name by

Richard Adams Richard George Adams (10 May 1920 – 24 December 2016) was an English novelist. He is best known for his debut novel ''Watership Down'' which achieved international acclaim. His other works included ''Maia'', '' Shardik'' and '' The Plague Do ...

and adapted by Tom Bidwell. It was released on 22 December 2018 in the United Kingdom and internationally on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

the next day. The

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

broadcast comprised two back-to-back episodes per day. The music video for " Fire on Fire" (from ''Watership Down'') by

Sam Smith Samuel Frederick Smith (born 19 May 1992) is an English singer and songwriter. In 2012, they rose to prominence when they featured on Disclosure (band), Disclosure's breakthrough single "Latch (song), Latch", which peaked at number eleven on ...

was released on 21 December 2018.

Voice cast

James McAvoy James McAvoy (; born 21 April 1979) is a Scottish actor and director. He made his acting debut as a teen in '' The Near Room'' (1995) and appeared mostly on television until 2003, when his film career began. His notable television work inclu ...

as Hazel *

Nicholas Hoult Nicholas Caradoc Hoult (; born Wokingham, 7 December 1989) is an English actor. He has received several accolades, including a nomination for a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe nominations, and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. ...

as Fiver *

John Boyega John Adedayo Bamidele Adegboyega (born 17 March 1992), known professionally as John Boyega, is a British actor and producer. He first gained recognition in Britain for his role as a teenage gang leader in the comedy horror film ''Attack the B ...

as Bigwig *

Ben Kingsley Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji; 31 December 1943) is an English actor. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Ben Kingsley, various accolades throughout Ben Kingsley on screen and stage, his career spanning fi ...

as General Woundwort *

Tom Wilkinson Thomas Geoffrey Wilkinson (5 February 1948 – 30 December 2023) was an English actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he received numerous accolades including a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award as well ...

as Threarah *

Gemma Arterton Gemma Christina Arterton (born 2 February 1986) is a British actress. After her stage debut in Shakespeare's ''Love's Labour's Lost'' at the Globe Theatre (2007), Arterton made her feature-film debut in the comedy '' St Trinian's'' (2007). She p ...

as Clover *

Peter Capaldi Peter Dougan Capaldi (; born 14 April 1958) is a Scottish actor, director, singer and guitarist. He portrayed the Twelfth Doctor, twelfth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction series ''Doctor Who'' (2013–2017) and Malcolm Tucker i ...

as Kehaar *

Olivia Colman Sarah Caroline Sinclair ( Colman; born 30 January 1974), known professionally as Olivia Colman, is an English actress. She has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, four BAFTA Awards, two Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Award ...

as Strawberry *

Mackenzie Crook Mackenzie Crook (born Paul James Crook, 29 September 1971) is an English actor, director, comedian and writer best known for his roles in television and film. He gained widespread recognition for portraying Gareth Keenan in the British sitcom '' ...

as Hawkbit *

Anne-Marie Duff Anne-Marie Duff (born 8 October 1970) is an English actress and narrator. She is best known for her BAFTA nominated television roles in '' Shameless'' and '' The Virgin Queen'', and her performance as Grace Williams in '' Bad Sisters'', for wh ...

as Hyzenthlay *

Taron Egerton Taron Egerton ( ; born 10 November 1989) is a Welsh actor. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he performed in stage plays before gaining recognition for his starring role as a spy in the action comedy films '' Kingsman: Th ...

as El-Ahrairah * Freddie Fox as Captain Holly * James Faulkner as Frith *

Lee Ingleby Lee David Ingleby (born 28 January 1976) is an English actor who first gained attention with his leading role in the BBC Two miniseries ''Nature Boy'' (2000). His other notable roles include Detective Insp. John Bacchus on the BBC's ''Inspector ...

as Campion *

Miles Jupp Miles Hugh Barrett Jupp (born 8 September 1979) is an English actor and comedian. He began his career as a stand-up comedian before playing the role of the inventor Archie in the children's television series ''Balamory''. He also played John Dugg ...

as Blackberry *

Daniel Kaluuya Daniel Kaluuya (; born 24 February 1989) is an English actor. His work encompasses both screen and stage, and List of awards and nominations received by Daniel Kaluuya, his accolades include an Academy Awards, Academy Award, two British Academy ...

as Bluebell *

Rory Kinnear Rory Michael Kinnear (born 17 February 1978) is an English actor. He won two Olivier Awards, both at the National Theatre, in 2008 for his portrayal of Sir Fopling Flutter in ''The Man of Mode'', and for playing the William Shakespeare villain ...

as Cowslip *

Craig Parkinson Craig Parkinson (born 11 March 1976) is an English actor and podcaster. He has played Shaun in the E4 series '' Misfits'', twins Jimmy and Johnny Kray in the ITV series ''Whitechapel'', and DI Matthew "Dot" Cottan in ''Line of Duty''. He has a ...

as Sergeant Sainfoin *

Rosamund Pike Rosamund Mary Ellen Pike (born 1979) is an English actress and producer. Known for psychological thrillers and dramas, she is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Rosamund Pike, numerous accolades, including a Primetime Em ...

as the Black Rabbit of Inlé *

Daniel Rigby Daniel Rigby (born 6 December 1982) is an English actor and comedian. He received a BAFTA TV Award for his leading role as Eric Morecambe in the 2011 BBC television film '' Eric and Ernie''. Early life Rigby was born in Stockport, Greater Ma ...

as Dandelion *

Jason Watkins Jason Peter Watkins (born 28 October 1962) is an English stage, film and television actor. He played the lead role in the two-part drama ''The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies'', for which he won the British Academy Television Award for Bes ...

as Captain Orchis *

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (; ; born 22 August 1967) is an English actor. He is known for his roles as Simon Adebisi in '' Oz'', Mr. Eko in '' Lost'', Lock-Nah in '' The Mummy Returns'', Nykwana Wombosi in '' The Bourne Identity'', Heavy Duty ...

as Vervain *

Gemma Chan Gemma Chan (born 29 November 1982) is an English actress. A graduate of Worcester College, Oxford, Chan began acting during the late 2000s, making her film debut in 2009. She rose to attention with her leading role in the Channel 4 science fiction ...

as Dewdrop *

Rosie Day Rosie Jane Day is an English actress, author, playwright, and filmmaker. She is known for her portrayals of Mary Hawkins in the Starz historical drama series '' Outlander'' (2016), Tina Pemberton in Sky One's comedy-drama series '' Living the D ...

as Thethuthinnang * Emeli Sande as Thethuthinang Singing Voice *

Henry Goodman Henry Goodman (born 23 April 1950) is a RADA trained British actor. He has appeared on television and radio, in film and in the theatre. Early life He attended the Central Foundation Boys' School and joined the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Lo ...

as Blackavar * Peter Guinness as Silverweed * Charlotte Spencer as Nettle

Production

In July 2014, it was announced that the BBC would be airing a new animated serial of ''Watership Down'' based on the 1972 novel and the 1978 film. In April 2016, it was announced that the series would be a co-production between

and

, and would consist of four one hour episodes. The series has a budget of £20 million. The rest of the voice cast was announced in November 2018.

Release

Originally set for release on 25 December 2018, ''Watership Down'' was released on 22 December 2018, on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

in the UK and on 23 December 2018 on

, internationally. In Germany, the series was released on DVD in Region 2, despite not being released in the UK.

Episodes

Reception

''Watership Down'' received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for the narrative, performances of its voice cast and soundtrack, but receiving some criticism for its somewhat tamer tone and the quality of the

computer animation Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating Film, moving images. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both still images and moving images, while computer animation refers to moving images. Virtu ...

, described as "soulless" and "clunky". On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the drama has an approval rating of 74% based on reviews from 23 critics, with its critical consensus reading "Though its animation leaves something to be desired, ''Watership Down'' is a faithful adaptation that will resonate with viewers of any age." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, it has a weighted average score of 76 out of 100 based on five critics, indicating "generally favourable reviews". ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' and ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' both gave it two stars out of five, calling the production "tame, drab and deeply unsatisfying." and "spectacularly ho-hum – less tooth and claw than head shake." ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' was more positive, giving it three stars out of five, writing "this was a meaty, lovingly made production that, spread over two days, felt far too long," while ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' noted that though the adaptation "fails its potential, it benefits from strong voice performances and a solid central story. Even this easy-listening version, which lays on the romance, jokes and limp dialogue, has moments of grandeur and the sweep of a fantasy epic." Despite the negative reviews, it got four stars from the Daily Telegraph, which said that it had an "emotional bite". The drama won a

Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NA ...

for Outstanding Special Class Animated Program. It also got nominated for a Daytime creative arts Emmy awards for outstanding directing, sound editing, sound mixing, graphic design and music direction.

References

External links

* * * {{Netflix original ended series (2012–2018) 2018 British television series debuts 2018 British television series endings 2018 American animated television series debuts 2018 American television series endings 2010s American adult animated television series 2010s American animated television miniseries 2010s British animated television series 2010s British television miniseries American adult animated adventure television series American adult animated drama television series American adult animated fantasy television series American adult computer-animated television series British adult animated adventure television series British adult animated drama television series British adult animated fantasy television series British computer-animated television series BBC television miniseries BBC television dramas American English-language television shows Netflix television dramas Television shows based on British novels Animated television series about rabbits and hares Watership Down BBC animated television series Television series about talking animals Adaptations of works by Richard Adams