It’s hard to believe it’s 35 years since a plasticine man in a sweater and slippers, along with his voiceless, but hugely expressive dog, burst on to our screens and won the hearts of millions with their mix of humour, charm and nostalgia.

Wallace and Gromit managed to be both familiar and fresh, and their modest creator Nick Park couldn’t have foreseen how their handmade adventures would change the world of animation and make Wensleydale cheese internationally famous.

But three decades on and Preston-born Park is beginning to realise that his flair for feel-good filmmaking has made him a very big deal.

Oscar wins and box office hits aside, his latest accolade, in the Lancashire city where he was born and bred, clearly means a lot.

A new Wallace and Gromit exhibition is being showcased at the Harris Museum, which Park visited frequently growing up.

The historic landmark looms large over the city centre and is filled with artefacts and treasures that inspired him as a boy.

He was drawn to the library and devoured books on his favourite subject, you guessed it, animation.

The museum has been closed for four years as part of a £19m revamp. And who better to re-open it this weekend than Park.

As we meet at the exhibition, he tells me he was a quiet child who loved drawing. Visits to the museum helped shape his creativity and storytelling.

He said: “I used to love spending a day around here looking at all the artefacts, the paintings. I used to come to the library here, there was no internet, and so I would look for books on animation.

“I would scour the library for anything I could get my hands on.”

We chat in a life-size replica of Wallace and Gromit’s living room. The wallpaper, standing lamp and armchair are so familiar.

Park says it’s like sitting in one of his own sets.

The living room was actually based on his grandma’s house, which he describes as a cosy 1960s home. And as he sits in the chair with his cup of tea, he jokes that he’s now turned into Wallace.

He said: “I feel like I’m made of clay, sitting on a replica set, it’s just incredible.”

But that’s the joy of his films – the personal touch. And whilst they’re unmistakably Northern, inspired by Park’s family and upbringing, they’re also universally relatable.

He said: “I used to draw from my own childhood a lot, and that’s what inspired me. Because it feels true to do that.

“So, I went to memories of my granny, the lamp stand that my granny had and other objects, toasters, clocks, you name it.”

Park is now arguably as famous as his much-loved characters. Something he seems to be finally getting used to.

He says he’s honoured and a little overwhelmed that his hometown holds him and his clay creations so close to his heart.

He said: “I was a shy teenager, and just talking about this hobby, I never imagined they would become household names.

“So, to have statues of my characters in the centre of town and now to be opening this newly refurbished exhibition and my own exhibition. To be here with my own characters, it’s just crazy.”

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I ask what this stop motion supremo makes of the use of AI and technology in film.

He said: “We need to hang onto our values, there’s something about handmade quality that gives everything charm and appeal.

“It would probably be wrong to completely ignore that.”

The exhibition is immersive and emotive. Being up close and personal with the models, drawings, and characters evokes the same feelings as the films do. Warmth, humour and nostalgia.

A journey through the formative years of a young filmmaker and the birth of one of cinema’s unlikeliest heroes.

Park is now inspiring the next generation of storytellers and filmmakers at the museum, which played such an important part in his own success story.

Wallace and Gromit in A Case at the Museum Exhibition opens on Sunday and runs until January.

The older brother of Oasis stars Liam and Noel Gallagher has denied a charge of rape.

Paul Gallagher, 59, has also pleaded not guilty to coercive and controlling behaviour, three counts of sexual assault, three counts of intentional strangulation, two counts of making a threat to kill, and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The alleged offences took place between 2022 and 2024, according to a charge sheet.

Gallagher, of East Finchley, north London, entered his pleas from the dock at Harrow Crown Court, which was sitting at Southwark Crown Court on Friday.

He was wearing a dark suit and shirt, and thick-rimmed glasses.

Gallagher was released on conditional bail and will face trial on September 13, 2027.

Judge Anupama Thompson told him: “I’m very sorry that it’s such a long time away, but we have a number of cases that need to be listed.”

Paul Gallagher, who is about a year older than Noel and seven years older than Liam, has never been involved in Oasis.

A terror charge against Kneecap rapper Liam Og O hAnnaidh has been thrown out by a court.

The Irish rapper, who performs under the name Mo Chara, appeared at Woolwich Crown Court on a single terror charge.

Giving his ruling, chief magistrate Paul Goldspring said: “These proceedings against the defendant were instituted unlawfully and are null.”

The 27-year-old had been accused of displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah at a gig at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, north London, on 21 November last year.

He had been on unconditional bail since his first court appearance in June.

After delivering his ruling, the judge said: “Mr O hAnnaidh, you are free to go,” which was met by cheers in the public gallery and applause.

The levity was met with a stern reprimand, with the judge adding: “You can do your celebrating outside, but the court now has other business to attend to”.

Both of O hAnnaidh’s parents were in court to support him.

O hAnnaidh: ‘We’re right and you’re wrong’

Speaking outside court, O hAnnaidh thanked his legal team and interpreter, before addressing his large crowd of supporters.

He said: “This entire process was never about me, never about any threat to the public, never about terrorism. A word used by your government to discredit people you oppress. It was always about Gaza. About what happens if you dare to speak up.

“As people from Ireland, we know oppression, colonialism, famine and genocide. We have suffered and still suffer under your empire.

“Your attempts to silence us have failed, because we’re right and you’re wrong… We will not be silent. We said we’d fight you in your court and we would win, and today we have.

If anyone on this planet is guilty of terrorism, it’s the British state. Free Palestine. Tiocfaidh ar la [Irish for our day will come].”

The audience responded with cheers and chants of “Free, free Palestine”.

Judge says prosecution’s earlier arguments ‘defy logic’

At the start of the hearing, O hAnnaidh stood to confirm his name, date of birth and current address, speaking in Irish with his words translated by an interpreter. The judge then summarised his judgement for the court.

He made clear the purpose of the hearing was not to determine O hAnnaidh’s innocence or guilt, but about whether the court had jurisdiction to hear the case.

He went on to say he agreed with O hAnnaidh’s lawyers, who argued that the Attorney General had not given permission for the case to be brought against the defendant when police informed him he was to face a terror charge on 21 May.

Criminal proceedings are instituted when a criminal charge is first issued, not when the defendant first appears in court.

Concluding the reasons for his decision, the chief magistrate said: “I find that these proceedings were not instituted in the correct form, lacking the necessary DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions) and AG (Attorney General) consent within the six-month statutory time limit.

“The time limit requires consent to have been granted at the time or before the issue of the requisition.

“Consequently, the charge is unlawful and null and this court has no jurisdiction to try the charge.”

Sweeping aside the prosecution’s previous argument that permission from the DPP and AG was not required until the defendant’s first court appearance, and that permission did not need to be sought in order to bring a criminal charge, the chief magistrate said such arguments “defy logic”.

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Following the hearing, a Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: “We will work with the Crown Prosecution Service to understand the potential implications of this ruling for us and how that might impact on the processing of such cases in the future.”

Kneecap‘s manager Daniel Lambert said the rap trio were on the “right side of history”, and said in a post on X: “We said we would fight them and win. We did (Twice). Kneecap has NO charges OR convictions in ANY country, EVER.”

Last year, Kneecap won a discrimination case against the UK government after Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch tried to refuse them a £14,250 funding award when she was business secretary.

Irish First Minister: ‘Kneecap used their platform to expose genocide’

Swiftly responding to the court ruling, Northern Ireland’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill said on social media that she welcomed the decision, saying: “These charges were part of a calculated attempt to silence those who stand up and speak out against the Israeli genocide in Gaza.

“Kneecap have used their platform on stages across the world to expose this genocide, and it is the responsibility of all of us to continue speaking out and standing against injustice in Palestine.”

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald wrote on X: “Mo Chara spoke out against Israel’s genocide, for the people of Gaza, for a free Palestine.

“The charges were an attempt to shut him up, to silence protest. It failed. He’s free. Kneecap are not the story. Genocide is the story.”

The venue of the hearing had been changed at short notice, following a burst mains pipe at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.