The former Doctor Who star Jodie Whittaker will lend her voice to the animated film Tabby McTat, which will be broadcast over Christmas on the BBC. I used to love busking with my husband, Malcolm, when we were living in Bristol, and also in Paris,” Donaldson said. “We also both love cats – in fact, we’ve just acquired two new kittens named Tabitha and McTat.

Tabby Mctat - AbeBooks Tabby Mctat - AbeBooks

Julia Donaldson says: “The story is very special to me because as well as having been a busker myself, I'm also a great cat lover. At the time I wrote it we had cats, but they were very old and alas, are no more. But now we have two Tabby cats and they're called Tabitha and McTat.”

Tabby McTat was busker’s cat with a miaow that was loud and strong, the two of them sang of this and that’– this particular tale is of Tabby McTat becoming separating from his dotting owner, the busker. After searching for the busker in the familiar square ‘he was never there’, so McTat goes on a journey as he finds a new family, and in turn a wife. The buskers cats life changes dramatically as he has ‘a very full life with plenty of things to do, like washing Prunella, and pouncing on Pat, and hiding the car keys under the mat’– and he even has kittens of his own, but he can never settle as he misses the busker too much. As McTat goes in search of the busker, his young son, Samuel Sprat follows him. Once McTat is reunited with the busker he then realises he doesn’t have time for busking now he has his life with his wife –‘then out from the shadow sprang Samuel Sprat’ - and little Samuel takes the role as the buskers cat.

Tabby McTat by Julia Donaldson | Goodreads

It is produced by Barney Goodland and Michael Rose of Magic Light Pictures, which has adapted other works from the children’s picture book duo including Oscar-nominated short film The Gruffalo.The friendship between Fred and Tabby is a truly special one and the film explores how their relationship changes unexpectedly as their lives move forward, and ultimately, how they learn to embrace that change."