Crackanory will be returning for a fourth series in the new year, and we can exclusively reveal a heavy TVO presence.

For the uninitiated, the series is an adult spin on storytime, with big name stars narrating tales which are brought to life by leading comic actors, and written by leading comedy writers for good measure.

Previous episodes have featured a bevvy of TVO regulars on both sides of the camera, with 25 TVO regulars appearing on screen along the way, several of them writing or directing episodes, plus music across the series from Waen Shepherd and appearances from lots of other related names including Alice’s Wunderland star Marcia Warren and “Mrs Gideon from The Mighty Boosh” herself, Victoria Wicks. Phew.

As such, we’re naturally very excited to hear the show will be returning, and this time around in a revamped format. Previous seasons have involved two short tales per episode – but this year’s 8 part run will feature eight longer stories instead.

Up for the storyteller slot this year are Bob Mortimer, Sheridan Smith, Dara O’Briain, Doc Brown, Anna Frield, Mackenzie Crook, Miriam Margoyles and Mel Giedroyc. The eight stories will be written by Nico Tatarowicz, Tony Way, Sarah Morgan (Modern Life is Goodish, Hotel Trubble), Toby Davies (Murder in Successville, Pyschobitches, Pixelface) and series producer Arnold Widdowson (Dead Air, Horrible Histories, Beehive).

Thanks to the good folk at Tiger Aspect, who produce the series, we can exclusively reveal that the cast bringing the stories to life alongside the star narrators will include: Nicholas Burns, Alex Kirk, Steve Oram, Nico Tatarowicz, Gareth Tunley and Ellie White.

Also appearing are lots more great talents – a heady mixture of the well established and the young and upcoming stars of tomorrow. In alphabetical order, and with any recentish TVO-related credits of note attached, these are: Ann Akin, Ritu Arya, Tom Bennett (Fungus the Bogeyman, Top Coppers), Moya Brady, Dominic Coleman (Upstart Crow, Trollied, Up the Women and many more!), Kenneth Collard (Zapped, AmStarDam, I Want My Wife Back), Jamie Demetriou (Rovers, Hoff the Record, SunTrap), Ed Easton (We the Jury, Inside No. 9), Dylan Edwards (Game of Thrones, High-Rise, Cardinal Burns), Kayode Ewumi (Are You Being Served?, #HoodDocumentary), David Gant, Jamie Glassman (Cockroaches, The Day They Came to Suck Out Our Brains), Rebecca Humphries (Morgana Robinson’s The Agency, Cockroaches, Cardinal Burns), Alexander Owen (Dead Air), Rose Reynolds (The World’s End), Matthew Steer and Darren Strange (The IT Crowd).

Promising stories ranging from a barbershop competition in 1940s New York to bloodthirsty ancient Rome, with cryogenically frozen men, lies that come to life, deranged dictators, and Edwardian magicians, the series will be back on our screens in the New Year, and available to listen to via Audible for good measure.

We’ll bring you more on transmission details in the near future… stay peeled. In the meantime, you can revisit all 18 episodes from the first three series via UKTV Play whenever you like, and as a cheeky bonus for those of you who can’t access them outside the UK, you can also see a selection of stories on director Richard Pengelley’s Vimeo account. We suggest you start watching them now…