WATERSHIP Down with its powerful tale of adventure, courage and survival is a childhood rite of passage. The bestselling novel by Richard Adams will be brought to life for a new generation this Christmas with an animated BBC adaptation featuring a star-studded cast.

Airing as two feature-length episodes that begin this evening, it follows a herd of rabbits who flee their warren after it is destroyed by humans to make way for houses.

Led by brothers Hazel and Fiver – voiced by James McAvoy and Nicholas Hoult – the rabbits' journey to a promised land proves a treacherous one as they must evade predators and overcome adversity.

Also lending their voices are Olivia Colman as Strawberry, Sir Ben Kingsley as General Woundwort, Peter Capaldi as Kehaar, Mackenzie Crook as Hawkbit and Anne-Marie Duff as Hyzenthlay.

John Boyega plays Bigwig, with Gemma Arterton as Clover, Rosamund Pike as The Black Rabbit Of Inle, Jason Watkins as Captain Orchis, Daniel Kaluuya as Bluebell and Miles Jupp as Blackberry.

The book was previously adapted into an animated film in 1978 – its dark and bloody themes are often said to have emotionally scarred a generation – with John Hurt and Richard Briers among its cast.

The late Simon Cadell, known for roles in Enemy At The Door, Hi-de-Hi! and Life Without George, voiced Blackberry – played by Jupp in the new version.

Comedian and actor Jupp first shot to fame as Archie the Inventor in BBC children's series Balamory and more recently has starred in Netflix drama The Crown and ITV's The Durrells. He has presented BBC Radio 4's The News Quiz since taking over from Sandi Toksvig in 2015.

Here Jupp, 39, talks about the making of the two-part special, how he will be spending Christmas and some of his all-time favourite festive memories.

How would you describe your character Blackberry?

He has a learned and academic vibe to him. Blackberry is naturally quite cautious but also innovative – he's an ideas guy. He is also quite sweet.

What was it like being part of such an illustrious cast?

To see your name on that list is slightly extraordinary. It is a ludicrously starry cast. Of course, I have not really met any of them other than the ones I already knew. You each do your own voice and then they layer it up. The closest you get is hearing the other person's voice.

My character Blackberry and Daniel Kaluuya as Bluebell are a bit of a double act. I had met Daniel before when we did Johnny English: Reborn.

What are your memories of Watership Down as a child?

I read the book and watched the 1978 adaptation. I can remember it being put on at someone's house. As my brother and I sat down, they said: 'We are going to put a cartoon on …' Then us being terrified. So, I didn't watch it to the end.

It is a long novel and I think well served by almost four hours of adaptation. Next year I am doing a play directed by Selina Cadell and her brother Simon played the same part in the 1978 film that I do in this. It feels like there is a nice circularity to it.

Will you sit down with your wife Rachel and five children to watch it?

Hopefully it is something we can all watch together as a family. The older ones might get a bit more out of it. The younger ones might just think: 'Oh great, rabbits!'. Luckily the multi-layered nature will work.

I don't know how much of it is analogous to Britain's current international situation but maybe my wife and I will appreciate that slightly more than the children.

There is something for everyone. Some people may just really like a high standard in animated grass and they will be watching it for that. Every time the rabbits are on screen, they will be thinking: 'I just want to see the scenery …'

How do you spend Christmas?

We have a big family and we try to gather as many people as possible for lunch. I have my in-laws nearby as well as my children's aunts and uncles.

I like cooking. My wife and her family are all amazing cooks so I'm always looking for tiny things I can contribute. Perhaps I'll do the brandy butter. There's not usually much left for me to do.

I enjoy Champagne and smoked salmon as everyone is milling about. Fire is an important thing. Warmth and walks. Chunky knitwear. There is a certain amount of feasting.

My number one favourite Christmas food is "devils on horseback" which is a prune with streaky bacon wrapped round it. We often go to my wife's uncle's house and they will have punch on the stove all afternoon. I usually park up next to that until it is all gone and I've a bit of redness in my cheeks.

What are your childhood memories of Christmas?

I got Snake Mountain from He-Man when I was about five or six. It had a microphone in the back with a distorter, so you could make Skeletor's voice.

I got an Optimus Prime from Transformers the year that it was the most popular toy. Perhaps Father Christmas was very organised that year? That was incredibly exciting.

Because my father is a clergyman Christmas Day was a working day in our house. He would always have to go and preach. He would arrive early at church to set things up and then there was the milling about afterwards.

It did take a chunk out of the day, but I didn't have a very big family growing up so there wasn't huge numbers of us charging about.

Do you have any festive-themed telly traditions?

When I was little, I used to love when we first saw the trailers for everything that would be on. My brother and I would write lists of all the things we wanted to watch. At the end of Christmas, we would have three or four VHS tapes with loads of films on them.

In terms of sitting down and watching things as a family, we did used to watch the Queen's speech. That is a tradition I am very happy to let slip.

Watership Down begins on BBC One, tonight, 7pm and continues tomorrow at 7.20pm