Julia Donaldson on why Rob Brydon was the perfect Tabby McTat star
She was the best-selling author of the past decade, racking up a colossal 27 million sales from 2010 to 2019 – but once upon a time, Julia Donaldson was a busker.
Before she found fame as a children’s author – 1999’s The Gruffalo has sold more than 13.5 million copies – Julia and her husband Malcolm went busking for coins on the streets of Paris and Italy to pay their rent.
It was these experiences that inspired Tabby McTat – the latest Julia Donaldson tale to be turned into a gorgeous TV special by Magic Light Productions for the BBC. “I’ve always been a cat lover and I was a busker, so I just put the two together,” shares Julia, revealing how she hit upon the story of a busker called Fred who performs with his cat, before the two are separated.
Julia, now 75, studied drama and French at university and it was while perfecting her French in Paris that she fell in love with medical student Malcolm. At the time, busking helped to fund their cheap hotel accommodation near the Musée de Cluny.
“Malcolm and I met at university and my course was in drama and French. For the French part I was in Paris for a few months. It was very expensive living in Paris so a girlfriend and I used to sing things like Plaisir D’Amour and we could only play about three chords, but we had this medic friend Malcolm and he suddenly wrote to us with this really long list of songs. Then he came up to join us and we sort of took the Champs-Élysées by storm.”
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Tabby McTat will air on Christmas Day (BBC/Magic Light Pictures)
It features the voice of Rob Brydon as talented busker Fred (BBC/Magic Light Pictures)It was when Malcolm leapt into the Seine to retrieve the straw hat they were using to collect their money that Julia fell in love. She recalls, “One day in Paris our big straw hat blew off and fell into the Seine. Malcolm wasn’t my boyfriend then but he nobly dived into the Seine and rescued this hat!”
The story echoes what happens in Tabby McTat, which sees Fred separated from his cat when a thief runs off with “the old checked hat” that’s full of their earnings. Fred isn’t based on her husband Malcolm, but Julia admits her sister Mary often jokes that she sees “Fred as how Malcolm would have ended up with me”.
Rob Brydon, who has starred in every one of Julia’s 10 TV specials, is voicing the role of Fred, while Jodie Whittaker narrates. “I’m always really pleased when Rob Brydon is in them,” Julia says. “I was really pleased that he was Fred because he’s got such a lovely singing voice and Jodie’s a lovely narrator.”
Julia is best known for penning The Gruffalo, which has now sold over 13 million copies (PA)Tabby McTat has big themes for a children’s story, including homelessness, and ultimately Tabby has to choose between his old life as a busker’s cat, and his new comfortable life with his new family.
When she wrote the story, Julia’s publishers were worried, even though she was their most bankable star. “It’s the most complex one,” agrees Julia. “It is about a character who’s torn between two completely different lifestyles, which can’t coexist. When I first wrote it, it was suggested to me by the publisher that I could rewrite the whole thing and for it to just be about two cats… they were worried about the homelessness thing as well.
“I said no. Actually, there are lots of children who do have to make choices. There will be children whose parents separate and are now torn between two homes. It’s something that children should be able to relate to.”
Julia will be watching Tabby McTat on Christmas Day with her two cats, who she has named Tabitha and McTat in honour of the story. “We’ve got the two cats who were born on Boxing Day,” shares Julia. “They’re called Tabitha and McTat. So we’re trying to get them to watch the film with us.”
In the Donaldson household it’s a Christmas tradition for the animals to buy the owners a present. “The cats will probably give us things!” laughs Julia. “My husband does it. We’ve got fish as well and sometimes I get presents from them. I think, ‘How did they get into the shop and buy this present?’”
Julia and Malcolm have nine grandchildren between them who adore her stories and shows. However, this year the couple are having a surprisingly grown-up Christmas. “Some Christmases were overrun with grandchildren, which is lovely,” smiles Julia. “This year Malcolm just said, ‘Let’s have a Christmas tree and stay at home.’”
Instead, Julia’s sister Mary and her husband will be coming over and there will be singing around the piano, word games and, of course, a lovely meal. Malcolm will be bringing out his show tunes, while Julia sings. She adds, “It’s going to be a more adult Christmas than usual. We play the adverb game and Malcolm plays the piano and we sing carols.”
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Julia is thrilled that she’s become part of families’ Christmases as it’s such a cherished time of year. But you’ll never catch her celebrating before December. “I do love Christmas but I hate the way it starts too early,” she says. “I remember when it started a week before Christmas and I think that’s plenty. I won’t turn on Christmas lights in November!”
In the new year it will be a quarter of a century since The Gruffalo was published. Now the parents who read it to their children are buying it for their grandchildren. It’s great business for Julia but she admits it makes her realise how quickly time flies.
“If you’re a writer, and you get through a generation with your books still in print, then what happens is the grandparents buy it for the grandchildren,” explains Julia. “Hopefully, the whole thing never stops but it does make me feel a bit old!”
Tabby McTat airs on Christmas Day, 2.35pm, BBC One
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