Peppa Pig’s Morwenna Banks Talks New Holiday Episodes, Magic of the Series, and Feature Film Possibilities

Peppa Pig fans everywhere and their parents are celebrating all new holiday-themed episodes of the series running through December 23rd. Those episodes have already featured some truly delightful moments, including one of our favorite episodes of the series that shows Granny and Grandpa pig during their Hippies phase. New episodes will continue throughout the rest of this week and next week, and ComicBook.com had a chance to speak to Mummy Pig herself Morwenna Banks all about the new episodes, what she’s loved most about being a part of this series, and more!

There’s something special about the Christmas season, and Peppa, Daddy, Mummy, George, and the rest of the delightful characters of Peppa Pig are certainly in on the holiday spirit too, and so is Banks when bringing the character to life.

“Oh, they’re always fun. That’s a great question. I mean, they’re always fun to do because every time I walk into a booth to record one, they make me laugh, the writing’s so good and there’s always something to relate to I think,” Banks said. “But I think the holiday ones are really inventive, and I was thinking back over some of the past ones like when they spend holidays on the beach in Australia. There have been some really fantastic holiday episodes and it always feels really special to represent this family and their friends at this time of year. It’s always a lovely thing and I’m always curious to see how they’ll do it.”

This time around Peppa has already found herself in adventures involving Father Christmas (Grandpa’s Christmas Present), Mr. Potato (Kiddie Workout), and adventure parks (Monkey Trees), and fans have also been sent back in time to see Granny and Grandpa Pig’s time as hippies (Hippies). Banks has quite a few favorite episodes from past seasons, but it’s hard to pick a favorite, and that’s partly because the writing team does such a great job of keeping things fresh and thinking up new scenarios for the lovable characters and cast.

“Yeah, I mean it’s really hard to pick out favorites. I was actually looking back over all the episodes, I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, I’d forgotten about that one on this one when we did that and that one where we set up and did on that adventure.’ I mean, I think it’s really hard to choose and I think that’s also because they keep being, from my point of view as an actor, I’m a writer. I don’t write on this show, but as a writer I know how hard it’s to keep something that’s been going for a long time, to keep multiple seasons fresh and interesting,” Banks said.

“I’m absolutely in awe of the fact that the whole Peppa team managed to keep this fresh, managed to keep it interesting, managed to evolve, and reflect in a society that you recognize, but always feels like its own thing,” Banks said. “It’s really, for me, I was looking at an early episode where ‘Mummy Pig At Work’ and one with the computer game called ‘Happiness is Chicken,’ which always, always makes me laugh a lot, going back and watching it. It’s the animation, it’s the sound effects, it’s the music. Every aspect of it is so beautifully and thoughtfully done that there’s always something in every episode that really surprises me and makes me laugh all over again.”

Speaking of Mummy Pig at work, I had to commend her on getting anything done while working at home while also taking care of two kids, as I feel the pandemic had taught many of us how difficult an undertaking that was.

“I love that you’ve said that. That’s great. Yeah, she’s got a whole new following post-pandemic,” Banks said. “Yeah, absolutely. That’s funny. That’s a great thing to say. Well, I’m pleased (laughs).”

Banks has always loved being a part of the show and how it evolves and changes over time. As for what the future holds, she never wants to see it end, and we don’t either.

“Well, I think that’s part of the brilliance and I think that it does keep moving forward as one parenting does, and as the world of parenting, the world of children, I think because it does evolve always,” Banks said. “Whilst it was representing a recognizable and relatable world, I think it feels like there’s no reason why it would stop, and apart from that, I love doing it. I never want it to stop.”

“But I think quite often, in a way, it’s a similar question to, people have often asked me, what’s the secret? Why Peppa? Why does this show work? I think it’s because it came from a very, very truthful place,” Banks said. “I think, from the writers and the animators, and because they were one and the same at the start, when we first started out and really kept a firm handle, the whole way through. I think they sort of set out to make something really entertaining. It always had this beautiful look to it. They’re absolutely brilliant creative animators, Neville Astley and Mark Baker, and they work together with our producer Phil Davies, and there’s a lot of integrity in there.”

“I think they were never trying to write a hit show. Look, maybe they were trying to do that, I mean who wouldn’t try not to? I’ve done some wonderful animations and acted in a lot of things and sometimes you slightly feel that things are done by an algorithm that they have to kick a certain amount of gossip,” Banks said. “But Peppa never felt like that. It always felt very organic. It felt relatable, right from the start. I think it just has always been very genuine, and the writing has been very…Holy Grail really, which is to make children and adults laugh at the same time. That’s really unusual.”

While Peppa Pig has been seen on the big screen, it’s never been created as a full-feature film project. If Peppa does head to the big screen, Banks is in.

“Actually, we’ve done some movie versions here and we’ve screened them at movies. Like a full-length feature, you’d say? That would be hilarious,” Banks said. “I’m very happy with all the iterations, whatever the creators would want to say, ‘How about this?’ I’m in.”

You can find all of the descriptions for this month’s new Peppa Pig episodes below, and you can catch new episodes of Peppa Pig on Nick Jr. at 7:00 PM EST/PT on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.

GRANDPA’S CHRISTMAS PRESENT – December 5, 2022

Father Christmas delivers a wonderful present for Grandpa Pig, it’s a toy flying machine. He flies it around the garden with Peppa and George having lots of fun. But when the battery runs low the flying machine is automatically set to return home, unfortunately the setting is Father Christmas’ home. Grandpa wonders if he will ever see his flying machine again.

PARACHUTE GAMES – December 5, 2022

Peppa has fun playing parachute games at playgroup.

FLYING DISCS – December 6, 2022

Peppa learns how to throw and catch flying discs in the park.

KIDDIE WORKOUT – December 7, 2022

Mr. Potato leads the playgroup in a fun musical workout.

MONKEY TREES – December 8, 2022

Peppa visits an adventure park.

FAMILIES – December 12, 2022

The children draw pictures of their families.

CHARITY SHOP – December 13, 2022

Peppa, George and Daddy Pig visit the Charity Shop.

HIPPIES – December 14, 2022

A long time ago, Granny and Grandpa were hippies.

LITTLE CARS – December 15, 2022

Peppa visits the Little Cars play center.

THE OWL – December 19, 2022

Grandpa Pig builds a special bird watching hut.

THE APPLE TREE – December 20, 2022

Peppa and family enjoy their garden apple tree all year round.

THE BIG HILL BUG HOTEL – December 21, 2022

Grandpa Pig shows Peppa and George his special ‘Bug Hotel’.

GRANDPA PIG’S GREENHOUSE – December 23, 2022

Grandpa Pig and Grandad Dog show their greenhouses to Peppa and George.