Award-winning actor Tom Hardy will be making his return to CBeebies Bedtime Stories in July to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the NHS.
The Peaky Blinders and Venom star is officially CBeebies' most popular Bedtime Stories reader, and the BBC has today revealed that Hardy will be returning to read a new series of stories to settle kids across the nation down for bed very soon.
On Wednesday, July 5—the 75th anniversary of the National Health Service—Hardy will read Zog and the Flying Doctors, the adventure story by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.
It's the first of six new stories that Hardy has recorded for the channel, and they were recorded in Hardy's garden where he was joined by his adorable French bulldog, Blue.
Zog and the Flying Doctors sees the magical dragon serving as a trusty 'air ambulance' to Princess Pearl and Sir Gadabout. Together, they fly around and tend to a sunburnt mermaid, a distressed unicorn and a lion who's come down with a serious sneeze.
Tom Hardy first appeared on CBeebies on New Year's Eve in 2016, where he read Simon Philip's You Must Bring a Hat.
Since then, his particular CBeebies Bedtime Stories have been the most-streamed on BBC iPlayer. Up until the end of May 2023, that particular episode of Bedtime Stories had been streamed a total of 2.32 million times on the BBC streaming platform, making him CBeebies' most popular Bedtime Stories reader.
Over the years, CBeebies has welcomed a number of big stars to read their Bedtime Stories. Besides Tom Hardy, the channel has also been visited by Chris Evans, Isla Fisher, David Tennant, Chris Hemsworth, Maxine Peake, Stephen Graham, Rosamund Pike, Suranne Jones, Harry Styles, Kate Middleton, Harry Kane, Rege-Jean Page, Rose Ayling-Ellis and Tom Hiddleston.
Tom Hardy was last seen on the big screen Venom: Let There Be Carnage and in a cameo appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home and reprised the role of Alfie Solomons in Peaky Blinders season 6 in 2022.
He's due to appear in Gareth Evan's forthcoming feature film, Havoc, which is expected to air on Netflix in 2023.
CBeebies Bedtime Story airs every single weekday at 6.50 pm on CBeebies and BBC iPlayer. For more info on all the latest shows, be sure to check out our UK TV Guide.
