This is a first: I'm actually going to recommend you watch Masterpiece Theater this evening. I'm sure their have been some great films shown on the long-running public television mainstay, but this is the first time I've actually thought to myself, 'you know, I should actually check that out.'

I'm talking about The Wind in the Willows, an adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's classic children's tale that centers on Mr. Toad, a creature with a proclivity for extravagance and crazy hobbies. The adaptation, which airs tonight on most PBS stations (you'll have to check your local listings), isn't an animated version, or even a live-action version with a lot of fancy special effects. Instead, the story relies on the actors' ability to inhabit their animal roles: Bob Hoskins as Badger, Matt Lucas (Little Britain) as Mr. Toad, Mark Gatiss (League of Gentlemen) as Ratty and Lee Ingleby (The Street, Spaced) as Mole. The movie was shot in Romania and directed by Rachel Talalay, whose directing credits include a slew of television series including The Dead Zone, What About Brian and Ally McBeal.

I'm guessing the live-action won't hold the attention of younger children, who would probably enjoy something closer to Disney's The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, but adults and older children who grew up with Grahame's book might appreciate it a bit more.

The fluff-stuffed bear of very little brain is not only popular here in the United States, having recently received a star on the Walk of Fame, but he also topped a recent poll in the UK of favorite animal characters, beating out other bears like Paddington and Baloo from The Jungle Book. Winnie the Pooh received fifty-one percent of the votes through a poll of 1,191 adults, with the daft but lovable Paddington Bear coming in second with forty-one percent of the vote, and Baloo coming in at  third. Other animals such as Peter Rabbit, Black Beauty, and Toad from The Wind in the Willows also finished in top spots. Rather interesting that all of these were originally literary characters before being re-imagined into TV and movie characters.