Carrie Bickmore is back on our TV screens in a surprising new role.
The former co-host of The Project has joined the cast of Do Not Watch This Show, the ABC’s adaptation of Andy Lee’s bestselling children’s book series Do Not Read This Book.
Andy wrote and released the first book in 2016 as a birthday present for his nephew George. The book series has now sold over 3.5 million copies worldwide.
The TV series follows a pretentious blue monster named Wizz, who has a meltdown after he discovers he’s on a TV show.
Andy, 44, called on some of his famous friends to voice the characters for the TV series including his long-term creative partner Hamish Blake, Dave ‘Hughesy’ Hughes, Denise Scott, Joel Creasey, Chrissie Swan, Glenn Robins, Tony Armstrong and Mick Molloy, among others.
“I’m a bit of a control freak,” Andy recently told Yahoo! Lifestyle. “We produced this with my company [Radio Karate], which has been awesome, and the casting was great fun. There were a bunch of phone calls and favours, so I’m super grateful for everyone who wanted to be involved.”
However, Andy said he felt a bit awkward when he told Carrie which character she would be voicing.
“I felt a bit bad when I sent Carrie what her character looked like, because she plays a pretty ugly character. I told her, ‘With the voice, we chose a different direction for how the character looks. It’s not inspired by you!’,” he told Yahoo! Lifestyle.
Speaking to the ABC, Andy said the TV series was one of the most challenging projects he’s ever been involved in.
“Long, it’s so long [to make]!” he told the outlet.
“To give you perspective, the first book took 40 minutes [to write] on a flight from Sydney to Melbourne,” he added. “[The show] has been quite the process, but I’ve loved it, I’ve absolutely loved it.”
The comedian and radio host is voicing the character of Wizz himself, as well as the expert scientist Douglas.
Dave ‘Hughesy’ Hughes is voicing the Goblin, with Andy promising viewers will recognise his iconic voice straight away.
“It was funny when he came in to do it, he was like ‘So mate what voice do you want?’ and I was like ‘Oh man, I want your voice. You know, I didn’t hire you because you’re an amazing character actor — all due respect — I want Hughesy’,” he told the ABC.
“I love the idea of this show [going] international, that Hughesy will be the voice of the goblin next door that’s constantly feuding with Wizz.”
This is Carrie’s second time voicing an animated character.
In 2023, she voiced the character of the Terrier triplets’ mum on the beloved Aussie animation Bluey. It was short cameo but it was more than enough to impress her two daughters.
“My girls watching my 2 seconds of fame on the latest episode of Bluey!” she wrote on Instagram at the time, alongside a snap of the girls watching the episode.
“What a genuine thrill to be a part of such an incredible Aussie show. I think ‘Terrier’s mum’ needs to be a regular character.”
All 12 episodes of the first season of Do Not Watch This Show are streaming on ABC iview now.
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