Composer gets ready to revive the Wombles

The project is planned by musician Mike Batt – the man who put the characters into the charts in the 1970s – after he took a controlling interest in their rights.

He also hopes to bring them back to TV in a lengthy series as he rejuvenates the fondly-remembered creatures, who got into a series of adventures as they kept Wimbledon Common litter-free.

Batt had his big break creating pop hits for the Wombles when they were a TV phenomenon almost 40 years ago.

He then went on to have his own successful solo career as well as acting as mentor to Katie Melua, whom he signed to his Dramatico label.

He also brought the Wombles’ music career – which saw them score top five hits such as Remember You’re A Womble and ­– back to life in 2011 when they were a novelty addition to the bill at the Glastonbury festival.

Batt said in a message to fans that his firm now has the major shareholding in Wombles Copyright Holdings, after many years of holding a 50-50 share with the estate of author Elisabeth Beresford, who created the popular characters.

He said he could not go into great detail but went on: “Suffice to say we have plans for two new 26-part TV series’, a feature-length movie and an interactive online Wombles World experience.

“We think the Wombles characters are timeless, funny and lovable, and we can assure the Beresford estate that we shall protect and look after the quality and integrity of the characters as we always have done.”

Beresford published her first Wombles story in 1968. The TV series first aired in 1973 and was revived for a further run of episodes 16 years ago.