Beakus (Big Lizard, Yakka Dee!, Olobob Top), the UK animation studio founded by Steve Smith, and Canada’s Big Bad Boo Studios (The Bravest Knight, Galapagos X, Judge Jodhi), the animation production and distribution company founded by Shabnam Rezaei and Aly Jetha, are combining their considerable – and multi-award-winning – skills to co-produce two new animated series for children: Alien Book Club and S.TINK.
S.TINK (26 x 11) is a comedy series for 6–12-year-olds, based on the internationally successful Fairy vs Boy book series, written and illustrated by Jenny McLachlan and published by Harper Collins. The story centres around the often disastrous and frequently hilarious escapades of 13-year-old Danny, who unwittingly invites S.Tink, the world’s worst fairy and now his F.A.F (Fairy Assistant Forever), into his life. S.Tink means well, but her magic often leads to mayhem, taking Danny on a roller-coaster of a journey through his everyday life. Packed with anarchic humour and silliness, S.TINK provides a very different take on friendship and fitting-in.
Author Jenny McLachlan joins the writing team for the series, alongside supervising director Eddie Soriano (Kid Vs. Kat, Mighty Ducks, Winnie the Pooh) and producer Paddy Gillen (Atomic Betty, Transformers, The Bravest Knight). Steve Smith and Shabnam Rezaei are executive producers.
Alien Book Club (39 x 7), aimed at 4–6-year-olds, is a joyful series encouraging children to read by engaging them with classic stories. Four little aliens – each with very different personalities – arrive at the Intergalactic Library Bus to be read a story by Flurb, the super-sized keeper of books. In each episode, one of the little aliens wants to join the adventure in the featured classic book – eg Treasure Island or The Secret Garden – and they ‘jump’ into the story after Bookbot, Flurb’s assistant, brings it to life by projecting it around the library. Every book has an associated learning point: for example, for Treasure Island it is greedy pirates who won’t share will lose their friends, while for The Secret Garden it is friends and fresh air can help you when you’re feeling grumpy.
Alien Book Club has been created by Beakus’ Steve Smith along with writer Rachel Barnett-Jones (Pip and Posy, Minibuds) and former Moonbug creative executive Jemma Gross (Little Baby Bum). Smith and Rezaei will produce.
Both series are now in advanced development, with pilot scripts, bibles and growing interest from select international broadcasters. Canada’s TVO has recently greenlit Alien Book Club
for development and is working with the teams on new materials and designs. Further interest is anticipated following the official launch of both series at the Kidscreen Summit this month.
Steve Smith, founder of Beakus comments, “Big Bad Boo Studios is our perfect partner. The team embodies the exact same ambitions as Beakus, and we speak the same language about animation and kids’ content in general. These two brilliant projects herald the start of a new and exciting adventure for both of us, and we can’t wait to share our development projects with the world.”
Shabnam Rezaei, co-founder of Big Bad Boo adds, “We are excited to work with Beakus, creating fresh new series that we believe will resonate with young audiences and their caregivers worldwide. S.TINK is truly hilarious and comes from extraordinary IP that already has a global following, while Alien Book Club taps into concerns about declining children’s literacy and the very real benefits of engendering a love of books from a young age.”
Jenny McLachlan, author adds, “Seeing the team at Beakus and Big Bad Boo bring S.Tink to life as an animation has been thrilling! I can’t wait to see Danny and S.Tink fully unleashed on the world and I know children are going to love the animation just as much as they love the books. I think S.Tink would agree that she’s destined to be a star.”
Both Smith and Rezaei will be attending the Kidscreen Summit to discuss these projects with potential commissioners and buyers.
Smith will also be hoping for third time lucky for Beakus at the Kidscreen Awards, where its latest show, Big Lizard (52 x 7 for CBeebies UK, FTV France and RTBF Belgium and winner of Best Pre-School programme at the 2026 Broadcast Awards), is up for the Best New Series gong. Two earlier Beakus series, Yakka Dee! and Olobob Top were previously nominated in the same category. Meanwhile, Big Bad Boo’s Shabnam Rezaei’s attendance at the Summit is fresh off the back of a third GLAAD Award nomination for The Bravest Knight and a recent season 5 greenlight for Lili & Lola.
