Honestly, I thought we’d seen it all. Space travel, pizza delivery heists, and even a run-in with a literal alien. But Shaun the Sheep Series 7 just hit the BBC and iPlayer, and it's clear Aardman isn't just coasting on 30 years of nostalgia.
This isn't just more of the same.
Actually, it sort of is—the slapstick is still there—but there’s a weird, experimental energy to this latest batch of 20 episodes. Maybe it’s the fact that they’re celebrating Shaun’s 30th anniversary since he first popped up in A Close Shave back in '95. Or maybe it’s just the creative team at Mossy Bottom finally losing their collective minds in the best way possible.
What actually happens in the new season?
If you’ve watched Shaun since the beginning, you know the drill. Farmer wants to do something boring or profitable. Shaun wants to play. Bitzer is stuck in the middle with a clipboard and a whistle.
But Series 7 throws some massive curveballs.
Take the episode "Shirleyverse." It’s the first-ever two-part cliffhanger in the show's history. I’m not kidding. Shaun makes an impulsive wish that basically deletes Bitzer from existence, and the consequences are... heavy? For a show about a clay sheep, it gets surprisingly deep about friendship.
Then you’ve got the more "normal" chaos. We see Bitzer trying his hand at DIY—which goes about as well as you’d expect—and the Farmer deciding he’s going to be a beekeeper. There’s a tractor stuck in the mud that becomes an entire saga. It's that classic Aardman "everything that can go wrong, will go wrong" vibe, but the pacing feels faster. Snappier.
Why 2026 is the year of the sheep
It’s a massive year for Aardman. They're hitting their 50th anniversary as a studio. While we’re all getting these new episodes of Shaun the Sheep Series 7, the studio is also gearing up for the next big theatrical release.
I'm talking about The Beast of Mossy Bottom.
That’s slated for Halloween 2026. It's funny because you can see the TV show setting the stage for the movie. The episodes in Series 7 feel like they’re testing out new character dynamics. We’re seeing more of the supporting cast stepping up. The pigs are nastier. The Farmer is more oblivious. It feels like a living, breathing world more than a set of 7-minute sketches.
The technical stuff (for the nerds)
Directed by Seamus Malone and produced by Danny Gallagher, this season was a massive collaboration. It wasn't just Aardman sitting in a dark room in Bristol.
- Commissioned by: BBC and WDR (Germany).
- Total Episodes: This season brings the total count to 190.
- Global Reach: It's already been pre-sold to Australia (ABC), Sweden (SVT), and all over the place.
If you're in the US, things are a bit different. While the BBC has the first run, distribution stateside has been moving around. After the Netflix era of Adventures from Mossy Bottom, GKIDS has actually stepped in to handle the upcoming movie, which suggests a shift back to more traditional theatrical and boutique streaming routes.
Is it still "human" enough?
There’s been a lot of talk lately about AI in animation. Some people are worried the "soul" is leaving the medium.
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Watching Series 7, you can literally see the fingerprints. No, really. If you pause on a 4K screen, you can see the indentations in the clay where an animator moved Shaun’s ear two millimeters. That’s the magic. It takes roughly a day to get about two seconds of footage.
That kind of labor is insane.
And you feel it in the comedy. AI can’t do timing like this. It can’t do the specific way Bitzer’s eyes bulge when he realizes the Farmer is right behind him. It’s a very specific, very British type of physical comedy that relies on "the silence." Since no one speaks (except for the occasional "Baah" or a muffled grunt from John Sparkes), the visual storytelling has to be perfect.
Series 7 manages to keep that wordless charm while introducing modern tech—like the episode "Doorbell" where a smart camera catches the Farmer’s embarrassing moments. It’s relatable because we’ve all been there, minus the sheep.
How to watch and what to do next
If you’re in the UK, the easiest way to catch up is BBC iPlayer. They’ve been rolling them out on Saturday afternoons. If you’re outside the UK, keep an eye on your local national broadcaster—ABC for the Aussies, Kika for the Germans.
Don't just binge the new ones and stop, though.
Go back and watch A Close Shave. It’s wild to see how much Shaun has changed. He used to be this tiny, wide-eyed lamb. Now he’s the mastermind of the farm. Comparing the 1995 version to the 2025/2026 version is a masterclass in character evolution.
Your Mossy Bottom checklist:
- Watch "Shirleyverse" immediately. It’s the high point of the season and changes the stakes for Shaun and Bitzer.
- Look for the Easter eggs. Aardman loves hiding references to Wallace & Gromit or Chicken Run in the background of the Farmer's house.
- Check out the TikTok contest. If you’re a superfan, Aardman was running a "Beast of Mossy Bottom" contest where you could get turned into a clay figure for the 2026 movie.
- Set a calendar reminder for Halloween. The movie is going to be the "monster movie" version of Shaun we didn't know we needed.
Basically, Shaun is the GOAT (well, the sheep). Series 7 proves that you don't need dialogue to tell a world-class story. You just need some clay, a lot of patience, and a very grumpy dog.
To stay ahead of the curve, keep an eye on the official Aardman production blogs. They often release "behind-the-scenes" clips showing exactly how they rigged the tractor or how many different versions of Timmy they had to make for the "Stuck in the Muck" episode. Seeing the scale of the miniature sets compared to a human hand really puts the "stop" in stop-motion.