Charlie Mackesy: Artist's delight as book becomes BBC film

Charlie Mackesy said it was "a thrill" to see his illustrations come to life in the short film

The author and illustrator of a book that has been turned into a short film to be broadcast on BBC One later has described the experience as "surreal".

Charlie Mackesy's The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse will be aired at 16:55 GMT and available on iPlayer shortly afterwards.

Mr Mackesy said he spent two years working on the film in Suffolk, where his family live.

He said it was "a thrill" to see his characters moving on film.

"It began as a series of drawings for friends that I put on Instagram," he said.

"It was never meant to be a book originally. We decided to try it and were quite surprised by the response to it."

Mr Mackesy said he never thought his illustrations would become part of a book

The book has since sold more than eight million copies worldwide.

It follows the unlikely friendship of a boy, a mole, a fox and a horse as they journey together in the boy's search for a home.

The film features an award-winning cast of actors including Tom Hollander as the mole, Idris Elba OBE as the fox, Gabriel Byrne as the horse and Jude Coward Nicoll as the boy.

Mr Mackesy said he was very involved in the process of turning the book into a film.

"I do remember when the boy first moved I just screamed and ran around the garden," he said.

"Seeing it all come together with the sound, movement, colour and vision - I hope people like it."

Mr Mackesy said the characters were created between his home in Brixton, south London, and his family's home in Suffolk, but his work on the film was "entirely in Suffolk".