Paddington Bear gets politically conscious

Paddington Bear is set to get politically conscious, with police arresting and interrogating him over his immigration status, in a book marking his 50th birthday.

London, Dec 9 : Paddington Bear is set to get politically conscious, with police arresting and interrogating him over his immigration status, in a book marking his 50th birthday.

Michael Bond's 'Paddington Here and Now,' to be published next June, will see the stowaway from Peru interviewed about his right to remain in England.

The appeal of Bond's Paddington books, which have sold more than 30 million copies and been translated into 30 languages, remains unquestioned after half a century.

But Bond was said to be unwilling at the prospect of writing his first novel about him for 29 years, unless he had a strong up to date storyline, reports Times Online.

The new book is again set around their home at 32 Windsor Gardens, Notting Hill, and revisits the stalls in Portobello Road where Paddington shared cocoa and buns with another immigrant, Mr Gruber, the Hungarian antiques dealer.

After being arrested, Paddington has no papers proving his identity because his Aunt Lucy had arranged for him to hide on a ship's lifeboat from Peru after she went to live in the Home for Retired Bears in Lima.

Paddington recently made headlines around the world when he branched out from marmalade in a recent television advertisement for Marmite.

ANI