Former The Project host Carrie Bickmore will return to television, joining beloved Australian stars in Andy Lee’s foray into children’s animation on the ABC.  

Lee has adapted his popular children’s book series Do Not Open This Book for ABC television as an animated series Do Not Watch This Show.

The show follows Wizz, a blue monster voiced by Lee, as he embarks on a mission to sabotage his own TV appearances and stop you from watching.

Joining him are his friends Douglas the scientist (also voiced by Lee), Lime (Joel Creasey), Tortoise (Denise Scott), Kiwi (Kura Forrester) and Goblin (Dave Hughes).

Bickmore, who left The Project in 2023, is among several stars slated to make appearances throughout the series, lending her voice to a “pretty ugly character”  that is yet to be revealed.

Also making cameos are Glenn Robbins, Tony Armstrong, Mick Molloy, Ben Fordham, Chrissie Swan and Lee’s long-term collaborator Hamish Blake.

“I felt a bit bad when I sent Carrie what her character looked like, because she plays a pretty ugly character,” Lee told Yahoo Lifestyle.

“I told her, ‘with the voice, we chose a different direction for how the character looks. It’s not inspired by you!’.”

Perhaps the biggest coup for the show’s casting was securing iconic announcer Peter Smith to voice the opening titles.

“Pete Smith, when I was growing up, was the voiceover person for everything, and he was the narrator on Sale of the Century,” Lee said.

“I just loved it, and I thought, wouldn’t it be amazing if the sound that I heard at seven o’clock at night was the same voice opening our show, and we could bring Pete Smith’s wonderful voiceover artistry to a whole new generation.”

Lee first created the stories for his nephew. Photo: ABC

The 15 11-minute episodes of Do Not Watch This Show were made available on ABC iView on Friday. 

Lee wrote and released the first of his Do Not Open This Book stories series in 2016 as a birthday present for his nephew George.

There are now 11 books in the series, with the next instalment due to be released later this year.

Bickmore’s appearance on Do Not Watch This Show will be her second time playing an animated character. She also provided the voice for the Terrier triplets’ mother ABC hit show Bluey.