Jim Broadbent and Brenda Blethyn are set to voice the animated feature Ethel & Ernest, based on the graphic novel by English author and illustrator Raymond Briggs.

The book traces the life story of Raymond Briggs' parents, two ordinary Londoners and their four-decade long marriage from their first meeting in 1928 to their deaths in 1971.

The story is simply a progression through the lives of the titular couple, from their courtship in the late 1920's to their deaths in the early 70's. Ethel is a lady's maid with middle-class aspirations and firm notions of respectable English behaviour; she becomes a housewife when she marries. Ernest, five years younger, is an easygoing milkman with socialist ideals and an enthusiastic interest in modern progress and technology. They live with their only child, Raymond, in a London suburb through the Great Depression, World War II, the advent of television and other events. The book richly illustrates London working class life and concerns during some of the most momentous social and political developments of the 20th century.

No production date has been set.