Fans have been given their first glimpse of Paddington the movie star, ahead of the release of the big screen debut for the bear from darkest Peru.

The character, created by Michael Bond for a series of books, is pictured outside Buckingham Palace looking far more ursine than the cuddly version who enchanted 1970s audiences in a BBC series.

However, the marmalade-loving creature retains his familiar duffel coat and floppy hat in the movie - called Paddington - to be released in November and featuring the voice of Colin Firth as the bear who starts a new life in London.

The film, made by the producer of Harry Potter films and Gravity, sees him despatched from his native jungle by his aunt Lucy following an earthquake and smuggled aboard a boat to England and named after the London station where he is found.

His misadventures with his adopted Brown family see him trying to evade a sinister taxidermist who has her eye on him. The film comes out on November 28.