Hollywood actor Tom Hardy has recorded a week's worth of new Bedtime Stories for CBeebies, it has been announced.

The 42-year-old first featured on the short show, which sees a famous face read a bedtime story to help kids wind down at the end of the day, in 2016 and since then his episodes have been requested more than one million times on iPlayer.

With most of the UK now in lockdown and children being home-schooled due to the coronavirus crisis, Hardy was keen to record new episodes in order "to play a part in keeping the children of the UK entertained at this challenging time".

The six new episodes, which were filmed in Hardy's garden in line with social distancing guidance, include 'Hug Me' - a story about a small cactus named Felipe who needs a hug - and Lizzy Stewart's 'There's A Tiger In The Garden'.

"It goes without saying how thrilled we are to have Tom reading more stories for us," said Cheryl Taylor, head of content at BBC Children's. "It's during challenging times like this that the BBC serves its purpose to entertain the whole of the UK and these new stories are guaranteed to do just that with their themes of long distance friendship, sharing problems and true courage in overcoming seemingly impossible challenges."

'Tom Week' will begin on Monday, April 27 at 6.50pm on CBeebies.