Ben Whishaw bearing up to play Paddington after Colin Firth paused

Paddington, the wandering bear left at the station, has found a new owner. Ben Whishaw has replaced Colin Firth as the voice of the character in an upcoming film, after Firth 'consciously uncoupled' from the role.

Paddington follows the clumsy misadventures of the beloved bear from darkest Peru, who's found at Paddington station and adopted by a London family. Firth pulled out because he said Paddington "simply doesn't have my voice". No clip so far has included Paddington speaking, but presumably the grunts, groans and moans on the trailer - in which Paddington destroys his hosts' bathroom - are Firth's own.

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In a statement last month, Firth said that "after a period of denial we've chosen 'conscious uncoupling,'" borrowing the phrase used by Gwyneth Paltrow to describe her split from Chris Martin.

"I've had the joy of seeing most of the film and it's going to be quite wonderful," Firth said. "I still feel rather protective of this bear and I'm pestering them all with suggestions for finding a voice worthy of him."

Paddington will give Whishaw another role as an iconic British character. He played Q in Skyfall, Sam Mendes's revamp of the Bond franchise. He is also lined up to play Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in the biopic Mercury.

Meanwhile, the publicity campaign for marmalade-loving bear's first feature hit a sticky spot last month when a blog collating publicity stills of Paddington Photoshopped into horror films went viral. Called Creepy Paddington, the blog highlighted the unnerving nature of the film's official publicity shot by placing Paddington in the guise of horror icons including Norman Bates and Hannibal Lecter.

Paddington, which is released in the UK on 28 November, will also star Nicole Kidman, Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Jim Broadbent, Julie Walters and the new Doctor Who, Peter Capaldi.