Tom Hardy reads bedtime story on CBeebies

Picture the scene. You’re a commissioning editor at CBeebies and you’re looking for a comforting national treasure to read a tale to little ones for the CBeebies Bedtime Story on New Year’s Eve. Who are you going to choose? David Attenborough? Dame Judi Dench? Trevor McDonald? What about that scary British actor who’s played Charles Bronson, Mad Max, both the Kray Twins, and Bane in The Dark Knight Rises?

Yes, kids across the land are going to be terrified this New Year’s Eve as Tom Hardy reads them You Must Bring a Hat, by Simon Philip and Kate Hindley, a tale of a boy going to a party. Delightfully, Hardy was joined by his dog Woodstock for the filming.

One thing you won’t spot during the reading is Hardy’s new tattoo, which he is having to get after losing a bet to Leonardo DiCaprio earlier this year. Hardy revealed in an interview with Esquire that the bet was made during the awards season. DiCaprio told Hardy that he thought he was a shoo-in to be Oscar nominated for his supporting role in The Revenant. Hardy said he had no chance.

DiCaprio won the bet, and Hardy's forfeit for losing was to get a tattoo in DiCaprio’s handwriting. “He wrote, in this really shitty handwriting: ‘Leo knows everything.’ Ha!” the 39-year-old actor told Esquire. “I was like, ‘OK, I’ll get it done, but you have to write it properly.'”

Hardy appears on CBeebies Bedtime Story on New Year’s Eve, 6.50pm. Don't have nightmares.