''Danger Mouse'' is a British

animated television series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...

produced by Cosgrove Hall Productions for

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

. It features the

eponym An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

ous Danger Mouse who worked as a

secret agent Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ''e ...

and is a

parody A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...

of British

spy fiction Spy fiction is a genre of literature involving espionage as an important context or plot device. It emerged in the early twentieth century, inspired by rivalries and intrigues between the major powers, and the establishment of modern intellig ...

, particularly the ''

Danger Man ''Danger Man'' (retitled ''Secret Agent'' in the United States for the revived series, and ''Destination Danger'' and ''John Drake'' in other overseas markets) is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again ...

'' series and

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

. It originally ran from 28 September 1981 to 19 March 1992 on the ITV network. The series spawned a spin-off show, ''

Count Duckula ''Count Duckula'' is a British children's television series, children's animated comedy horror television series created by British studio Cosgrove Hall Films, Cosgrove Hall Productions and produced by Thames Television as a spin-off of ''Dang ...

'', which aired between 1988 and 1993. A revival under the same name, aired on

CBBC CBBC is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 to 12. Its sister c ...

from 2015–2019.

Plot

Danger Mouse is a secret agent with the

British Secret Service The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 (MI numbers, Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of Human i ...

, and together with his sidekick Penfold is repeatedly ordered by Colonel K, the head of the Secret Service, to save the world. They work underneath

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's London boroughs, 32 boroughs. Its name derives from the location of the original ...

Baker Street Baker Street is a street in the Marylebone district of the City of Westminster in London. It is named after builder James Baker. The area was originally high class residential, but now is mainly occupied by commercial premises. The street is ...

in London, hidden inside a red

pillar box A pillar box is a type of free-standing post box. They are found in the United Kingdom and its associated the Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories, and, less commonly, in many members of the Commonwealth of Nations such as Cypru ...

. Their arch-enemies are Baron Silas Greenback and his criminal organization, who try to achieve world domination by unconventional means such as stealing all famous buildings, or creating giant robots, etc. A special role is played by the off-screen narrator, Isambard Sinclair, who accompanies the action by commenting on it sarcastically, talking to the characters or musing about his private life.

Characters

Main

* Danger Mouse (voiced by

David Jason Sir David John White (born 2 February 1940), known professionally as David Jason, is an English actor. He has played Derek "Del Boy" Trotter in the sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses'', Detective Inspector Jack Frost in the drama series '' A Touch ...

) – Often called the world's greatest secret agent—so secret, in fact, that his codename has a codename. His catchphrases include "Good grief" when he becomes upset or shocked, "Penfold, shush" when his assistant makes a foolish remark. He was originally going to be brown; however, the creators thought that he and Penfold needed to be different colours. : Brian Cosgrove described Jason's portrayal as "His voice had the perfect mix of forcefulness, humour and gentleness. He was totally committed to doing voiceovers for silly cartoons, which warmed my heart, and we became great friends." Jason said "I wanted to make him sound believable. We decided he would be softly spoken, very British, very heroic, but also a bit of a coward. He'd save the world, but he'd also run for it!" * Ernest Penfold (voiced by

Terry Scott Terry Scott (born born Owen John Scott; 4 May 1927 – 26 July 1994) was an English actor and comedian who appeared in seven of the '' Carry On films''. He is also well known for appearing in the BBC1 sitcoms '' Happy Ever After'' and '' Terr ...

) – A timid, bespectacled hamster, and Danger Mouse's reluctant assistant and

sidekick A sidekick is a close companion or colleague who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to those whom they accompany. Origins The first recorded use of the term dates from 1896. It is believed to have originated in pickpocket slang of ...

. He is often mistaken for a mole; however, Brian Cosgrove has stated Penfold is supposed to be a hamster. Penfold stands just over half the height of Danger Mouse, and always wears thick round glasses and a crumpled blue suit with a white shirt and a yellow and black striped tie. In the first episode, he is codenamed the Jigsaw "because when he is faced with a problem, he goes to pieces." : Brian Cosgrove came up with Penfold's character design when he was waiting for a meeting with Thames Television, and had drawn up "this little fellow with heavy glasses and a baggy suit" and then realized he had drawn his brother Denis, who worked for the ''

Sunday Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet ...

'' and "who was bald with heavy black glasses". * Colonel K (voiced by Edward Kelsey) – Danger Mouse's boss; often mistaken for a

walrus The walrus (''Odobenus rosmarus'') is a large pinniped marine mammal with discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. It is the only extant species in the family Odobeni ...

, it was revealed in an issue of ''

Look-in ''Look-in'' was a children's magazine centred on ITV's television programmes in the United Kingdom, and subtitled "The Junior '' TVTimes''". It ran from 9 January 1971 to 12 March 1994.chinchilla Chinchilla refers to either of two species ('' Chinchilla chinchilla'' and '' Chinchilla lanigera'') of crepuscular rodents of the parvorder Caviomorpha, and are native to the Andes mountains in South America. They live in colonies called "her ...

. During the last two seasons, he became more absent-minded, tending to frustrate both Danger Mouse and Penfold with his tendency to ramble nonsense. A running gag in the later seasons is that he botches the usage of the phrase "over and out" multiple times. *

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

Silas Greenback (voiced by Edward Kelsey) – The recurring

villain A villain (also known as a " black hat", "bad guy" or "baddy"; The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.126 "baddy (also baddie) noun (pl. -ies) ''informal'' a villain or criminal in a book, film, etc.". the feminine form is villai ...

and Danger Mouse's

archenemy In literature, an archenemy, (sometimes spelled as arch-enemy) or nemesis is the main enemy of the protagonist — or sometimes, one of the other main characters — appearing as the most prominent and most-known enemy of the hero. Etymolog ...

; a

toad Toad (also known as a hoptoad) is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. In popular culture (folk taxonomy ...

with a wheezy voice, although, sometimes, he was referred to as a

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...

. Known as Baron Greenteeth in the unbroadcast pilot episode. Commonly known as the "Terrible Toad". In the US, " greenback" is slang for dollar bill in many regions; this adds to the sense of his commercial greed. Allegedly, he turned to a life of crime as a schoolboy when other children stole his bicycle and let all the air out of its tyres. * Stiletto (voiced by

Brian Trueman Brian Richard Trueman (16 May 1932 – 1 September 2024) was an English broadcaster, writer and voice actor. He was known mainly for his work with the animation studio Cosgrove Hall. He wrote and/or narrated children's cartoon series, mostly dur ...

) – Greenback's henchman; a

crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly, a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not linked scientifically to any certain trait but is rathe ...

. He always called Greenback "Barone",

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

for "Baron". In the original British version, he speaks with an Italian accent; this was changed to a

Cockney Cockney is a dialect of the English language, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by Londoners with working-class and lower middle class roots. The term ''Cockney'' is also used as a demonym for a person from the East End, ...

accent for the U.S. distribution to avoid offending Italian-Americans. His last name is Mafiosa. Greenback repeatedly berates and abuses him for mistakes. In series 5, he is more incompetent and klutzy that Greenback usually has to whack him with his walking stick, and in series 9, Greenback uses a "hit box" that whacks Stiletto on the head with a mallet. * Nero (sounds provided by

) – Greenback's pet. A fluffy white

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder ...

(equivalent to the stereotypical white cat frequently associated with arch villains, particularly

Ernst Stavro Blofeld Ernst Stavro Blofeld is a fictional supervillain in the ''James Bond'' series of novels and films, created by Ian Fleming. A criminal mastermind with aspirations of world domination, he is the archenemy of British MI6 agent James Bond. Blofel ...

). He is a non-speaking character, although his noises and laugh are supplied by David Jason's voice sped up. Readily understood by Greenback and, less frequently, by Stiletto. He does not have any superpowers, except In the season 5 episode "Nero Power", where he temporarily exhibits the ability of

telekinesis Telekinesis () (alternatively called psychokinesis) is a purported psychic ability allowing an individual to influence a physical system without physical interaction. Experiments to prove the existence of telekinesis have historically been cri ...

. In the special features of ''Danger Mouse'' cartoons, audiences were informed that Nero is actually the mastermind of Greenback's schemes. * The Narrator (voiced by

) – The unseen narrator, who occasionally interacts with the characters, sometimes to the point of halting the plot for one reason or another. In a series 6 episode, he accidentally sends Danger Mouse and Penfold back in time with his broken mike. He often voices his disdain for the show and his job towards the end of the episode and through part of the closing credits. His name is Isambard Sinclair.

Supporting

* Professor Heinrich Von Squawkencluck – An inventor

mole Mole (or Molé) may refer to: Animals * Mole (animal) or "true mole" * Golden mole, southern African mammals * Marsupial mole Marsupial moles, the Notoryctidae family, are two species of highly specialized marsupial mammals that are found i ...

, first appearing in the series where he was engaged in

hormone A hormone (from the Ancient Greek, Greek participle , "setting in motion") is a class of cell signaling, signaling molecules in multicellular organisms that are sent to distant organs or tissues by complex biological processes to regulate physio ...

experiments to grow

chickens The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

to enormous sizes. He invented the Mark III, Danger Mouse's

flying car A flying car or roadable aircraft is a type of vehicle which can function both as a road vehicle and as an aircraft. As used here, this includes vehicles which drive as motorcycles when on the road. The term "flying car" is also sometimes ...

, and the

Space Hopper A space hopper (also known as a moon hopper, skippyball, kangaroo ball, bouncer, hippity hop, hoppity hop, sit and bounce, or hop ball) is a rubber ball (similar to an exercise ball) with handles that allow one to sit on it without falling off ...

, his personal

spacecraft A spacecraft is a vehicle that is designed spaceflight, to fly and operate in outer space. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including Telecommunications, communications, Earth observation satellite, Earth observation, Weather s ...

. He speaks in a broken

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

accent. Penfold is naturally leery of the professor, as he often winds up on the wrong side of his experiments. * Flying Officer Buggles Pigeon – Another of Colonel K's agents, who comes to the aid of Danger Mouse and Penfold in the episode "Chicken Run", and appeared in several episodes afterward. * Agent 57 – A master of disguise, appearing initially as an earthworm. Agent 57 has disguised himself so often that he forgot his original appearance. In the series 6 episode "The Spy Who Stayed In with a Cold", he gained the ability to change shape to resemble any character or animal whenever he

sneeze A sneeze (also known as sternutation) is a semi-autonomous, convulsive expulsion of air from the lungs through the nose and mouth, usually caused by foreign particles irritating the nasal mucosa. A sneeze expels air forcibly from the mouth a ...

d, but when he shows Danger Mouse his original form, Danger Mouse is horrified. * Leatherhead – Greenback's other crow henchman. Even less intelligent than Stiletto, he appeared in several of the early episodes, where he spent most of his time reading comic books. * Count Duckula (voiced by David Jason) – A fame-obsessed

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

who wants to appear in television. However, his utter lack of anything approaching talent makes his attempts to "entertain" rather terrifying (he has been known to use his "act" as a torture device). This resulted in a spin-off series, titled ''

'', starring the Count himself. The two versions of the character differ, however; the character featured in ''Danger Mouse'' is not a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

, makes far greater use of his vampiric magic, and has an accent consisting of a lisp and a stutter, as well as occasional stuttering and duck-like squawks and quacks. * J. J. Quark – A space alien who recurs in series 6. He speaks with a Scottish accent and claims possession of Earth based on a cosmic charter granted to his great-great-great-great-grandfather. He has a robot assistant named Grovell, who always grovels whenever his name is mentioned, much to Quark's frustration. * Doctor Augustus P. Crumhorn III (voiced by

Jimmy Hibbert James Christian Hibbert is an English actor and writer. He is best known for his voice work with the animation studio Cosgrove Hall Films. Early life James Christian Hibbert was born as the eldest of three children of author Christopher Hibber ...

): – A

mad scientist The mad scientist (also mad doctor or mad professor) is a stock character of a scientist who is perceived as "mad, bad and dangerous to know" or "insanity, insane" owing to a combination of unusual or unsettling personality traits and the unabas ...

wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, includin ...

, he recurred as Danger Mouse's adversary starting in series 9. In the episode, "Penfold Transformed", he lists his full name as "Aloisius Julian Philibert Elphinstone Eugene

Dionysis In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ...

Barry Manilow Barry Manilow ( ; born Barry Alan Pincus on June 17, 1943) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer with a career that spans over sixty years. His hit recordings include "Could It Be Magic", "Looks Like We Made It", "Brandy (Scott ...

Crumhorn", omitting both Augustus and the III. He and Greenback were at odds; once Crumhorn kidnapped Penfold and Penfold managed to escape simply because the two villains were too busy quarreling to notice his absence.

Production

Development

The show was created by Mark Hall and

Brian Cosgrove Brian Joseph Cosgrove (born 6 April 1934) is an English animator, designer, director, producer and sculptor. With Mark Hall, he founded Cosgrove Hall Films in 1976 and produced successful animated children shows including ''The Wind in the W ...

for their production company,

Cosgrove Hall Films Cosgrove Hall Films was a British animation studio founded by Brian Cosgrove and Mark Hall, headquartered in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester. Cosgrove Hall was a major producer of children's television and animated programmes/films, which are s ...

. Danger Mouse was based on Patrick McGoohan's lead role in ''

''. The show was intended to have a more serious tone as seen in the pilot episode but

Mike Harding Mike Harding (born 23 October 1944) is an English singer, songwriter, comedian, writer, broadcaster and musician. Early life and education Harding's father, Louis Arthur "Curly" Harding, a navigator in the RAF, was killed in the Second Worl ...

(who wrote the music for the show) gave Brian Cosgrove and Mark Hall the idea to make the series silly. "The characters had got stuck in reality and were doing James Bond type things rooted in the solid real world," said Harding, "I argued that once you invented a Mouse Secret Agent then all of creation and a good chunk of not creation was his oyster. In other words we could be as barmy (crazy) as we wanted." In an interview with ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', Cosgrove said "We reckoned a secret service mouse foiling the plans of an evil toad – Baron Silas Greenback – was suitably ridiculous." Cosgrove and Hall brought in

, who was working as an announcer on ''

Granada TV ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend Television was its ...

'', as the main writer for the series. For the voice of Danger Mouse, they picked

after they saw him in ''

Only Fools and Horses ''Only Fools and Horses'' (titled onscreen as ''Only Fools and Horses....'') is a British television sitcom that was created and written by John Sullivan (writer), John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Ki ...

''. For the voice of Penfold, they picked

, who was known for the show ''

Terry and June ''Terry and June'' is a BBC television sitcom, broadcast on BBC1 from 1979 to 1987. The show was largely a reworking of '' Happy Ever After'', and starred Terry Scott and June Whitfield as a middle-aged, middle-class suburban couple, Terry and J ...

''. On 4 June 1984, the show was (along with ''

Belle and Sebastian Belle and Sebastian are a Scottish indie pop band formed in Glasgow in 1996. Led by Stuart Murdoch, the band has released twelve studio albums. They are often compared with acts such as the Smiths and Nick Drake. The band took their name from ...

'') the first animated show to appear on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

in the United States, and quickly became the second-most popular show on the channel after ''

You Can't Do That on Television ''You Can't Do That on Television'' is a Canadian sketch comedy television series that aired locally in 1979 before airing in the United States in 1981. It featured adolescent and teenage actors performing in a sketch comedy format similar to A ...

'', as it appealed to both children and adults with its quick-witted English humour. It was often described by American audiences as a British equivalent of ''

The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show ''The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends'' (commonly referred to as simply ''Rocky and Bullwinkle'') is an American animated television series that originally aired from November 19, 1959, to June 27, 1964, on the ABC and NBC tel ...

'', due to its gentle satire of politics and outrageous plots. It returned to terrestrial television after the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

purchased episodes of it to broadcast in its daytime schedules with its first broadcast on 12 February 2007 on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

."Dangermouse (1981-1992)"
British Film Institute."Dangermouse back on 25th birthday!"
BBC News. 5 September 2006. The show was expensive to make, sometimes needing 2,000 drawings thus footage was reused while certain scenes were set in the North Pole or "in the dark" (i.e. black with eyeballs visible only, or, in Danger Mouse's case, simply one eyeball) as a cost-cutting measure. This time-and-money saving device was cheerfully admitted by both Brian Cosgrove, who conceived the character and the show, and Brian Trueman, who wrote almost all the scripts from the beginning.

Reception and legacy

During the cartoon's run, it reached a peak viewing figure of 7.2 million viewers on 3 January 1983, with average figures being around 3–4 million per episode. In 2001, the show was ranked third in

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

's '' 100 Greatest Kids' TV Shows''. In 2008, it was named the 62nd-best animated series by

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

, who considered it one of the first British cartoons to become popular with American audiences.

Awards and nominations

''Danger Mouse'' was nominated for 11

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

awards during its original run, but did not win any.

BAFTA Films

A listing of

British Academy Film Awards The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs or BAFTA Awards, is an annual film award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to f ...

. , - , 1984 ( 37th) , ''Danger Mouse'' series 4 , Best Short Animation , , - , 1985 ( 38th) , ''Danger Mouse'' series 5 , Best Short Animation , , - , 1986 ( 39th) , ''Danger Mouse'' series 6 , Best Short Animation , , - , 1987 ( 40th) , ''Danger Mouse'' series 7 , Best Short Animation Film , , -

BAFTA TV

A listing of

British Academy Television Awards The BAFTA TV Awards, or British Academy Television Awards, are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. They have been awarded annually since 1955. Background The first-ever Awards, given in ...

. , - , 1983 , ''Danger Mouse'' series 2 or 3 , Children's Programme - Entertainment / Drama , , - , 1984 , ''Danger Mouse'' series 4 , Children's Programme - Entertainment / Drama , , - , 1984 , ''Danger Mouse'' series 4 , Short Animation , , - , 1985 , ''Danger Mouse'' series 5 , Short Animation , , - , 1986 , ''Danger Mouse'' series 6 , Children's Programme - Entertainment / Drama , , - , 1986 , ''Danger Mouse'' series 6 , Short Animation , , - , 1987 , ''Danger Mouse'' series 7 , Short Animation , , -

Other awards

In 2012, Brian Cosgrove received a Special Award from the

British Academy Children's Awards The British Academy Children's Awards were presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). They were awarded annually since 1996, before which time they were a part of the main British Academy ...

In other media

Comics

A long-running

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

adaptation, written by Angus P. Allan and illustrated by

Arthur Ranson Arthur James Ranson (born 1939) is an People of the United Kingdom, English Comic book creator, comic book illustrator, known for his work on ''Look-in'', ''Judge Anderson, Anderson: Psi Division'', ''Button Man'' and ''Mazeworld''. His work on C ...

, ran in ''

Look-in ''Look-in'' was a children's magazine centred on ITV's television programmes in the United Kingdom, and subtitled "The Junior '' TVTimes''". It ran from 9 January 1971 to 12 March 1994.syndicated in various other magazines. Ranson also provided some backdrops for the show. Allan and Ranson's work was highly appreciated by Cosgrove Hall, and the pair were awarded an "Oh Goodness!, Oh Crikey!" award in appreciation of their services. Some of Allan's stories were adapted for the show, although Allan's name was misspelled "Angus Allen". Artist Ranson later went on to illustrate

Judge Anderson Judge Cassandra Anderson is a fictional law enforcer and psychic appearing in the British science fiction comics '' 2000 AD'' and the ''Judge Dredd Megazine''. Created by writer John Wagner and artist Brian Bolland, Anderson made her debut as ...

in the UK

comic a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicat ...

'' 2000 AD''.

Video games

A series of

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

s based on the character also appeared. The first were ''Danger Mouse in Double Trouble'' and ''Danger Mouse in the Black Forest Chateau'' (both in 1984) followed by ''Danger Mouse in Making Whoopee!'' in 1985. Two mobile games were published by ZED Worldwide; ''Danger Mouse: Quiz'' in 2010 and ''Danger Mouse'' in 2011.

Audiobooks

Some stories were also available as read-along cassettes with accompanying books. They were re-read by the cast for audio.

Merchandise

During its run, the show spawned a wide range of merchandise, including storybooks, hardback annuals, jigsaw puzzles, a Panini sticker album,

View-Master View-Master is the trademark name of a line of special-format stereoscopes and corresponding View-Master "reels", which are thin cardboard disks containing seven Stereoscopic 3-D pairs of small transparent color photographs on film.Mary Ann & Wo ...

reels, and of course, VHS releases. In the years since, products have continued to sell, often aimed at the now-adult audience who grew up with it, such as T-shirts, mugs, key rings, fridge magnets and posters. In 2006, to coincide with the show's 25th anniversary, Cosgrove Hall licensed rights to a number of companies to produce a range of new anniversary merchandise including Blues Clothing (women's and girls' underwear and sleepwear) and Concept 2 Creation (collectible figurines).

FremantleMedia Fremantle Limited (), formerly FremantleMedia, is a British multinational television production and distribution company based in London. The company was founded as Pearson Television in 1993 when publishing and education company Pearson ...

launched a webshop run by Metrostar e-commerce where a wide variety of goods were for sale, including the CD Audio adaptation of two of the show's episodes using the original artists' voices, released by Steve Deakin-Davies: The Ambition Company.

Other appearances

* American musician & producer

Danger Mouse Danger Mouse is a British action cartoon which has had two incarnations: * ''Danger Mouse'' (1981 TV series), a 1981 British animated television series * ''Danger Mouse'' (2015 TV series), a 2015 reboot of the British animated television series ...

chose his stage name as a reference the show, initially performing in a mouse costume. * In the 1989 film ''

The BFG ''The BFG'' (short for ''The Big Friendly Giant'') is a 1982 children's novel by British author Roald Dahl. It is an expansion of a short story from Dahl's 1975 novel '' Danny, the Champion of the World''. The book is dedicated to Dahl's oldest ...

'', which was also produced by Cosgrove-Hall, a ''Danger Mouse'' poster is shown above a boy's bed.

Episodes

Home media

Broadcast history

The series was transmitted on ITV via the

CITV CITV is a British children's morning programming block on ITV2 and formerly a free-to-air channel owned by ITV plc. CITV, then Children's ITV, launched on 3 January 1983 as a late afternoon programming block on the ITV network for children aged ...

brand from 1981 to 1992. The show has the initials 'DM' prominently emblazoned on his chest. This causes problems for those translating it into other languages, where a literal translation of the words 'Danger' and 'Mouse' do not have those initials; the

Scots Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongside both Irish and Manx, developed ou ...

version, for example, calls the show (and the lead) ''Donnie Murdo'' (two given names unconnected either with mice or danger). which was broadcast on STV – from 1990 to 1994 and again on

BBC Alba BBC Alba is a Scottish Gaelic-language free-to-air public broadcast television channel jointly owned by the BBC and MG Alba. The channel was launched on 19 September 2008 and is on-air for up to seven hours a day. The name ' is the Scottish Gae ...

in 2015. The series has also been broadcast on numerous channels on

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool typically constructed with airfoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight, designed to return to the thrower. The origin of the word is from Australian Aborigin ...

(2000–06) and

(2007–09). He was Dzielna Mysz (brave mouse) in

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

, Dundermusen (Thundermouse) in

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

, and ''Dare Dare Motus'' in

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

, "Dare Dare" being French slang for "as fast as possible". The Slovene translation omitted the DM initials entirely, however, dubbing Danger Mouse ' ('Brave Mouse'). In

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, the show was first broadcast on ABC TV in 1982 it then moved to

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's Paramount Networks UK & Australia, UK & Australia division and is o ...

in 1996. It was also the first British cartoon to break into

Cheez TV ''Cheez TV'' is an Australian children's cartoon show hosted by Ryan Lappin and Jade Gatt that aired on weekday mornings on Network Ten. It began broadcasting on 10 July 1995 and it ended on 31 December 2004 with the presenters leaving. After ...

, being shown on weekdays. In the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

the show was broadcast on

from 1984 to 1987, and 1991 to 1994. It was the first fully-fledged animated show to air on the network. In

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, the show was broadcast on Channel 2 from 1983 to 1987.

Revival

It was reported in 2013 that the series was under consideration for a revival, and in June 2014 it was announced that a new series was being made for broadcast on

in 2015. The new series is produced by Boulder Media for FremantleMedia Kids. It is directed by Robert Cullen with Brian Cosgrove, one of the original creators, acting as creative consultant.

Alexander Armstrong Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong (born 2 March 1970) is an English actor, comedian, radio personality, television presenter, singer and farmer. He is the host of the BBC One game show ''Pointless'', and is a weekday morning-show presenter on C ...

and actor

Kevin Eldon Kevin Eldon (born 2 October 1959) is an English actor and comedian. He featured in British comedy television shows of the 1990s including ''Fist of Fun'', ''This Morning with Richard Not Judy'', ''Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge (TV ...

voice Danger Mouse and Penfold, respectively;

Dave Lamb David Alexander Lamb (born 17 January 1969) is an English actor, comedian, narrator and presenter. He is best known for his narration work on ''Come Dine with Me'' as well as appearances in British television and radio programmes, especially com ...

takes the role of the narrator, whilst

Stephen Fry Sir Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. He came to prominence as a member of the comic act Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in ''A Bit of ...

plays Colonel K and

Ed Gaughan Ed Gaughan is an English actor, director, comedian, voice actor and jazz musician. He is best known for his starring role in the BAFTA-nominated 2010 film ''Skeletons'' and for voicing Baron von Greenback in ''Danger Mouse'' and Q Pootle 5 in ''Q ...

takes over as Baron Greenback. Armstrong's ''

Pointless ''Pointless'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British television quiz show produced by Banijay Entertainment subsidiary Remarkable Entertainment for the BBC and hosted by Alexander Armstrong. In each episode, four teams of two contestan ...

'' co-host

Richard Osman Richard Osman (born 28 November 1970) is an English television presenter, producer, and novelist. He is the creator and former co-presenter of the BBC One television quiz show ''Pointless''. He has presented the BBC Two quiz shows ''Two Tribes ( ...

appears in the series as Professor Strontium Jellyfishowitz.

John Oliver John William Oliver (born 23 April 1977) is a British and American comedian who hosts ''Last Week Tonight with John Oliver'' on HBO. He started his career as a stand-up comedian in the United Kingdom and came to wider attention for his work ...

voices the character Dr Augustus P Crumhorn III and

Lena Headey Lena Kathren Headey ( ; born 3 October 1973) is an English actress. She gained international recognition and acclaim for her portrayal of Cersei Lannister on the HBO fantasy drama series ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2019), for which she received ...

voices the character Jeopardy Mouse, a character newly introduced into this series. This series aired on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

in the US. Kevin Eldon describes the animation style as 'much the same as the original'. The first episode aired on 28 September 2015.

Jazwares Jazwares, LLC is an American company headquartered in Plantation, Florida that designs and manufactures toys and other consumer products. As of 2022, the company is owned by investment holding company Berkshire Hathaway. The company is best known ...

is the master toy partner,

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

published a range of printed books, including story books, official guides, sticker books, novelty books, annuals and electronic titles and D.C. Thomson & Co. published a monthly magazine with comic strips, puzzles, fact files, poster and competitions.

Spin-off

(1988–1993)

Notes

* "Sx Ep. y" is shortened form for series x and episode y in the original ''Danger Mouse'' TV series

References

External links

*
Danger Mouse appears on cover of Computer and Video Games magazine - September 1984.
{{Danger Mouse TV Danger Mouse 1981 animated television series debuts 1981 British television series debuts 1992 British television series endings 1980s British animated television series 1980s British children's television series 1990s British animated television series 1990s British children's television series 1980s Nickelodeon original programming 1990s Nickelodeon original programming Animal superheroes British children's animated adventure television series British children's animated comic science fiction television series British children's animated superhero television series British English-language television shows ITV children's television shows Nickelodeon original programming Parody superheroes Television series by FremantleMedia Kids & Family Television shows produced by Thames Television Television series by Cosgrove Hall Films Animated television series about mice and rats Mass media franchises introduced in 1981 Television shows adapted into comics Television shows adapted into video games Television shows set in London Comedy franchises British spy television series ITV animated television series Children's television series about talking animals