Originally produced by Cosgrove Hall Films for Thames Television, "Danger Mouse" follows the eponymous Danger Mouse, an English mouse who works as a superhero/secret agent, and his nervous sidekick Ernest Penfold. The show is a loose parody of British spy fiction, particularly James Bond and the Danger Man series starring Patrick McGoohan. The show originally ran in the United Kingdom from 28 September 1981 to 19 March 1992. In the English-language version, Danger Mouse was voiced by David Jason ("Only Fools and Horses"), with DM's faithful sidekick being voiced by Terry Scott ("Terry and June"). "Danger Mouse" also aired on Nickelodeon USA in the 1980's and early 1990's.
"Danger Mouse" also inspired a British animated television series spin-off created by British studio Cosgrove Hall called "Count Duckula", which has also aired on Nickelodeon USA and on Nickelodeon UK:
FremantleMedia eyes Danger Mouse reboot
Classic cartoon Danger Mouse is set for a return to TV after FremantleMedia has begun eyeing a reboot, following CITV’s Old Skool retro weekend.
The show, which follows the adventures of a mouse voiced by David Jason who works as a secret agent and his nervous sidekick Penfold, became CITV’s highest-rating programme since its launch in 2006 when an episode aired as part of its nostalgic weekend in January.
The show drew a consolidated audience of 569k (6%) in the half hour from 11.35am on 6 January as CITV celebrated 30 years on-air.
FremantleMedia Kids and Family Entertainment is now considering revamping the property following the success and will begin conversations later this year.
President Sander Schwartz said it was buoyed by the CITV ratings performance. “That’s something that we might be looking to do in the not too distant future,” he said. “Nothing did better than Danger Mouse.”
FremantleMedia is likely to approach CITV as a first port of call given the show’s history, but the RTL-owned producer and distributor struck a five-year deal with the BBC to co-develop and produce kids programming in January, which could see it pitched to CBBC.
Danger Mouse was originally created in 1981 by Brian Cosgrove and Mark Hall and produced by their production company Cosgrove Hall for Thames Television.
