Danger Mouse: Danger Mouse Begins...Again!

September 29, 2015 1:07 PM - Season 1, Episode 1

He’s been called the greatest, amazing, fantastic. He can legitimately claim to be the strongest, the quickest and the best. A powerhouse. You can rest assured whenever there is danger, he will appear. But is there still a place for greatest secret agent in the world in the world when his greatest enemy is the new saviour of the world?

The original Danger Mouse premiered in 1981, parodying well known secret agent tropes with a tongue in cheek and often surreal humour and starring a host of UK voice talent. The new version sees a new speaking cast as well as some new onscreen characters. The opener focuses on DM (Alexander Armstrong replacing David Jason) and Penfold (Kevin Eldon for Terry Scott) still working for Colonel K (Stephen Fry for Edward Kelsey) and assisted by the transformed (from German male mole to Scottish female chicken) Professor Squawkencluck (Shauna Macdonald). Dave Lamb is the interactive narrator.

For global domination, Baron Silas von Greenback (the von is new) is again assisted by Stiletto and Nero. The show's famous spin off character, vampire duck and all-round entertainer Count Duckula, is expected to return later in the series.

The animation has been modernised but long time fans of the show will recognise some well established tropes of the original in this reboot - notably the fourth wall gets a smashing and there is a callback to the eyeballs in the dark scenes of the original, a move originally thought up to keep down animation costs.

Of interest to a wider audience, Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister-GoT) will play DM US equivalent agent Jeopardy Mouse, while John Oliver (Daily Show) will voice the return of Dr. Augustus P Crumplehorn III.

There is also a Christmas special in the works, rumoured to feature Miranda Richardson (of Blackadder), Richard Ayoade (IT Crowd) and Brian Blessed (BRIAN BLESSED).

posted by biffa (14 comments total)

What the WHAT.

(stops hyperventilating, googles it, is annoyed but relieved to know that it will be on Netflix in the U.S. "in the spring of 2016")
posted by Etrigan at 1:12 PM on September 29, 2015 [6 favorites]

Crumbs!
posted by cuscutis at 1:36 PM on September 29, 2015 [2 favorites]

It was dry, it was silly, it was pretty much exactly what I remembered from the occasional showing on Nickelodeon and my British husband was also quite delighted.

Now that I know BRIAN BLESSED will be making an appearance, as well as John Oliver and Lena Headey... I am totally and utterly keeping this on the iPlayer forever and ever.
posted by Katemonkey at 1:57 PM on September 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

Based on the trailer, they've upped the ante significantly in terms of animation quality. Sweet! Greenback looks a little less smug and more wild-faced.
posted by grumpybear69 at 2:18 PM on September 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

I was quite worried that it wouldn't be a patch on the old series but the first episode was very funny indeed. (However, no one will ever say 'Crikey, DM!' like Terry Scott.)
posted by along came the crocodile at 2:43 PM on September 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

Danger Mouse was the first cartoon I remember absolutely loving as a kid, so when I heard it was being revived, I wondered how they could possibly match the humor and style of the original series. Netflix has the old seasons available and for nostalgia's sake I thought I'd watch one or two recently and see if it was as fun as I remembered.

I wound up watching the whole series.

So when I heard yesterday that the new series had debuted in the UK, I headed to YouTube to see if there were any clips. Could it possibly compare to the beloved original?

Then I found the opening theme song sequence and was immediately sold. Chills, people. Chills. I've seen some more clips of the first episode and have a good feeling about this. It seems like the folks behind it share the same love of the original show and want to do it right. I have a feeling I'll end up binging on the new series on Netflix next year.
posted by Servo5678 at 3:46 PM on September 29, 2015 [4 favorites]

HOLY SHIT. Danger Mouse was the first show I ever watched on cable. I still remember my Dad calling me in from three houses away to check out the new click click click sliding cable box on top of the TV. I started showing it to my 5 year old a few months ago.

Is Bananaman coming back too?
posted by robocop is bleeding at 5:51 PM on September 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

So is Stilleto Italian or Cockney in this new one?
posted by infinitewindow at 5:53 PM on September 29, 2015 [3 favorites]

Just watched it. Yes, yes, yes. As someone who watched the old show and memorized lines that I still know today, I like the update.
posted by cashman at 8:10 PM on September 29, 2015

New Danger Mouse - Meet the cast and sneak peek at new characters!

Hope that works for non-UK viewers. You can see hints of Powerpuff Girls in some of the animation, I think? Anyway, it works really well. (Also, in fairness to Kevin Eldon as Penfold he does a fantastic "Ooh 'eck!")
posted by along came the crocodile at 11:49 PM on September 29, 2015

OMG AWESOME. I've just been introducing my 7yo daughter to the original DM, so this is doubly fantastic.
posted by gaspode at 6:51 AM on September 30, 2015 [1 favorite]

I made knitted Danger Mouses and Penfolds for some friends of mine around ten years ago. This looks very exciting!
posted by jwgh at 7:00 AM on September 30, 2015 [3 favorites]

The CBBC broadcast schedule is one episode a day, it appears. EPs 2 & 3 also great.

I'd put Stilleto's accent as 'Allo 'Allo! level BBC comedy bad Italian but YMMV.
posted by along came the crocodile at 11:02 AM on September 30, 2015

Penfold is the best sidekick ever in the history of cartoondom. And Nero isn't bad either, even though he's theoretically a bad guy.
posted by holborne at 8:08 AM on October 1, 2015 [2 favorites]