Danger Mouse returned to TV today, more than thirty years after the original series was first broadcast - and the reboot is being produced right here in Ireland.
Boulder Media is creating the entire run from its Dublin studios, with Robert Cullen, Creative Director of Boulder as Series Director. Pointless host Alexander Armstrong and comic actor Kevin Eldon will voice the key roles of Danger Mouser and his sidekick Penfold.
The show starts on CBBC 34 years to the day after the original Danger Mouse was first broadcast on ITV, and Cullen was eager to point out that the 2015 version will both look back and forwards in its style and content.
"CBBC put out a tender," he recalls. "Ourselves and six or seven other companies were invited to pitch for the show. That entailed us creating visuals, how we would visualise Danger Mouse in this day and age. How we would make it more relevant to a new audience. We did lots of concept work and some character design, and we went over and we pitched them our vision for the show. Thank God they liked it.
"People cherish the original show: certain people of a certain age. You don't want to ruin their childhood memories! We wanted to keep faithful to a lot of the original show, it had great characters and great storylines, and great scripts as well. And it had buckets of charm.
"We wanted to keep all of that, but still make it accessible to new audiences. Everything's a bit pacier. We've got more action scenes. But the mums and dads will get a lot out of it as well. It's more of a family show."
Danger Mouse is voiced by Alexander Armstrong
Fans of the original will recall that two legends of British comedy voiced the original Danger Mouse and Penfold: David Jason and the late Terry Scott. Boulder were keenly aware of the need to get those two characters sounding, as well as looking, just right.
"There was a lot of audition processes to try and find the right voices, and the kind of voices that work together as well," says Cullen. "So when they put Alexander Armstrong, who plays Danger Mouse, with Kevin Eldon as Penfold, that was it. We'd found the perfect voices for the main characters. And they're brilliant as well – they've got such great chemistry. It's a really natural fit."
And while getting the voices right is a crucial element, it's just one factor in a process that remains hugely labour-intensive. Danger Mouse will keep a lot staff at Boulder very busy for some time.
As Cullen explains: "There are 52 episodes. The first one is kind of like a double-episode. We're half-way through. It's been nearly two years at this stage. We've nearly 26 episodes done, so we'll be finished up in late summer of next year. We've still got a way to go..."
Danger Mouse airs at 6.00pm on CBBC, from Monday September 28.
