Danger Mouse

Danger Mouse is a British animated television series created by Cosgrove Hall Films for Thames Television, which originally aired between 1981 and 1992.

Danger Mouse is a mouse and his sidekick Penfold is a hamster, though many believe he is a mole like Secret Squirrel's Morocco Mole. Danger Mouse's nemesis is a toad named Baron Greenback, which has a fuzzy caterpillar as a pet named Nero.

It features the eponymous Danger Mouse, a British secret agent who happens to be a mouse. The show is a loose parody of British spy fiction, particularly James Bond and Danger Man. The eponymous hero wears a rakish eyepatch and his chest is prominently emblazoned with the initials DM. This causes problems for those translating the series into other languages, where a literal translation of the words "Danger" and "Mouse" do not share those initials; the Scots Gaelic version, for example, calls the series (and the lead) "Donnie Murdo" (two given names unconnected either with mice or danger).

Danger Mouse was the first British cartoon to break the American TV market, being shown on Nickelodeon in the 1980s. Since it went off air it has been periodically repeated and been released on DVD.

A long-running comic strip adaptation, written by Angus P. Allan and illustrated by Arthur Ranson, ran in Look-In magazine and was syndicated in various other magazines. Ranson also provided some backdrops for the TV series. Allen 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. Artist Ranson later went on to illustrate Judge Anderson in the UK comic 2000 AD.

Reboot
A reboot of the series premiered on CBBC on September 28, 2015.

Characters

 * Danger Mouse - The greatest secret agent in the world. Voiced by David Jason is the original series, and Alexander Armstrong in the reboot.
 * Penfold - A timid hamster, the sidekick character. Voiced by Terry Scott in the original and Kevin Eldon in the reboot.
 * Colonel K - DangerMouse's boss; a chinchilla, and not a walrus as commonly believed. Previously worked for Special Branch, where he was known as Special K. He is a champion piano-thrower, decorated judo expert and the first to climb Mount Everest on a pogo stick. Voiced by Edward Kelsey in the original, and Stephen Fry in the reboot.
 * Baron Silas Greenback - The recurring villain; a frog. Known as Baron Greenteeth in the unaired pilot episode. Voiced by Edward Kelsey in the original and Ed Gaughan in the reboot.
 * Stiletto Mafiosi - Greenback's henchman; a crow. Voiced by Brian Trueman. In the original British version, he spoke with an Italian accent; this was changed to a Cockney accent for US distribution.
 * LeatherHead - Greenback's other crow henchman. He is even less intelligent than Stiletto. He does not appear in nearly as many episodes as Stiletto.
 * Nero - Greenback's pet. A fluffy white caterpillar (equivalent to the stereotypical white cat frequently associated with arch villains). Non-speaking character, but readily understood by Greenback and Stiletto.
 * Doctor Augustus P. Crumhorn III - A mad scientist wolf. He recurred as Danger Mouse's adversary less frequently than did Baron Greenback, in one episode attempting to undermine Danger Mouse by metamorphosing into a Shirley Temple lookalike.
 * Count Duckula - A showbiz-obsessed vampire duck who inspired a later Cosgrove Hall series featuring a similar character, titled Count Duckula.
 * Professor Squarkencluck - mad scientist/inventor/boffin. Inventor of the Mark III, DM's flying car. A mole in the original series, the character was reimaged as a female chicken for the reboot, and promoted to regular character status. The new version is voiced by Shauna Macdonald.
 * Agent 57 - An ally of Danger Mouse who is always undercover and appears as something different. He (Agent 57) doesn't even know what he originally looks like.
 * Isambard Sinclair - The unseen narrator, who occasionally interacts with the characters (in one episode he accidentally sends DM back in time). Voiced by David Jason in the original series. (The as yet unamed narrator for the reboot is voiced by Dave Lamb).