The Beano's Dennis the Menace and Gnasher Show

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The Beano's Dennis the Menace and Gnasher Show
Also known asDennis the Menace and Gnasher Show
Genre
Based on Characters
from The Beano comics
Written byMike Barfield
Bob Harvey
Directed byBob Harvey
Starring Logan Murray
Theme music composer John Du Prez
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series2
No. of episodes100
Production
ProducersBob Harvey
Dan Maddicott
Robb Hart
Running time5 minutes
Production companiesUltimate Animates Productions Ltd
D.C. Thomson & Co.
Starstream
Original release
Network The Children's Channel
Release5 November 1990 (1990-11-05) –
29 November 1991 (1991-11-29)
Related

The Beano's Dennis the Menace and Gnasher Show is a British puppet series based on characters from The Beano comic, which aired on The Children's Channel between 5 November 1990 and 29 November 1991. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] The show was directed and produced by Bob Harvey, Dan Maddicott and Robb Hart and written by Mike Barfield, with voices by Logan Murray. [8] [9]

Contents

Plot

The series follows the adventures of Dennis the Menace and his pet dog Gnasher, who cause chaos and destruction around Beanotown. They torment and play pranks on people, including Mum and Dad, who want less mischief from their son, and Walter the Softy, whom Dennis delights in terrorising. However, the menaces find themselves receiving their comeuppance in the end, with their victims getting the last laugh. [10]

In addition to the regular episodes, Dennis and Gnasher also appeared in "Dennis Link Shows". These segments took place in the Dennis' den, where he and Gnasher would read viewer mail and present other programming on The Children's Channel. [7]

Production

Mike Barfield had been the producer, writer, researcher and co-presenter of Comic Cuts for British Satellite Broadcasting, produced by The Children's Channel's parent company Starstream. [8] DC Thomson had partial ownership of The Children's Channel, [11] who had been hoping for a long time that they would let them make a show based on Dennis the Menace from The Beano. When Starstream realised that Barfield was a fan of comics from doing Comic Cuts, they offered him the chance to write the pilot. DC Thomson liked it, and the show got commissioned. [8]

Barfield had been reading The Beano since he was a child in the 1960s. He had old annuals and a few comics, but he did not read so many Beano comics once he was a teenager. Fortunately, DC Thomson sent him some comics so that he could catch up with Dennis's further adventures. [12] He wrote all 100 episodes, with one of them co-written by director and producer Bob Harvey. The episodes consisted of story segments written by Barfield in his flat in Shepherd's Bush, and "Dennis Link Shows" set in Dennis' den, where he and Gnasher would read viewer mail, before presenting other programming on The Children's Channel. [8] [7] John Du Prez composed the series' punk-style theme song.

The Children's Channel approached puppet company Ultimate Animates Productions, owned by David Barclay, about creating 3D puppets for the show. The first series featured only three puppets; Dennis, Gnasher and Walter. [13] [14] [15] All other characters could only appear as drawings or be heard offscreen. The puppets were filmed against a green screen and superimposed over hand-drawn backgrounds, done in Paintbox by John Bonner and Bob Jobling. [16] For the second series, two more puppets, Dad and Mum, were made. The comic's creators, including David Sutherland, praised Ultimate Animates for making the most successful 3D versions of their characters that they had seen in 40 years. [14] The characters were puppeteered by Barclay, Mike Quinn, Karen Prell, Christopher Leith, Geoff Felix, Ian Tregonning and Gillie Robic. [17] [18] All the character voices were supplied by Logan Murray. [9]

Related Research Articles

The Beano is a British anthology comic magazine created by Scottish publishing company DC Thomson. Its first issue was published on 30 July 1938, and it published its 4000th issue in August 2019. Popular and well-known comic strips and characters include Dennis the Menace, Minnie the Minx, The Bash Street Kids, Roger the Dodger, Billy Whizz, Lord Snooty and His Pals, Ivy the Terrible, General Jumbo, Jonah, and Biffo the Bear.

<i>The Bash Street Kids</i> British comic strip series

The Bash Street Kids is a comic strip in the British comic magazine The Beano. It also appeared briefly in The Wizard as series of prose stories in 1955. The strip, created by Leo Baxendale as When the Bell Rings!, first appeared in issue 604. It became The Bash Street Kids in 1956 and has become a regular feature, appearing in every issue. From 1962, until his death in 2023, David Sutherland drew over 3000 strips in his time as illustrator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gnasher</span> Comic strip character from The Beano

Gnasher is a fictional comic strip character that appears in the British comic magazine The Beano. He is the pet dog of Dennis the Menace, who meets him in 1968's issue 1362, and is also the star of three spin-off comic strips. Gnasher is considered just as iconic as his owner as both have been the stars of many children's television programming and are the unofficial mascots of The Beano. Gnasher reached nationwide news in the 1980s after he disappeared from the magazine for seven weeks, returning with his six newborn puppies, but usually interacts with his son Gnipper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rasher (comics)</span> Comic strip character from The Beano

Rasher is a British comic strip published in the comics magazine The Beano, featuring Dennis the Menace's pet pig Rasher. It was initially drawn by David Sutherland and published five years after the character's first appearance. Due to The Beano's 2012 continuity, Rasher's daughter has succeeded the role, particularly in Dennis And Gnasher: Unleashed!.

<i>Minnie the Minx</i> British comic strip character

Minnie the Minx, is a comic strip character published in the British comic magazine The Beano. Created and originally drawn by Leo Baxendale, she first appeared in issue 596, dated 19 December 1953, making her the third longest running Beano character behind Dennis the Menace and Roger the Dodger. She would later be drawn by Jim Petrie, Tom Paterson, Ken Harrison and Laura Howell. She would also appear in animated films.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Derek the Sheep</span> British comic character

Derek the Sheep is a fictional character and comic strip in the British comic The Beano. He first appeared in issue 3214, dated 21 February 2004. The strip is set on a farm and was about Derek's endless problems with the other animals.

The National Comics Awards was a series of awards for comic book titles and creators given out on an annual basis from 1997 to 2003 for comics published in the United Kingdom the previous year. The votes were by the U.K. comics fan community, and were open to anyone.

Walter Brown is a fictional character that appears in the British comic magazine The Beano. He is the rival and antagonist to Dennis the Menace who is vilified because of his lack of interest in stereotypically masculine activities and attitudes. From his first appearance in 1953, Walter became the target of Dennis' pranks and misbehaviour but would brush it off. Sometime in the 1980s, Walter's characterisation changed after reader backlash and made him a snobbish rich boy foil to his enemies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Sutherland (comics)</span> Scottish illustrator and comics artist (1933–2023)

David Sutherland was a Scottish illustrator and comics artist with DC Thomson, responsible for The Bash Street Kids (1962–2023), Dennis the Menace (1970–1998), Fred's Bed (2008–2012) for The Beano, and the second version of Jak for The Dandy in the early 2000s.

Nigel Parkinson is a British cartoonist who works for D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd and mainly draws for The Beano and The Dandy.

EPIC Magazine was a monthly British comic magazine published by D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd It was originally a spin-off of the UK comic, The Beano. Each issue had 40 pages and costs £3.99.

<i>Dennis and Gnasher</i> (1996 TV series) 1996 British animated television series

Dennis and Gnasher is a British animated television series based on characters from The Beano comic, which was broadcast on BBC from 2 April 1996 until 7 May 1998. Reruns aired on CBBC until January 2009. The series was produced by Collingwood O'Hare Productions and D.C. Thomson & Co. in association with BBC Television, alongside Flextech and PolyGram Video for the first season only. It was distributed by HIT Entertainment worldwide and was directed and largely written by Tony Collingwood.

<i>Dennis the Menace and Gnasher</i> (2009 TV series) 2009 multi-national TV series or program

Dennis the Menace and Gnasher is an animated television series which was aired on the CBBC Channel. Based on the original comic strips from The Beano, it features the adventures of the rebellious schoolboy Dennis the Menace and his dog Gnasher. The programme is aimed for ages 6–12 and commenced on 7 September 2009 and ended on 26 February 2010 after 52 episodes. A second series was started on 8 July 2013 on the CBBC Channel. It was preceded by Dennis and Gnasher which aired in 1996 and a new series in 1998.

<i>Dennis the Menace and Gnasher</i> Scottish comic strip

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References

  1. ↑ "AAAARGH! Great gnews for Dennis and Gnasher fans - the softy-bashing troublemakers are up to their tricks on The Children's Channel! (November 3-9, 1990)". TV Guide. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
  2. ↑ "Aberdeen Press and Journal: CHILDREN (5 November 1990)". British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  3. ↑ "Ulster Star: MISS (29 November 1991)". British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  4. ↑ "Birmingham Mail: He's a menace and he's on the loose (31 July 1993)". British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  5. ↑ AARGH! It's Dennis the Menace!: 1951-2001: 50 Years of Mischief. D.C. Thomson & Company. 2000. ISBN   9780851167350 . Retrieved 23 August 2024. Dennis was no longer a comic star - a puppet version of Dennis and Gnasher were up to mischief in their own show on The Children's Channel.
  6. ↑ Kibble-White, Graham (2005). The Ultimate Book of British Comics. Allison & Busby. ISBN   9780749082116 . Retrieved 22 May 2024. On 26 June 1990, the comic celebrated its 2500th issue with Dennis doing a 'twenty-one catty salute!' With children's weeklies finding life increasingly tough, The Beano was adapting to survive. That same year witnessed witnessed the launch of a 'Dennis the Menace' cartoon on the Children's Channel and then, in October 1993, The Beano Video arrived.
  7. 1 2 3 "Happy Birthday, Dennis (the Menace)! Beano Celebrates a special 70th Anniversary (plus, 70 facts about the comic rebel)". downthetubes.net. 17 March 2021. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Work History". Mike Barfield. Archived from the original on 17 January 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  9. 1 2 "About Logan". Logan Murray. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  10. ↑ "1990: Dennis and Gnasher, TV Stars!". Beano.com. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
  11. ↑ Chalaby, Jean K. (19 February 2009). Transnational Television in Europe: Reconfiguring Global Communications Networks. Bloomsbury. ISBN   9780857737526 . Retrieved 22 May 2024. A company was created for The Children's Channel with four main shareholders: Thorn EMI, Central Television, British Telecom and DC Thomson.
  12. ↑ "Minor Pleasures". Mike Barfield. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  13. ↑ White, Steve (January 1993). "It's the computer skill that breathes life into puppets... ANIMATRONICS!". Bad Influence! Magazine . Europress. p. 76. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  14. 1 2 "Ultimate Animates Productions Ltd". Dave Barclay. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  15. ↑ "1990: Extra! Behind the Scenes!". Beano.com. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  16. ↑ "About". John Bonner. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  17. ↑ "Curriculum Vitae". Geoff Felix. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  18. ↑ "TELEVISION". Gillie Robic. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
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