Superhero Media: Danger Mouse (2015)

Although I've never been one to have the nostalgia goggles strapped on so tight as to cut off the blood to my brain, I was legitimately worried when I heard that Danger Mouse was getting a reboot. Danger Mouse is one of the few programmes that I have not found to be greatly diminished as I've aged. In fact, there is much more to enjoy in the classic Danger Mouse as I get older and appreciate references to Hammer Horror Doctor Who and The Avengers (the British one) for the first time. As soon as I found out who was in the new Danger Mouse, all concerns faded; Alexander Armstrong as DM, Kevin Eldon as Penfold and Stephen Fry Colonel K (also Brian Blessed as Father Christmas in a couple of episodes). There are changes, yes, which we'll get to below, but for the most part, Danger Mouse is just another season in a long-running franchise. 

How does it fare? Pretty damn well. Apart from updated animation and pop-culture references, it's pretty much the same programme. There are a couple of changes, like DM inhabiting a world of anthropomorphic animals rather than the human word, so he's living in a giant postbox rather than a normal-sized one; but I wonder if that was a choice to avoid confusing an audience that will be unfamiliar with the premise? That one, niggling, complaint aside, Danger Mouse is a fun ride from start to finish, with classic and new villains, flashbacks to episodes older than I am and more than one appearance of Count Duckula. The episode where the villain is a trivia-quoting DM fanboy is priceless, if a little insulting. 
 

Although nerds are always quick to cry "reboot", as if it's a racial epithet, that's not what this is. Danger Mouse is not a new series, devoid of continuity, but is a new series after a long hiatus. Hopefully, a new generation of nerds will be asking their parents who Duckula is and they'll soon find their way to Avenger Penguins. What? Kids need to appreciate the classics, not all this angry birds and Bay turtles crap.