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 onCharacters
from The Beano comics
Written byMike Barfield
Bob Harvey
Directed byBob Harvey
StarringLogan Murray
Theme music composerJohn Du Prez
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series2
No. of episodes100
Production
ProducersBob Harvey
Dan Maddicott[1]
Robb Hart
Running time8 minutes
Production companiesUltimate Animates Productions Ltd
D.C. Thomson & Co.
Starstream
Original release
NetworkThe Children's Channel
Release1990 (1990) –
1991 (1991)
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 1990 and 1991.[2] The show was directed and produced by Bob Harvey and written by Mike Barfield, with voices by Logan Murray and artwork by John Bonner.[3][4][5][6]

Plot[edit]

Dennis the Menace lives in Beanotown and lives for a bit of mischief, while his best pal Gnasher chomps his way through life whilst gasping out the odd hiss of a word. Trying to stand in the way of Dennis' quest for unabashed fun and menacing are Mum and Dad, who just want their darling son to be less reckless and naughty. They would probably much rather he be like well-behaved Walter the Softy, who often finds himself on the receiving end of Dennis' pranks.

In addition to the standalone story segments, Dennis and Gnasher also starred in "Dennis Link Shows", taking place in the former's den, to present other programming on the channel. Around 100 episodes of these link shows and the story segments were produced.

Production[edit]

Mike Barfield had been the producer, writer, researcher and co-presenter of Comic Cuts for BSB, made by the Children's Channel's parent company Starstream. DC Thomson had a share of it, and the Children's Channel had been hoping for a long time that they would let them make a show based on Dennis the Menace from The Beano. Barfield knew a lot about British comics, which was part of the reason why he got the job producing a show for BSB about cartoons, though he was not a cartoonist himself at the time. The people who ran Starstream realised that he was a big comic fan from doing Comic Cuts, and offered him the chance to write the pilot, and if DC Thomson liked it, Barfield could then get to write on the series.[3][4]

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. He simply had to catch up with where Dennis had got to in the comics. Fortunately, it did not take long, and DC Thomson sent him a load of comics to read. Barfield knew the world, characters and language of Dennis the Menace well so it came quite easily, adding the speech patterns, vocabulary and sense of fun. He also had a good idea of what he could and could not do or say, as DC Thomson were understandably careful about their characters and the image that they presented to the world. Dennis was still allowed to be naughty around 1990 and 1991. According to Barfield, "Dennis is inventive, loyal, brave, and when he does behave cheekily, such as scrumping apples or teasing Walter, he always comes off worse. It was important to show that. Dennis couldn't be a bully. DC Thomson would not have let it be any other way." In order to get the nod to write for Dennis, Barfield was sent up to Dundee to meet the rest of the Beano team, including then-editor Euan Kerr. To him, it was a dream come true. They took Barfield to lunch and they talked about the characters and what he could and could not write. Barfield also got to meet one of the tea ladies who was the inspiration for Olive from The Bash Street Kids. Though Barfield tried to bring in other writers, by getting writer friends of his to write sample scripts, DC Thomson rejected every one of them. As a result, Barfield ended up writing all 100 episodes, with just one of them being co-written by him and Bob Harvey, who directed and produced the series. Most of the episodes were not stories, but simply what Barfield and Harvey called "Dennis Link Shows". These were set in Dennis' den, where he and Gnasher did pieces to camera against a green screen, letters from kids, etc. before introducing cartoons and programmes that they had brought in, usually ones from the United States. Barfield also wove in story segments that had been written by himself in his flat in Shepherd's Bush and filmed earlier.[3][4] John Du Prez composed the series' punk-style theme song, while Malcolm Hartley did the animation for the intro.[7]

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.[8][4] Barfield went to a first meeting where the team were to be shown the puppets for the first time. He asked Barclay what the puppets could do, and he said it was easier for him to tell him that they could not run, hold things or get wet. For a physical character like Dennis, it was quite restricting. Barfield had to bear in mind that all other characters could only appear as drawings or out of shot. The drawings and backgrounds were done in Paintbox by John Bonner (a friend of Robb Hart, who co-ran TCC) and Bob Jobling, the former brilliantly mimicking the art from the comics. Barfield could set Bonner any task and he would achieve it.[6][4] For the second series, two more puppets, Dad and Mum, were made. The comic's creators, such as David Law and David Sutherland, praised Ultimate Animates for making the most successful 3D versions of their characters that they had seen in 40 years.[8][4] The characters were puppeteered by Barclay, Mike Quinn, Karen Prell, Christopher Leith, Geoff Felix, Ian Tregonning and Gillie Robic.[9][10][11][12] All the character voices were supplied by Logan Murray.[5]

According to Barfield, the series ended because DC Thomson changed their mind or had plans to do an animated series.[4]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Dan Maddicott - Executive Producer at Coolabi". LinkedIn. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  2. ^ Kibble-White, Graham (2005). The Ultimate Book of British Comics. 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 September 1993, The Beano Video arrived.
  3. ^ a b c "Mike Barfield". Penguin Books Australia. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Ricketts, Ben (23 May 2015). "Dennis the Menace and Gnasher Show". Curious British Telly. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  5. ^ a b "About Logan". Logan Murray. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  6. ^ a b "About". John Bonner. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  7. ^ "Malcolm Hartley - Director and Animator". LinkedIn. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  8. ^ a b "Ultimate Animates Productions Ltd". Dave Barclay. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  9. ^ "CV". Geoff Felix. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  10. ^ "Film and Television". Geoff Felix. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  11. ^ "Television". GillieRobic.co.uk. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  12. ^ "TELEVISION". Gillie Robic. Retrieved 3 June 2024.

External links[edit]

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