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.[11]
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.[13]
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.[16]DC Thomson had partial ownership of The Children's Channel,[19] 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.[16][20]
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.[21] In order to get the nod to write for the character, Barfield was sent up to Dundee to meet the rest of the Beano team, including then-editor Euan Kerr. Though Barfield tried to bring in other writers by getting friends of his to write sample scripts, DC Thomson rejected them. Due to this, he wrote all 100 episodes, with one of them co-written by Bob Harvey, who directed and produced the series.[16][22] 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.[16][23][13]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.[24][25] 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.[18] 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.[24][25] The characters were puppeteered by Barclay, Mike Quinn, Karen Prell, Christopher Leith, Geoff Felix, Ian Tregonning and Gillie Robic.[26][27][28][29] All the character voices were supplied by Logan Murray.[17]
^Kibble-White, Graham (2005). The Ultimate Book of British Comics. Allison & Busby. ISBN9780749082116. 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.
^"Interview with Mike Barfield (2015)". Twitter. Retrieved 25 July 2024. Mike Barfield: The Children's Channel had been hoping for a long time that DC Thomson would let them make a Dennis show. I knew lots about British comics, part of the reason why I got the job producing Comic Cuts for BSB, though I wasn't a cartoonist myself back then. The people who ran Starstream realised I was a big comics fan from doing Comic Cuts and offered me the chance to write the pilot, and if DC Thomson liked it, then I could get to write on the series.
^"Interview with Mike Barfield (2015)". Twitter. Retrieved 25 July 2024. Mike Barfield: Dennis was still allowed to be naughty back in 1991, but in order to get the nod to write for him, I was sent up to Dundee to meet all the Beano team. It was great. A dream come true. Euan Kerr was the editor then. They took me to lunch and we talked about the characters and what I could and couldn't write. I also got to meet one of the tea ladies who was the inspiration for Olive the Bash Street cook. Though I tried to bring in other writers, by getting writer friends of mine to write sample scripts, DC Thomson rejected every one of them (probably reflecting the fact I knew the world, characters and language better). As a result I ended up writing all 100 episodes - with just one of them being co-written by myself and the director/producer Bob Harvey.
^"Interview with Mike Barfield (2015)". Twitter. Retrieved 25 July 2024. Mike Barfield: There were 100 episodes made, most of them not stories but simply what we called Dennis Link Shows. These were set in Dennis' den and he and Gnasher did pieces to camera against a green screen, letters from kids, etc. before introducing stock cartoons that they'd brought in. I also wove in story segments that had been written by myself and filmed earlier. No late nights. Just lots of time spent sat at the dining table in my flat in Shepherds Bush.
