Dennis and Gnasher (or Dennis the Menace and Dennis the Menace 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.
Characters
Main
Dennis (voiced by Richard Pearce) is the main character, Dennis is a 10-year-old troublemaker and mischievous young boy. While most of his mischief is for fun, sometimes it can cause serious problems, or even help others. Dennis' antics have caused him to gain multiple enemies including his next-door neighbour Walter, the Colonel, and Sergeant Slipper. Dennis has saved the world on one occasion and appeared on Blue Peter after winning an art competition ("The Competition"). One of his favourite TV shows is "Nick Kelly" (a character who featured in another D.C. Thomson & Co. comic). Gnasher (voiced by Kerry Shale) is Dennis's pet dog, an Abyssinian wire-haired tripe hound. He is Dennis's "partner in crime" twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week together they are the proverbial "two peas in a pod". When Gnasher is not by Dennis's side, like during school hours (though he does follow Dennis to school in the mornings), he'll have taken up his vigil, hiding in the front garden, ready and waiting to ambush the postman as he attempts to deliver the mail on Gnasher's watch. Gnasher's family still lives on the isle of Abyssinia, as revealed in "The Trial", when a company had accused Gnasher of being a rat. Gnasher possesses a set of teeth that are capable of chewing through almost anything, hence his name. His favourite food is bones, and his favourite dog toy is his squeaky bone. In "Summer Holiday", Gnasher went by the alias of 'Norman' - in order to pass himself off as a baby to help the family find lodgings at a hotel that forbids pets. In "Special Agent Dennis", it's revealed that Dennis feeds Gnasher his homework rather than actually do the homework. Dennis' Dad (voiced by John Baddeley) is under a lot of stress due to Dennis' mischief; he often tries to discipline his son, with little results, and is forced to take extreme measures at times. He works in an office. Dennis' Mum (voiced by Eve Karpf) seems to be able to cope more with Dennis' behaviour and on equal terms, Dennis listens to her when she tells him off. At times, she can be rather oblivious to events around her and silly at times, using household objects to help her when she takes driving lessons ("Menace Power"). Dennis's Granny, Gertrude (voiced by Sally Grace) Although she is eighty years old, Dennis's Granny is still very young at heart. Dennis loves his Granny, he defends her when another speaks ill of her ("Dennis and the Beanstalk") and will come to her for advice in times of need ("The Secret Diary"). In her youth, Dennis's Granny was every bit the Menace towards anything like a peaceful society in Beanotown that her grandson is today, as revealed in "The Secret Diary", and in her day there was a police officer, Sgt. Boot, who was the "Sgt. Slipper" to her "Dennis". According to information from the Beano comic, she is the mother of Dennis's Dad; in "The Secret Diary", when Dennis's Dad mentions more than once how well-behaved he was to his parents, he may have been referring particularly to his father because Dennis's Granny favours her grandson, Dennis, who takes after her. In "The Secret Diary", she was depicted as having black hair, like her son and grandson, but in "Gorilla Warfare", she was seen in a flashback with blond hair (so possibly she dyed it). She rides a motorcycle and eats pizza with "everything on them". She is perhaps the only adult, as mentioned by Dennis's Dad, "insane enough" to provide Dennis with any adult supervision and survive intact; she will even willingly come back for more of the fun and mayhem. Curly (voiced by Jill Lidstone) is Dennis's best friend and fellow Menace. He is the loyal friend that will stand up for Dennis no matter what and can be considered his second-in-command. Kevin "Pie-Face" (voiced by Gary Martin) is Dennis' other best friend and fellow Menace. Portrayed as being dim-witted and at times cowardly, as well as being a fan of pies (hence his nickname). Walter the Softy (voiced by Judy Bennett) is Dennis' next-door neighbour, rival and major enemy. Always exasperated with Dennis' mischief and often tries to come up with ideas to humiliate and outshine him.