Dennis the Menace & Gnasher (1996 TV series)

Infobox television
show_name = Dennis the Menace
genre = cartoon
runtime = 25 minutes
starring = Richard Pearce
John Baddeley
Eve Karpf
Sally Grace
Jill Lidstone
Gary Martin
Colin McFarlane
Judy Bennet
country = UK
language = English
first_aired = 1996
last_aired = 1998
num_series = 2
num_episodes = 26

Dennis and Gnasher was an animated British TV series based on characters from The Beano comic, which ran from 1996 until 1998. The BBC announced on 04 October 2007 that a new series of Dennis The Menace would be made for broadcast in 2009.

Main and Major Characters

Dennis the Menace; voiced by Richard Pearce.

Gnasher, the Abyssinian wire-haired tripehound; voiced by Kerry Shale. Gnasher is Dennis's pet dog. 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 of rat catchers had accused Gnasher of being a large rat instead of being a dog. Gnasher possesses a set of teeth that are capable of chewing through almost anything, hence his name - "Gnasher". His favorite food are bones and his favorite dog toy is his squeeky bone. In "Summer Holiday", Gnasher went by the alias of "Baby Norman", Dennis's baby brother, to be allowed to stay at a beachside guesthouse whose owner disliked pets. In "Special Agent Dennis", its revealed that Dennis feeds Gnasher his homework rather that actually do the homework.

Dennis's Dad; voiced by John Baddeley.

Dennis's Mum; voiced by Eve Karpf.

Dennis's Granny, "Gertrude"; voiced by Sally Grace. Although she is of eighty-years-of-age, 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 Day TV was Banned"). 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 comicbook, 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 favors 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 and willingly can come back for more of the fun and mayhem.

Curly; voiced by Jill Lidstone.

Kevin Pie-Face; voiced by Gary Martin.

The Colonel, "Godfrey"; voiced by John Baddeley.

Sgt. Slipper; voiced by Colin McFarlane.

Walter the Softie; voiced by Judy Bennet.

Matilda the Softie; voiced by Eve Karpf.

Minor and One-Off Characters

Mrs. Pie Face, Kevin Pie Face's Mum; voiced by Jill Lidstone.

Mr. Pie Face, Kevin Pie Face's Dad; voiced by Gary Martin.

The Postman; voiced by John Baddeley.

Walter's Dad; voiced by Gary Martin.

Dennis's Great Aunt Gertrude; voiced by Patrick Fyffe. Seen in "Haunted House".

Dennis's Great Aunt Fanny; voiced by George Logan. Seen in "Haunted House".

Flossy Muggins; Sally Grace. Seen in "Revenge of the Robot".

Episode Listing

Peoples names in brackets are guest actors who voiced one of the guest characters in that particular episode.

Series 1: 1996

# Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow - First broadcast: 2/4/1996 (Denis Quilley)
# The Day They Took Gnasher Away - First broadcast: 9/4/1996 (Hugh Laurie)
# The Bathnight Club - First broadcast: 16/4/1996
# Dennis Ahoy - First broadcast: 23/4/1996 (Billy Connolly)
# Revenge of the Robot - First broadcast: 30/4/1996
# Wanted! - First broadcast: 7/5/1996 (Leslie Phillips)
# Dennis and the Beanstalk - First broadcast: 14/5/1996
# Unidentified Funny Object - First broadcast: 21/5/1996 (Tim Brooke-Taylor, Willie Rushton)
# Special Agent Dennis - First broadcast: 28/5/1996 (Jonathan Kydd, Molly Sugden)
# Dennis and the Grown Ups - First broadcast: 4/6/1996 (Derek Nimmo)
# The Secret Diary - First broadcast: 25/6/1996 (Greg Proops)
# Gorilla Warfare - First broadcast: 2/7/1996
# The Day TV was Banned - First broadcast: 9/7/1996 (Ken Dodd)

Series 2: 1998
# The Competition - First broadcast: 13/2/1998 (Katy Hill, Stuart Miles)
# Summer Holiday - First broadcast: 20/2/1998 (Prunella Scales)
# Menace Power - First broadcast: 27/2/1998
# Dennisaurus Rex - First broadcast: 6/3/1998
# Adventures in Dennis Sitting - First broadcast: 13/3/1998
# Haunted House - First broadcast: 20/3/1998
# Oil Strike - First broadcast: 27/3/1998 (Bernard Cribbins)
# Mauled - First broadcast: 3/4/1998
# The Trial - First broadcast: 9/4/1998
# Journey to the Centre of the Bed - First broadcast: 16/4/1998
# Skull & Crossbones - First broadcast: 23/4/1998 (Brian Blessed)
# Snowbound - First broadcast: 30/4/1998
# Monster Menace - First broadcast: 7/5/1998 (Jimmy Hibbert)

Series 3: 2009A third series is currently in production. Images of the characters and Production were recently featured in The Beano 70 year anniversary. The new series will feature the return of Dennis, Gnasher, Mum, Dad, Curly and Pie-Face and will also feature the introduction of Dennis' little sister Bea. The production shots also showed Dennis' treehouse with a more menacing design.

Broadcast History

*UK
**CBBC (1996-Present)
**The Children's Channel (1996-1997)
**Fox Kids/Jetix

*Ireland
**RTE Two (1996-2002)

Commercial Availability

The second series of the 1998 Dennis the Menace & Gnasher cartoons were released in a three volume collection as well as a Dennis & Gnasher/The Beano box set. As of 2008, it is unknown whether the first series will be released.

ee also

*Dennis the Menace (UK)
*The Beano