Danger Mouse Merry Christmouse   Starring (voice): Alexander Armstrong, Kevin Eldon, Stephen Fry, Ed Gaughan, Shauna Macdonald, Dave Lamb and Marc Silk Distributor: Universal RRP: £9.99 505308309826 Certificate: U Release Date: 24 October 2016

Danger Mouse Merry Christmouse features a special Christmas themed double length episode - The Snowman Cometh - as well as an additional six episodes from the show's 2016 run.

I grew up on the original '80s series and when I heard that the show was to be remade and broadcast from 2015 I had mixed feelings about it. Danger Mouse was a classic and who else could possibly voice DM other than David Jason? No one could replace Terry Scott as Penfold, surely? But, do you know what, I loved this new reworking of the show. It's funnier and smarter than its predecessor - it's almost as though Danger Mouse has grown up with us.

The show works on a number of levels and will appeal to the smallest member of your family as well as adults who claim they have grown out of cartoons. Alexander Armstrong take the role of DM and makes it his own and Kevin Eldon does a fantastic job of keeping the spirit of Scott's Penfold. Stephen Fry is perfect as Colonel K and we even get a new female character in the form of Q-esque (James Bond) Professor Squawkencluck (Shauna Macdonald) who helps design DM's gadgets. Baron Silas von Greenback (Ed Gaughan) seems to have recovered from the terrible laryngitis he had in the original '80s show - and he appears to be a lot more cute and cuddly.

For those of you who have seen the show, the additional episodes are not presented in original broadcast order. We get:

The Snowman Cometh (originally broadcast on 16 December 2015); #Sinister Mouse (17 February 2016); There's No Place Like Greenback (18 February 2016); Happy Boom Day! (22 February 2016); Frankensquawk's Monster (23 February 2016); Escape From Big Head (24 February 2016); and Megahurtz Attacks (25 February 2016).

There are no extras, but the DVD comes with eight battle cards that can be used to play a version of Top Trumps. The perfect festive DVD for everyone in the family.

8

Darren Rea