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To celebrate the release of Chorlton and The Wheelies on DVD available 17th June, we have 2 DVDs to give away to lucky winners!

Wheelie World is a land inhabited by the Wheelies. Long ago this land was full of happiness and laughter, until the wicked witch Fenella arrived and set up home in Spout Hall – a kettle – on the outskirts of Wheelie Kingdom. Casting her evil spell, the colour faded from the land, the laughter was silenced, and the Wheelies became sad and dejected.

Then one day a large, brightly coloured egg arrived – and from it emerged a strange and wonderful creature – Chorlton, The Happiness Dragon. As joy and laughter returns to Wheelie World, Fenella now spends her time trying to defeat and destroy the happiness that Chorlton radiates to all.

Chorlton, The Happiness Dragon brings joy and laughter to the Wheelies- causing frustration to Fenella the Kettle Witch who...

Castle Duckula, home for many centuries to a dreadful dynasty of vicious vampire ducks… The Counts of Duckula!

Terrifying until now…the current Count is a vegetarian vampire with a desire for showbusiness! Count Duckula: The Complete Collection includes all 4 series of this classic Cosgrove Hall animation in a 7-disc set which is out now on DVD in the UK courtesy of Fabulous Films.

“Count Duckula was The Rolling Stones to Danger Mouse‘s Beatles” Den of Geek

Airing between 1988 and 1993 Count Duckula is a spin-off of the Cosgrove Hall classic Danger Mouse (in turn another Cosgrove Hall animation Victor and Hugo was a spin-off of Count Duckula based on villains Gaston and Pierre). Both Danger Mouse and Count Duckula are voiced by David Jason. Count Duckula was a recurring villain in the Danger Mouse series having once teamed up with Danger Mouse’s arch-enemy Silas Greenback. In the Count...

To celebrate the release of Jamie and the Magic Torch, on DVD from 18th March, we are giving away DVDs to 2 lucky winners!

Every night when his mum calls out ‘Sleep Well Jamie’, the naughty rascal gets out of bed, picks up his magic torch and with his dog, Wordsworth, travels down a helter skelter into the magical world of Cuckoo Land. With 39 fantastic stories to watch, join Jamie and Wordsworth in all three series of their exciting adventures. Presented for the first time as a complete collection on DVD.

Jamie and the Magic Torch ran from 1976-1979 and was made by the Cosgrove Hall animation studios in Manchester, the studio that brought to us other classic shows such as Danger Mouse, Count Duckula, The Wind in the Willows, Chorlton and the Wheelies and The Bfg movie. Brian Truman who narrates the series also wrote it.

Jamie and Wordsworth have...

Love them or hate them, reboots are here to stay -- until they get remade once again. And while some franchises are better left alone (cough, cough, "Fuller House"), others are even stronger the second time around, especially when you're not old enough to remember the original. Here's a look at the best and worst kids' shows making comebacks faster than you can say "cannibalizing my childhood."

'The Powerpuff Girls' (1998 - 2005)

Way back in 1998, Cartoon Network did something amazing and produced a cartoon that was equal parts "Spider-Man," "My Little Pony," and Ms. Magazine: "The Powerpuff Girls." Audiences eager to see that girls could kick butt too responded strongly, keeping the show on the air for seven years. The carefully crafted blend of silliness, standard villain plots, and adorable sisters charmed kids all over the world, spawning merchandise, cosplay, and even a full-length feature film. So naturally, a reboot was inevitable,...

Recently revived on TV with Alexander Armstrong, Kevin Eldon and Stephen Fry among the voice cast, Danger Mouse is also set to storm the big screen. Sony Pictures Animation and StudioCanal have hatched a plan for a movie, with producers Neal Moritz and Toby Ascher overseeing the diminutive super-spy shenanigans.Starting life as an animated series from Cosgrove Hall in the early '80s, Danger Mouse was a secret agent, channelling James Bond and Danger Man, and getting involved in a lot of very silly nonsense on a weekly basis.He lived underneath a pillar box on Baker Street and drove a flying car; his sidekick was the blundering hamster Penfold; his "M" was Colonel K. (a chinchilla); and his arch enemy was the wheezy toad Baron Greenback, who had a crow henchman called Stiletto and was always up to dastardly schemes like trying to melt the North Pole. Occasional secondary villains included Count Duckula,...

From Bananaman to Grange Hill, join us in a spot of TV nostalgia as we celebrate 50 great 1980s kids' TV theme songs...

There comes a time to turn away from the horrors of the world and retreat underneath the soft, comforting duvet of nostalgia. That time is Friday. That metaphorical duvet is below.

Here are fifty of the best kids’ TV theme songs (spread over two pages and in arbitrary order) of the 1980s. Some, like Alan Hawkshaw’s distinctive Grange Hill intro, are unarguable classics of the era, while others, like Mike Harding's Count Duckula, only started in the late-eighties and spent the rest of their run in the next decade.

Obviously, there being only 50 on this list, we may have missed out your favourite (deliberately or otherwise). Let us know if so, but remember that links may take a while to appear in the comments thread because...

Lena Headey and John Oliver are joining the vocal cast of Cbbc's Danger Mouse.

It was announced during a Danger Mouse panel at Comic-Con this weekend that the Game of Thrones star and the Last Week Tonight host are joining the show's second series.

Headey will play Us Secret Agent Jeopardy Mouse, while Oliver will play the mad wolf scientist Dr Augustus P Crumhorn III.

Headey said: "I wanted to do it [Danger Mouse] because it was pure nostalgia for me.

"I have children now and it's just a treat to be involved in something that you loved as a kid and be able to share it. Those moments as an actor that come along once in while are not to be missed."

Oliver added: "I've loved Danger Mouse my whole life. Danger Mouse was a significant part of my childhood.

"So to get a chance to do it is like getting...

Dracula Untold was out last weekend, starring burgeoning (maybe?) Hollywood talent Luke Evans as the title vampire. Or, rather, as the title historical figure with a particular fondness for bats. This is one of those Vlad the Impaler-focused stories, moving to the source material of this age-old Balkan legend. As usual, I won’t dive into the details of whether this particular new release is terrible. Instead, let’s look at some much more successfully entertaining Transylvanian fare. It may not involve Dominic Cooper but it does involve ducks. I am talking, of course, about the evergreen ridiculousness of Count Duckula, scion of the line of Duckula. As the opening credits explain, he was resurrected by his scheming butler Igor and gregarious Nanny when the moon was in the eighth house of Aquarius. They accidentally used ketchup instead of blood in the ritual, so he’s the world’s first vegetarian vampire. He...

(Cbr) Brace yourselves, ’80s animation fans: The BBC has announced it’s dusting off "Danger Mouse," with some help from FreemantleMedia and Boulder Media. Few details were revealed, but FreemantleMedia said that the super-spy’s familiar eye patch will be replaced by an updated i-patch featuring all kinds of technological goodies. Originally airing from 1981 to 1992, "Danger Mouse" followed the exploits of the world’s best secret agent and his timid assistant Penfold, who had a tendency to get in the way or, worse, get kidnapped. The series and its spinoff Count Duckula aired in the United States on Nickelodeon. “The thrills, spills and comedy of this landmark international animated series are all still here but this rebooted version will be brought up-to-date for today’s tech-savvy and content-hungry kids,” Freemantle’s Rick Glanker said in a statement. “In this new 21st-century version the laughs are set to be even louder...

Over two decades since it wrapped, much loved 1980s British cartoon series "Danger Mouse" is coming out of retirement with FremantleMedia Kids & Family Entertainment teaming with the BBC to produce a 52-episode new series to air on Cbbc next year in the UK.

A parody of the Bond films and TV's "Danger Man", the Cosgrove Hall Films production followed an eye-patched white mouse who is also the world's greatest secret agent. He and his bespectacled and reluctant hamster assistant Penfold work out of their base within a red postbox.

Together they battled the evil machinations of the wheezy voiced toad Baron Silas Greenback and his crow assistant Stiletto Mafiosa. On occasion the vampire Count Duckula was the antagonist, and he went on to score his own spin-off series.

161 episodes were produced over a decade and the show proved to be an international hit, even in the United States market where...

First it was Bananaman that was being unpeeled for a new generation. Now, from a post box somewhere on Baker Street, cartoon superspy Danger Mouse is about to get the same treatment. Current rights-holders Fremantle have decided to bring him out of his 23-year retirement, thanks to some strong ratings during a Citv retro weekend, albeit on the small screen rather than the large.An animated series from Cosgrove Hall in the early '80s, Danger Mouse was a secret agent, channelling James Bond and Danger Man, and getting involved in a lot of very silly nonsense on a weekly basis. He drove a flying car; his sidekick was the blundering hamster Penfold; his "M" was Colonel K. (a chinchilla); and his arch enemy was the wheezy toad Baron Greenback, who had a crow henchman called Stiletto, and was always up to dastardly schemes like trying to melt the North Pole.

These days you can't throw a rock without breaking a vital piece of a serious, strategic, horror board game. But just because the board game industry is blowing up now doesn't mean we didn't have plenty of awesome games in ages past! The years have afforded us tons of bizarre, fun, challenging, and silly horror board games, and we'd hate to see them lost to the sands of time. Here's a look at our first collection of vintage games worth revisiting: Vampire Board Games!

The Fury of Dracula - Games Workshop (1987)

Here's a game of cat and mouse (or should we say bat and mouse) that was truly ahead of its time. 'The Fury of Dracula,' for two to four players, set one player against the rest of the table in a race to control Europe. One player assumes the role of Dracula, who sneaks around a map of the European countryside.

Sarah Dobbs Jun 21, 2017

As news arrives that Sherlock's creators are working on a Dracula adaptation, here are 10 screen versions of Bram Stoker's character...

Dracula is one of the classic monster stories. It’s the quintessential vampire tale; most of our ideas about what a vampire is, what a vampire does, and what a vampire can be killed by come from Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel. And while elements of the story have been woven into countless other vampire-themed books, films, and TV shows, it’s Dracula that we keep coming back to, over and over. Sherlock creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss are in talks about reviving the character once again for a BBC miniseries, but before that arrives, let’s take a look back at ten other versions of the world’s most famous vampire…

See related Kevin Feige on Black Panther, female superhero movie Thor: Ragnarok - Thor's roommate won't be in it Nosferatu (1922)

Who plays Dracula? Max Schreck.

What’s the story? It’s a pretty faithful, if pared down, version of the Dracula story: a clerk is sent out to meet a mysterious client in a spooky castle, realises he’s a monster, and tries to flee, only for his own wife to fall victim to the vampire’s spell. It’s silent, black and white, and gorgeous.

What makes it special? What’s kind of amazing about this film is that it almost didn’t survive. The production didn’t have the approval of Bram Stoker’s estate, and despite changing a few details – the vampire here is known as Count Orlok, not Dracula, and the other names and locations have also been altered – it’s close enough that when the Stokers sued, a court ordered all copies of the film to be destroyed.

Luckily for us, one survived. It’s incredibly creepy, all weird angles and lurking shadows, and Schrek plays the vampire as a proper monster. There’s nothing seductive about him, he’s just terrifying. Even now. Especially now, maybe, now that we’re jaded and cynical about special effects and CGI. Because this film looks scarier than anything created on a computer, and it’s all real.

Dracula (1931)

Who plays Dracula? Bela Lugosi.

What’s the story? Based on a popular stage adaptation of Dracula, this is another mostly faithful adaptation, though the characters have been shuffled a bit. Here, it’s Renfield, not Jonathan, who goes out to meet Dracula in his castle in Transylvania. Jonathan and Lucy get shunted off to the side of the story, with Mina taking centre stage, while Dr Seward, head of the lunatic asylum, is recast as her father. Lugosi is a much sexier Count than Schreck, and the subtext about Mina’s sexual awakening is, er, pretty much text here.

What makes it special? Oh, everything. It’s beautiful to look at, for one thing. It’s got a bit of a sense of humour, though not enough to stop it from being insanely creepy. Lugosi makes the role completely his own; when people think of Count Dracula, this is the version most of them imagine. Interestingly, this version also does a lot more with Renfield’s story than the original novel, and Dwight Frye is fantastic in that role. Even if you think you’ve seen too many Dracula parodies to enjoy Lugosi’s rendition of the Count, this film is worth watching for Dwight Frye alone.

Dracula (1958)

Who plays Dracula? Christopher Lee.

What’s the story? It’s Dracula, but slightly wonky. It starts with Jonathan Harker setting off to visit Castle Dracula – but this time, he knows what he’s in for, and is planning to kill the Count. He fails, leaving Van Helsing to take up the hunt. Most of the characters have been shuffled around: Jonathan is engaged to Lucy, who’s Arthur’s sister, and Arthur is married to Mina. It’s not obvious why that reshuffle had to happen, because it doesn’t make a huge amount of difference to how things play out. It’s still Mina who has to fight to extricate herself from Dracula’s clutches in the end.

What makes it special? Dracula was one of the first Hammer Horror films, and it was massively successful. It spawned eight sequels, including The Brides of Dracula, Dracula Has Risen from the Grave, and Taste The Blood of Dracula, and it basically shaped the horror genre for a good couple of decades. But what’s special about it today is the cast. Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing are always good value, and here, as the evil Count and the scholarly vampire hunter determined to kill him off, they’re brilliant.

Count von Count, Sesame Street (1972)

Who plays Dracula? Originally Jerry Nelson, and now Matt Vogel.

What’s the story? Okay, this is kind of a cheat. Count von Count isn’t actually called Dracula, but he’s so clearly modelled on Bela Lugosi’s portrayal of the great vampire that I couldn’t just leave him out. The character appears to be based on the idea that vampires are obsessed with counting – folklore from all over the world has it that if a vampire encounters a pile of rice or other grains, they won’t be able to do anything until they’ve counted it all. The Count loves to, er, count.

What makes it special? The fact that Sesame Street included a vampire character is kind of amazing, and the fact that he speaks in a parody of Lugosi’s accent, and wears that cape, well, it’s just sort of brilliant. The earliest incarnations of the Count were a bit spooky, but apparently kids found his maniacal laughing and tendency to zap people who interfered with his counting a bit scary, so he was made cuter and goofier. He’s basically the most adorable incarnation of Dracula you’ll ever find.

Blacula (1972)

Who plays Dracula? Charles Macaulay.

What’s the story? This film is about one of Dracula’s protégés, rather than Dracula himself. After an African prince approaches Dracula for help dealing with the slave trade, he gets bitten and sealed in a coffin for centuries. Popping out in the 1970s, Mamuwalde – dubbed “Blacula” by the Count – sets about trying to win the heart of a woman he believes to be the reincarnation of his dead wife.

What makes it special? Isn’t the idea of a blaxploitation take on Dracula special enough for you? William H. Marshall plays the first ever black vampire in this movie, and since there haven’t been all that many since, that’s still pretty notable. The fashion is glorious, and the music is wonderful too. The plot is, well, kind of flimsy, and pretty slow, and it actually verges on being kind of boring, but there’s something pretty cool about it nonetheless.

Blood for Dracula (1974)

Who plays Dracula? Udo Kier.

What’s the story? A sickly Dracula is starving to death due to the lack of available virgins in Romania, so he travels to Italy in search of a bride. Unfortunately, the family of impoverished aristocrats he ends up staying with employs a rather rapey handyman, and there may not be any virgins left for him.

What makes it special? Produced by Andy Warhol, this is definitely one of the strangest takes on the Dracula story. Many of the established tropes are present – Dracula doesn’t have a reflection, and can’t stand garlic - but rather than being powerful and seductive, Kier’s Count is almost pitiable. He spends much of the film in a wheelchair, which is an oddly creepy image, and he’s kind of… whiny. It’s hard to know where your sympathies should lie, and it’s fun to see a mother actively throwing her daughters at Dracula rather than trying to save them from him. The accents are occasionally baffling (especially Joe Dallesandro’s Brooklyn drawl) but maybe that’s all part of the joke.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)

Who plays Dracula? Gary Oldman.

What’s the story? Back in the fifteenth century, Dracula’s wife kills herself after being told her husband has been killed in battle. Knowing suicide is a sin, Dracula figures she’s damned, and turns against God himself, becoming a vampire. After skulking in his castle for centuries, he decides to move to London, where he meets Mina Harker – a woman who looks exactly like his dead wife. The rest of the Dracula story is intact, but with a side of overly dramatic tragic romance.

What makes it special? It’s one of the most faithful adaptations around, in terms of how much of the book it conveys to the screen. Characters are shown writing letters and diary entries, as per the book, and Lucy’s three suitors are all present and correct, which is rare.

Unfortunately, some of the performances are pretty terrible (Keanu Reeves is an easy target, but he’s truly awful here, and Cary Elwes is in full smirk mode). There are so many famous people crammed in that it gets distracting, and the set design is too stagey to be effective. But it gets points for keeping all the characters in their places.

‘Buffy vs Dracula’, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2000)

Who plays Dracula? Rudolf Martin.

What’s the story? To kick off the fifth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy went up against the most famous vampire of all time. Yup, they actually wrote Dracula into an episode of Buffy. There’s no real messing with the character, apart from dropping him into modern day California, and he uses pretty much all of his tricks: he turns into a bat, he dissolves into mist, he uses mind control to turn Xander into a slavering minion, and he seduces Sunnydale’s women, including Buffy herself.

What makes it special? There’s something about crossovers that’s always oddly irresistible. Fitting the Scooby Gang into the Dracula story is fun because of the cognitive dissonance it causes: they’re all-American teenagers, and he’s a character from a gothic Victorian novel, so there’s no reason they should ever encounter one another, and the fallout is genuinely funny. (Spike’s indignation is a particular highlight.) There’s also a serious side to the story, as Dracula tells Buffy she’s a creature of darkness, but that’s something that really developed over the rest of the series. This episode is mostly just fun.

Dracula 2000 (2000)

Who plays Dracula? Gerard Butler.

What’s the story? Despite Van Helsing’s best efforts, someone has let Dracula out of his prison, and he’s determined to track down the one woman who might be able to stand up to him. (Who just happens to be Van Helsing’s daughter.) Bringing Van Helsing and Dracula into a modern day setting requires a bit of sleight of hand, but it just about works, and the film has an ace up its sleeve: an explanation for Dracula’s true identity that finally explains why he’s so averse to silver and crucifixes.

What makes it special? It kind of shouldn’t be, because it’s so silly. It’s got that self-aware, slightly camp late-90s horror thing going on, and it’s never actually scary. But it is a lot of fun, with some sharp dialogue (“I don’t drink… coffee”) and loads of geek-friendly faces popping up, including Jonny Lee Miller, Nathan Fillion, and Jeri Ryan.

Blade: Trinity (2004)

Who plays Dracula? Dominic Purcell

What’s the story? Dracula, or “Drake”, is an ancient vampire summoned by modern day vampires looking for an upgrade. Blade has been killing off too many of them, and they want to walk in daylight, which apparently Drake’s blood will let them do. Drake is a bit of a rubbish Dracula, as they go; he’s just a really old vampire, and none of the usual Dracula plot elements are present.

What makes it special? Let’s be clear about this, Blade Trinity is a pretty terrible film. It has two redeeming features, though: Ryan Reynolds and Parker Posey are fantastic, and every scene they have together is wonderful; and it includes a scene in which Drake wanders into a vampire-themed shop and terrorises the snarky goth assistants. Those things just about make it worth watching, but for Dracula super-fans, it hasn’t got much to offer. Purcell’s Dracula is apparently meant to be charismatic, but he just comes off dull and thuggish.

Other notable onscreen Draculas: Countess Dracula (Ingrid Pitt stars as Elizabeth Bathory, so not really Dracula at all, except in the title); Count Duckula (an 80s cartoon about a vampiric duck); Count Dracula (a low budget horror from 1979, directed by Jess Franco and starring Christopher Lee despite not being part of Lee’s Hammer Dracula franchise); Dracula: Dead And Loving It (Mel Brooks’s daft spoof); Dracula Ad 1972 (a reteaming of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing that brings Dracula into the 70s); Dracula Sucks (a hardcore porn adaptation); and Dario Argento’s Dracula 3D (which isn’t out yet, and will almost certainly be terrible.)

This feature was originally posted in October 2013.

Jeff 'Swampy' Marsh on 'the rantings of two middle-aged men who believed kids didn't get out and do things any more'

Us cartoon Phineas and Ferb made its debut on Disney Channel in early 2008, and has since gone on to be one of the channel's most popular series, attracting more than 289m viewers worldwide since that first broadcast.

One of its co-creators, Jeff 'Swampy' Marsh, gave a keynote at the Children's Media Conference in Sheffield today, explaining the creative workflow behind the show, and how it has evolved over time.

Marsh got into animation "pretty late in life" at the age of 28, with his first professional job drawing backgrounds for The Simpsons. Four seasons later, he moved on to the show Rocko's Modern Life, where he got his first chance to write and direct, and also met his Phineas and Ferb co-creator Dan Povenmire.

He went on to work on...

Kids TV classic Danger Mouse could potentially be getting a reboot for the Twitter generation. Good grief Penfold!

The news has had the Digital Spy office chatting all day about our own favourite kids TV classics from the '80s and '90s from the silliness of Fun House and Bananaman to the action of Defenders of the Earth and Dungeons & Dragons.

From the japes of Count Duckula and Defenders of the Earth to the teen angst of Saved By The Bell and California Dreams, we've been talking wistfully about the days of vintage children's telly when '80s power ballad theme tunes, gunge tanks and Pat Sharp's mullet were all acceptable entertainment.

But we want to know, what were your all-time favourite kids TV classics? What show would you most like to get a reboot? We've picked out five suggestions below, let us know your own at the bottom of the page.

Kids TV classic Danger Mouse could potentially be getting a reboot for the Twitter generation. Good grief Penfold!

The news has had the Digital Spy office chatting all day about our own favourite kids TV classics from the '80s and '90s from the silliness of Fun House and Bananaman to the action of Defenders of the Earth and Dungeons & Dragons.

From the japes of Count Duckula and Defenders of the Earth to the teen angst of Saved By The Bell and California Dreams, we've been talking wistfully about the days of vintage children's telly when '80s power ballad theme tunes, gunge tanks and Pat Sharp's mullet were all acceptable entertainment.

But we want to know, what were your all-time favourite kids TV classics? What show would you most like to get a reboot? We've picked out five suggestions below, let us know your own at the bottom of the page.

ITV’s children’s brand Citv celebrates its 30th birthday in 2013. To mark the occasion, ITV1 will air a documentary on 29th December 2012 charting the history of the brand, and the Citv channel will be holding an action packed ‘Old Skool’ weekend on 5th and 6th January 2013.

From 9:25am to 6pm on the 5th and 6th January 2013, Citv will be broadcasting a selection of its iconic shows including Fun House, Press Gang, Knightmare, The Raggy Dolls, Count Duckula, Art Attack and Children's Ward. Additional episodes will also be available to view and rent online at www.itv.com/itvplayer for an exclusive period giving viewers the chance to re-live their favourite childhood programmes.

Jamila Metran, Head of Programming, Citv said: “We are very proud of Citv’s heritage, and look forward to bringing back all the old favourites for this one-off, not to be missed event and show the...

Citv is celebrating its 30th birthday by scheduling a weekend of retro kids TV classics from the '80s and '90s. The Old Skool Weekend, which will take place on January 5-6, will feature repeats of popular old favourites such as The Sooty Show, Knightmare, Fun House and Press Gang. Watch 'The Sooty Show' intro: ITV children's presenters from the last 30 years such as Ant and Dec, Holly Willoughby, Fearne Cotton, Christopher Biggins and Matthew Kelly will also be interviewed about their favourite memories and shows. The full schedule for the weekend is below: Saturday, January 5

09.25 Mike & Angelo

09.50 Super Gran

10.15 Wizadora

10.30 T-Bag Strikes Again Watch a clip of 'T-Bag Strikes Again': 10.50 Engie Benjy

11.05 The Raggy Dolls

11.15 Puddle Lane

11.35 Count Duckula

12.00 The Sooty (more)...

News Louisa Mellor Dec 17, 2012

Nostalgia trip ahoy! Get ready for an entire weekend of the best of Citv’s last thirty years…

Super Gran. T-Bag. Knightmare. Count Duckula. Press Gang. Dangermouse. The sights and sounds of your childhood (assuming that you grew up near a TV set in the UK after 1983) are coming back for one weekend only.

To celebrate its thirtieth birthday, digital channel Citv is programming an entire two days of the best of its content from the last three decades on Saturday the 5th and Sunday the 6th of January 2013.

The full schedule for the Old Skool Weekend (yes, with a 'k') is below, so fill your nostalgic, Puddle-Lane branded boots:

Saturday the 5th of January

09.25 Mike & Angelo

09.50 Super Gran

10.15 Wizadora

10.30 T-Bag Strikes Again

10.50 Engie Benjy

11.05 The Raggy Dolls

11.15 Puddle Lane

11.35 Count Duckula

12.00 The Sooty Show

12.25 Art Attack

12.40 The Big Bang

13.00 Finders Keepers

13.30 Fun House

14.00 Knightmare

14.30 Fraggle Rock

15.00 The Worst Witch

15.30 Woof!

Today is author Bram Stoker’s birthday. The man who wrote Dracula would be 165 years old today, if he had the same affliction he gave his most famous character. In honor of Stoker’s birthday, we’ve found some of the best spoofs, parodies, and satires on Dracula. Because dammit, birthdays should be fun!

Count Duckula

Count Duckula - Opening Theme [HQ]

A favorite cartoon of mine growing up, Count Duckula was a duck version of Dracula. Every now and again, he would die, but could be resurrected once a century. The most recent resurrection didn’t go according to plan. Instead of blood, ketchup was used. Thus, this incarnation of Duckula was a vegetarian who was more interested in becoming a star than in starting blood wards.

Dracula: Dead and Loving It

Dracula: Dead and Loving It (Trailer 1995)

As a sort of “follow-up” to the wildly successful Young Frankenstein, Mel Brooks...

It takes a certain type of person to travel through time. We often find that it’s those least likely to actually do it that figure it out while those who’ve toiled for years just never figure it out.

To celebrate the release of Looper, here’s our list of the 5 most unlikely time travellers in the history of cinema and television. If you think of any more then drop us a note in the comments box below.

5. Count Duckula

In the whole of Transylvania, there’s not a Vampire zanier than Duck-u-la! He won’t bite beast or man, because he’s vegetarian … he’s also a time traveling duck who uses his ancient, clearly magical castle to transport himself anywhere in the world and, as we’ve been reminded, anywhere in time too. That’s how he meets his previous incarnations as well as Queen Elizabeth the 1st.

For any child raised between the mid-seventies and early nineties, the work of Brian Cosgrove, and his creative partner Mark Hall will be instantly familiar. From the adventures of a not particularly successful rodent secret agent, and the bizarre home life of a vegetarian vampire duck, to the stop-motion antics of Ratty, Badger, Mole and Toad, their creations dominated afternoon TV in a way that Rastamouse could only dream of.

In addition to his work on children’s TV series, Cosgrove produced and directed the 1989, animated adaptation of Roald Dahl’s novel The Bfg, which comes to Blu-Ray this week. Cosgrove recently took the time to talk to HeyUGuys about the film, as well as his other work, his views on Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr Fox, and his frequent collaborations with the actor David Jason.

On watching the film again, 23 years after it was first released and thinking back to the production.

Louisa Mellor Aug 1, 2016

With Steven Spielberg's The Bfg in cinemas, we look back at the 1989 Cosgrove Hall adaptation feat. David Jason…

On Christmas day 1989, ITV premiered the most charming child abduction story ever told: Cosgrove Hall’s animated adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Bfg.

Directed by Brian Cosgrove, co-founder of the UK animation studio behind The Wind In The Willows, Danger Mouse, Count Duckula and a whole raft of the sort of kids’ TV that thirty-somethings still get excited about in pubs, The Bfg was, and is, a lovely thing.

Imaginative, funny, and just on the trippy side of weird, the film tells Roald Dahl’s story of orphan Sophie and the titular Big Friendly Giant’s scheme to stop bigger, much less-friendly giants from roaming the globe and gobbling up human beans. But before Cosgrove and co-producer Mark Hall could relay that tale, they had their own...

Have I got some thrilling news for you! Gnomeo & Juliet, Disney’s lawn-set adventure about two star-crossed ceramic gnomes, is getting its sequel. The original film drew its inspiration — and pun-ny title — from William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, but unlike that tragic tale, these warring Montagues and Capulets put aside their difference without any bloodshed… though there were some injuries that required hefty amounts of superglue.

Earlier this year, details about the sequel emerged revealing that its title Gnomeo & Juliet: Sherlock Gnomes refers to a new figure in the world of lawn gnomes, sassy frog-nannies and plastic flamingos, who is tasked with solving the mystery of the garden’s missing ornaments/residents.

Elton John is back as producer and set to contribute original music for the production; screenwriters Andy Riley and Kevin Cecil are returning also, but rather than bringing back Gnomeo & Juliet director Kelly Asbury, Kung Fu Panda co-director...

If you thought cartoon Transylvania was ruled with an iron beak by Count Duckula, think again. In Sony's new animation, Hotel Transylvania, it's Dracula who wears the trousers. He runs an exclusive lodging for monsters who want to let their claws down, racking up the kind of Trip Advisor ratings that only thousands of years experience in the hospitality business and some very persuasive fangs can earn you.Here, courtesy of some colourful new character posters, is Drac himself (Adam Sandler) and his crew of monster misfits. There's his 118-year-old daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez), The Werewolf (Steve Buscemi), The Invisible Man (David Spade) and Mr and Mrs Frankenstein (Kevin James and Fran Drescher).Into this domestic idyll appears lunky backpacker Jonathan (Samberg), who, despite the substantial age difference, is quickly smitten by Mavis. brightcove.createExperiences(); Expect all manner of carnage to ensue when Hotel Transylvania is released on October 12.

Just weeks after Alex Mack showed up on Mad Men, last night, the show welcomed another nostalgia-inducing guest star into the fold: Dennis Haskins, aka Richard Belding from Saved By The Bell: Haskins played the small but entertaining role of a Cool Whip ‘test kitchen’ scientist with an inordinately casual relationship with his Cool-Whip-students who’s also constantly proctoring weekly Cool-Whip-school dances. (Also, the coolest Cool Whip employee used to be able to stop time and talk to the camera the first couple seasons but then they phased that out.) Next Week On Mad Men – The search for Megan’s replacement comes down to a handful of candidates: Kel, Count Duckula, Small Wonder, Donnie Jeffcoat from Wild And Crazy Kids, Voltron’s left arm, and the fish from Eureeka’s Castle.

Time for a break from the skin scroll, the arm burn, the War Child, and that looming visit from the Old Ones. Teen vampire Adam returned to Being Human last night with his new fiftysomething girlfriend, succubus Yvonne. They were on the run from the British press, who simply couldn’t understand the love between a graying seductress and a bloodsucking child with the soul of a 47-year-old man. So, what better place for them to hide than in Barry alongside the sacred Baby Eve?

Adam, with his crude jokes and even cruder gestures, proved a welcomed comic relief from...

Today's cool piece of Geek Art comes to us from the mind of Jeffrey 'Chamba' Cruz, who has gathered together several of our favorite 80s animated heroes in one glorious image.

What was your favorite 80s cartoon?

Here's a list of chracters included...

DangerMouse from DangerMouse (1981)

Mighty Mouse from Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures (1987)

He-man from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983)

Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael & Michelangelo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987)

Bananaman from Bananaman (1983)

Count Duckula from Count Duckula (1988)

Optimus Prime from the Transformers (1984)

Inspector Gadget from Inspector Gadget (1983)...

British animator and Danger Mouse co-creator Mark Hall has died of cancer. He was 75.

Hall was surrounded by family when he passed away in the early hours of Friday at his home in Manchester, England.

He launched the animation studio Cosgrove Hall Films with his production partner Brian Cosgrove and the pair went on to enjoy worldwide success with cartoons including Danger Mouse, its spin-off Count Duckula and The Wind in the Willows.

Cosgrove Hall director Adrian Wilkins has paid tribute to Hall's "lifetime of achievement" in the world of animation, adding, "He is one of life's gentlemen."...

Blackadder

By Kieran Kinsella

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Without butlers the British would never have been able to solve any murders that involved the rich and famous. British TV butlers have always been key figures in both period dramas and anything involving Agatha Christie. With so many men in black to choose from, narrowing down the 10 best British TV butlers was no easy task but here are our men.

Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson) in Blackadder III. Blackadder III (to use his American name) treated all men in the same manner – with complete contempt. His dislike for fellow man was understandable given that he worked for a playboy prince (Hugh Laurie) and a man called Sod-off (Tony Robinson).

Angus Hudson (Gordon Jackson) in Upstairs Downstairs. In The Great Escape Gordon Jackson caused Richard Attenborough to get killed as a result...

The guys at the GeekCast Radio Network have been bashing IGN’s list of the Top 100 Animated Series for and they’ve finally decided to put their money where their mouth is by compiling their own list of the Top 100 Animated Series Of All Time – and they’ve got a little help! The GeekCast Radio Network has teamed with This Week In Geek, Chicken Pop Pod, The Pop Culture Network, Behind the Voice Actors and… us!

Yes, we here at Blogomatic3000 (well, when I say we I mean me) have compiled our own Top 100 list and that will be combined with the the lists from all the other participating sites to create The definitive Top 100 Animated Series List. As a pre-cursor to the unveiling of the combined list on the Gcrn Podcast we’ll be running down our Top 100 in two parts: 100-51 today and 50-1 tomorrow.

So without further ado,...

Robert Pattinson may be an idol for thousands of Twilight fans but he has a long way to go before becoming an enduring, international icon of horror fiction.

In a new poll to find the top vampire, Pattinson's Edward Cullen failed to make the top 10 and was even beaten by Count Duckula, from the UK cartoon series that was a spoof on the Transylvanian fiend and a spin-off from DangerMouse.

Perhaps not that surprising when you consider Pattinson has played pale, sparkly Edward in three Twilight films (with the two upcoming instalments of Breaking Dawn finishing off the saga) while Dracula has appeared in more than 200 movies - more than any other fictional character except Sherlock Holmes - and been referenced in well over 600 films.

With that impressive stake in popular culture, Bram Stoker's literary creation easily beat the new blood to top the list in a poll commissioned...

Born in the Bronx in 1921, Warren Kremer had art in his blood—his father was a sign painter. After graduating from the High School of Music and Art and the School of Industrial Arts, Kremer got work with various pulp and aviation magazines. His first comic book work was on Hap Hazard for Ace Publications.

In 1948 Kremer began doing work for Harvey Comics—working with publisher Alfred Harvey and editor Sid Jacobson, Kremer was responsible for creating Richie Rich, Stumbo the Giant, Hot Stuff, and others, and for revising Casper the Friendly Ghost into the character everyone knows today. Kremer worked for Harvey for thirty-five years, many of them as Art Editor but he always contributed art as well.

After Harvey closed in 1982 Kremer did some work for Marvel Comics, creating and drawing characters like Count Duckula, Planet Terry, and Top Dog for their Star Comics imprint.

Sadly, in 1989 a stroke paralyzed his left side,...

Vampires are everywhere these days. But long before we had Team Edward and the litany of prissy emo vampires that sparkle in the G-d sun... we had real vampires. They were in popular books, TV Shows, comic books, movies made from popular books, adaptations of comic books turned into movies, and even a comic book series adapted from a popular TV show based on characters from a movie! You get the drift. And throughout all of these various sucktastic productions, the tent poles of vampirism always held true (You getting this, Eddy?). Vampires are generally more pale than the Irish, and hate the sun more then old Jews. And furthermore, they have a thirst for blood worse than the republicans. But we kid, Edward. It seems some popular Vampires (like yourself) don't stick to traditions. Some don't even suck blood to survive! Don't believe us? We didn't either, until we...

Nanny's high-pitched cry of "I'll Get It!" during the intro to off-the-wall Citv series Count Duckula was one of the most exciting sounds you could hear as a child growing up in the late '80s and early '90s. It signalled the start of pretty much the coolest show on the box, which treated you to 22 minutes of witty wordplay, slapstick and bizarre humour. And at the centre of this delicious TV treat was our latest Digital Spy Icon - housekeeper Nanny. A bumbling, clumsy giant hen, Nanny more often than not stole the show from the David Jason-voiced Duckula and butler Igor. Her role was often limited, (more)...

Have you ever found yourself in an argument over the finest details of vampire lore? Do you often think to yourself “How often do werewolves really do battle with vampires?” Are you up late at night curious if Eli from Let the Right One In is weakened by silver or wondering if Selene from Underworld is physically capable of having your babies? Of course you do, you have, and you might.

Which is why you’ll find this trusty vampire comparison chart on Wikipedia extra handy in those situations, and more. Someone, or a squadron of nerds, took the time to compile entirely too much information about the appearance, supernatural powers, weaknesses, reproduction abilities, and plot similarities for every fictional vampire.

Now you can impress your friends with the smallest details about vampires. For instance, most vampires become crispy on exposure to sunlight. Except for the bloodsuckers of Cirque du...