It squeaks volumes...
Rodent power came to British telly 40 years ago. MARION McMULLEN looks at the rise and rise of Danger Mouse
HE’S the world’s greatest secret agent and has faced dastardly enemies and deadly missions,
Danger Mouse burst into action on ITV on September 28, 1981, with David Jason as the voice of the white rodent and comedy actor Terry Scott as his sidekick Penfold.
The pair of crime fighters lived in a post box outside the home of famous sleuth Sherlock Holmes at 221B Baker Street in London.
The cartoon adventures saw Danger Mouse and Penfold battling to save the world from the likes of the criminal mastermind Baron Silas Greenback and his fiendish henchman Stiletto. “Good grief,” Danger Mouse would utter whenever things started to go wrong.
Mark Hall and Brian Cosgrove created Danger Mouse for their production company, Cosgrove Hall Films, and said they were inspired by the 1960 action series Danger Man, starring Patrick McGoohan as unstoppable secret agent John Drake.
They made 90 episodes, until the original cartoons came to an end in 1992 after 11 years. It proved hugely popular overseas and was broadcast in more than 80 territories worldwide including Australia, Germany and France and it was the first UK cartoon to really break into the USA.
You cannot keep a superhero mouse down though, and Danger Mouse is now back again as a CBBC favourite and licensed to thrill a whole new generation.
Facing fear with a perfect karate chop and a slightly elevated eyebrow, there have been a few changes.
His distinguishing eye patch has been replaced by an “i-patch” with multiple technological functions.
Alexander Armstrong is the new voice of Danger Mouse, with Stephen Fry as his boss Colonel K. Alexander’s Pointless pal Richard Osman has also appeared in the show as genius jellyfish Professor Strontium Jellyfishowitz.
Brian Cosgrove said: “When I helped to create Danger Mouse I had no idea the show would be such a huge success both in the UK and overseas.”
ACNE treatments have come a long way since the harsh face scrubs of our youth.
With at-home light therapy to tackle active acne, and microneedling for the scars left over, there’s a whole host of new gadgets and products available.
While it can be tempting to reach for expensive bits of kit or fancy products to get rid of your spots, Miriam Adebibe, cosmetic and wellness doctor at Victor and Garth (victorandgarth.co.uk), urges sufferers to look at the root causes.
The first thing she would consider is what you eat: “There are so many triggering factors within diets, such as dairy products, sugar, any animal products,” she says, recommending you cut down on processed foods and focus on fruit and veg. “I would also look at reducing your stress levels in whatever way you can. Sleep is so important – no one ever talks about that.”
If you’re still suffering from spots and scars, which new gadgets and innovations are actually worth your time?
LIGHT THERAPY
“I love light therapy,” Miriam says. “I think it’s a really great way of helping your skin to do its job with very few side effects... And that is very unusual for any kind of treatment.”
You can have light therapy treatments done by a doctor – likely to be higher strength and more targeted – but you can just as easily get in on the trend at home, with handheld devices or masks covering your face.
Many of these devices have settings for both blue and red light. “Blue light penetrates less deep within the skin surface and is very good at killing some of the bacteria involved in the acne lesion process,” Miriam explains. “Red light is really good at improving the blood flow to the skin, it helps calm inflammation and it has also been shown to reduce the sebum production within the skin.”
PIMPLE PATCHES
While not high-tech, pimple patches are a relatively new phenomenon. These little stickers contain acne-fighting ingredients such as salicylic acid.
Miriam says salicylic is great for spots – it can get “down into the pore and help unclog it” – but she adds: “I probably wouldn’t use a pimple patch.”
She suggests salicylic acid – a beta hydroxy acid (BHA) – could
be used in a more effective way, though agrees the stickers are great for hiding pimples.
“Beta hydroxy acid is really helpful to be putting all over your face, or particularly in the areas where you suffer from acne,” Miriam says.
If you suffer from acne, she recommends regularly using a BHA face wash – or you could even create your own at-home pimple patch using calming ingredients such as tea tree oil.
MICRONEEDLING
Microneedling involves rolling a handheld device with needles under two millimetres over your face. To be clear: this is definitely not for someone with fresh, active acne, but for those who want to reduce scarring caused by spots.
Miriam is a fan: “Microneedling is a way of causing injury, but with the ultimate effect of producing better healing. Acne has very different types of scars, and microneedling is good for some of them – not all.”
However, there are things to watch out for if you’re doing it at home. “You need to make sure it stays clean and within its capsule, so the needles stay sharp,” Miriam says. “What you don’t want is blunt needles, because then you’ll just be causing more trauma to your skin than is necessary.” She recommends microneedling once every three or four weeks, “so you leave enough time in between for healing to occur”.
While it might help, Miriam wants to stress “a scar is a permanent thing... I think it’s really important to remember it’s about getting an improvement, rather than fully treating it and having everything perfect”.