Danger Mouse remake to include major female characters

Some past male characters will change gender as part of the BBC's equality efforts

Danger Mouse and Penfold are set to return for 52 new episodes in 2015 (Fremantle/BBC)

Fans of Danger Mouse can expect to see more female characters in the forthcoming TV remake, reports suggest.

The BBC plans to make male characters less dominant in children’s programmes but the vintage Eighties cartoon featured barely any females.

CBBC are set to air 52 new episodes in 2015 and, according to controller Cheryl Taylor, “characters that might have been male in the past will now be female”.

Taylor went on to praise “whizz-bang” scripts that have “managed to retain that fantastic rather old-fashioned British humour as well as bringing something fresh”.

It remains unknown which characters might be undergoing gender changes, but CBeebies controller Kay Benbow is also in favour of the move.

“I still feel the default tendency is for there to be a male lead or a male presenter,” she said at the Children’s Media Conference in Sheffield. “It’s actually really hard: you can easily say Mr Maker, Mr Tumble or Mr Bloom. It’s harder for women.

“What do you say: Mrs, Miss or Ms? It’s a bit of a drag really, we’re still defined by our marital status.”

The new series of Danger Mouse will see the hero and his bespectacled sidekick Penfold back in their red post box, but their lives have been modernised down to the title character’s high-tech ‘iPatch’.

The actors who will follow Sir David Jason and the late Terry Scott in voicing the characters are yet to be announced.

Original co-creator Brian Cosgrove is on board as a creative consultant for the reboot.

"I am delighted that a whole new generation will be introduced to his daring deeds and thrilled to be part of this new 21st century series," he said. "I can't wait to find out what he's been up to for the last 23 years."