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Count Duckula is a British children's animated comedy horror television series created by British studio Cosgrove Hall Productions and produced by Thames Television as a spin-off of Danger Mouse, a series in which an early version of the Count Duckula character was a recurring villain. Count Duckula aired from 6 September 1988 to 16 February 1993 across four series; in all, 65 episodes were made, each about 22 minutes long. (2026). 9781476672939, McFarland & Co. ISBN 9781476672939 The series aired on Nickelodeon in the United States, who billed it as its original programming. All have been released on DVD in the UK, while only the first series has been released in North America.
A new version of the original villainous Count Duckula appeared in the 2015 reboot series of Danger Mouse, but being a vegetarian like the good Duckula.
As the title sequence puts it, "the latest reincarnation did not run according to plan". The successful conclusion of the ritual, which was to be performed "once a century, when the moon is in the 8th house of Aquarius", requires blood, the source of sustenance for any vampire, but Nanny accidentally substitutes ketchup. Consequently, the newest version is not a blood-sucking vampire, but a Vegetarianism one. He is more interested in juicy carrots than hunting for victims. Igor is appalled. Even worse, his "new" master is obsessed with pursuing wealth and fame as an entertainer.
The stories often revolve around Duckula's adventures in search of riches and fame, assisted by the castle's ability to Teleportation around the world. Another regularly occurring theme is the repeated attempt by Igor to turn Duckula into a proper vampire. Some episodes feature Duckula's Doctor Von Goosewing (based on Dr. Abraham Van Helsing, the nemesis of Count Dracula), a vampire hunter who blindly refuses to believe the current incarnation of Duckula is harmless. There is also an array of bizarre, often supernatural foes, from zombies to mechanical werewolves. Another feature of the show is a cuckoo clock whose bat-like Borscht Belt comedian styled characters come out and make jokes about the current situation (or corny jokes in general). The clock is also a vital part of the castle's traveling mechanism, and it even has the ability to turn back time.
A series of annuals and monthly comics further detailing the adventures of Count Duckula and associated characters were released throughout the time that the series originally aired and for a short time afterwards.
Duckula has a very modern outlook and often despairs over the traditional vampire image he is expected to embody. He hates living in a dark, gloomy castle, and finds the behaviour of his servants to be depressing. Duckula frequently expresses frustration with Igor's attempts to change him back into a proper vampire and his lecturing Duckula as a disgrace and disappointment to the Duckula lineage. Duckula retains some vampiric powers and qualities (such as teleportation and an image invisible to mirrors), but is unharmed by sunlight.
The entire 65 episodes of the series are set to be released on UK DVD on June 3, 2024. This appears to be the first time ever the whole series have been available on English-language DVDs.
| Count Duckula: The Complete Collection | Not yet released in region 1 | 27 October 2008 | 1 May 2013 |
| Series 1 | 4 October 2005 (as "The complete first season") | 17 July 2006 (as "The complete first series") | 11 October 2007 (as "From Duck Til Dawn", containing the first 18 episodes only) |
| Series 2 | Not yet released in region 1 | 26 March 2007 (as "The complete second series") | Not yet released in region 4 but is released via Complete set DVD set |
| Series 3 & 4 | Not yet released in region 1 | 3 September 2007 (as "The complete third series") | Not yet released in region 4 but is released via Complete set DVD set |
| Count Duckula: Vampire Vacation | Not yet released in region 1 | 14 October 2002 | Not yet released in region 4 |
| Count Duckula: The Vampire Strikes Back! | Not yet released in region 1 | 11 August 2008 | Not yet released in region 4 |
| Count Duckula (TV8036) | 7 November 1988 | No Sax Please, We're Egyptian, The Mutinous Penguins, One Stormy Night |
| Count Duckula: The Vampire Strikes Back! (TV8038) | 7 November 1988 | The Vampire Strikes Back!, Hardluck Hotel, Dear Diary |
| Count Duckula: A Fright at the Opera (TV8045) | 7 November 1988 | A Fright at the Opera, Hunchbudgie of Notre Dame, Dr. Goosewing and Mr Duck |
| Count Duckula: Jungle Duck (TV8050) | 24 April 1989 | Jungle Duck, Vampire Vacation, Igor's Busy Day |
| Count Duckula: Autoduck | 1 May 1989 | Autoduck, Rent a Butler, Mobile Home |
| Count Duckula: Transylvanian Homesick Blues | 1 May 1989 | Transylvanian Homesick Blues, Restoration Comedy, All in a Fog |
| Children's Favourites Vol.1 | 1 May 1989 | The Duck and the Broccoli Stalk (Compilation VHS with Danger Mouse, and The Wind in the Willows) |
| Children's Favourites Vol.2 | 1 May 1989 | Castle Duckula: Open to the Public (Compilation VHS with Danger Mouse, and The Wind in the Willows) |
| More Children's Summer Stories (TV8062) | 5 June 1989 | Down Under Duckula (Compilation VHS with Danger Mouse, and The Wind in the Willows) |
| The Count Duckula Bumper Special (TV8079) | 2 October 1989 | Ghostly Gold, Prime Time Duck, The Incredible Shrinking Duck, Ducknapped!, Bloodsucking Bats of the Lower Amazon |
| Count Duckula: The Ghost of McCastle McDuckula (WP0020) | 2 October 1989 | The Ghost of McCastle McDuckula |
| Count Duckula: Mysteries of the Wax Museum (TV8083) | 5 February 1990 | Mysteries of the Wax Museum, The Lost Valley, Return of the Curse of the Secret of the Mummy's Tomb Frankenduckula's Monster... |
| More Children's Holiday Favourites (TV8094) | 4 June 1990 | Beau Duckula (Compilation VHS with Danger Mouse, and The Wind in the Willows) |
| Count Duckula: The Great Ducktective (TV8102) | 10 September 1990 | The Great Ducktective, Private Beak, Whodunnit? |
| Count Duckula: Bombay Duck (TV8103) | 10 September 1990 | Bombay Duck, Mississippi Duck, Mystery Cruise |
| Count Duckula: O.O. Duck (TV8105) | 10 September 1990 | O.O. Duck, A Mountie Always Gets His Duck!, Manhattan Duck |
| Count Duckula: Bumper Special Volume 2 (TV8113) | 10 September 1990 | Xmas Quacker, Alps a Daisy, Unreal Estate, There Are Werewolves at the Bottom of the Garden, In Arctic Circles |
| Children's Picture House (NCH3000) | 1 October 1990 | Transylvanian Homesick Blues (Compilation VHS with The Huckleberry Hound Show, Fireman Sam, Paddington Bear, and Barney) |
| Count Duckula: Astro Duck (TV8111) | 1 October 1990 | Astro Duck, The Rest is History!, Around the World in a Total Daze!, The Zombie Awakes! |
| Count Duckula: Lost City of Atlantis (WP0026) | 1 October 1990 | Lost City of Atlantis |
| My Little Count Duckula (ML0025) | 1 July 1996 | The Great Ducktective |
| Cult Kids Classics | 2001 | The Ghost of Castle McDuckula (Compilation VHS with Chorlton and the Wheelies, Danger Mouse, Jamie and the Magic Torch, Rainbow, and Button Moon) |
| Cult Kids Classics 2 | 5 March 2001 | Venice a Duck Not a Duck (Compilation VHS with Jamie and the Magic Torch, Danger Mouse, Chorlton and the Wheelies, Rainbow, and The Sooty Show) |
| I Love Cult Kids | 2002 | The Great Ducktective (Compilation VHS with Danger Mouse, Chorlton and the Wheelies, Jamie and the Magic Torch, Rainbow, Cockleshell Bay, and Button Moon) |
| Classic Kids Collection | 2002 | Ducknapped (Compilation VHS with Chorlton and the Wheelies, Button Moon, Jamie and the Magic Torch, Danger Mouse, and Rainbow) |
This VHS title appeared in 1990 but, at the time, the episodes contained were somewhat exclusive to video (the first was not televised until 1991, neither was the latter until 1993).
Count Duckula episodes were also released on special VHS compilations with episodes of other series. In 1989, the episode "Down under Duckula" was released on Thames' VHS title More Children's Summer Stories, with episodes from Danger Mouse and The Wind in the Willows. In 2001, in the twilight years of VHS, the episodes "The Ghost of Castle McDuckula" and "Venice a Duck, Not a Duck!" were featured on two Cult Kids collection tapes, with episodes of Rainbow, Chorlton and the Wheelies, Button Moon, Jamie and the Magic Torch and The Sooty Show.
Count Duckula appeared in North American comics under Star Comics (an imprint of Marvel Comics) and introduced an additional difference between this incarnation of Duckula which separated him from his predecessors. Due to ketchup being used in the resurrection ceremony, this version of Duckula has ketchup, rather than blood, flowing through his veins. This was discovered when Duckula was given a blood test in order to get a passport into a fictional country which produced a salad which Duckula was obsessed with getting to eat. In the same issue, Duckula, Nanny, and Igor were photographed as a means of formal ID for said country; however, due to the classic stereotype of vampires not appearing in film, Duckula did not appear in the photo which was taken. Duckula also gained a romantic interest in the Star Comics run; Vanna Von Goosewing, who turned out to be the niece of his long time adversary Dr. Von Goosewing. The attraction was mutual, and the two continued their relationship through the majority of the series after their introduction, though Vanna didn't always appear in every issue of the book.
In Germany, a separate adaptation was produced under license as Graf Duckula, with script by Peter Mennigen and artwork by Miroslava Pollmer and Rüdiger Pareike.
The game was a basic jump and run platform-type game. At the start, the castle was transported to an ancient pyramid. Then, players had a set amount of time to go through the pyramid, evading the various baddies inside the pyramid, to retrieve the mystic sax before the Count's castle automatically returns to Transylvania, leaving the player stranded in Egypt.
The title of the game was a parody on the title of a British comedy play No Sex Please, We're British!.
The game was available for various 8-bit computers such as the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, & Amstrad CPC, and was also released as a "Kid's Pack" with other TV shows that Alternative Software turned into games, including Postman Pat, Sooty and Sweep, Popeye 2, The Wombles, and SuperTed. Alternative Software was one of the few software companies of the 1980s that still survives today as an independent software producer.
There was also a Count Duckula 2 sequel in 1992.
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