Why doesn't Britain have a late-night adult cartoon

A.� There is an under-rated cartoon called Stressed Eric, which has failed to capture viewers' attention. But all that is about to change with Aaagh! It's The Mr Hell Show!, which is the first late-night cartoon show.
It claims to be the world's first cartoon sketch show and has a massive list of characters, including Serge the Seal of Death, a psychotic baby seal seeeking revenge on the entire fashion industry for the murder of his parents; and Giant Squid, a depressed�mollusc who wants company but can't stop ripping people to shreds.

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Q. Who is Mr Hell

A.� He is the star of the show, and each week has weird and wonderful sketches. The voice behind Mr Hell is�game-show�host and comedian Bob Monkhouse.�Now 73, Monkhouse�has been a cartoon enthusiast all his life - in fact,�his first job was as an animator.

Mr Hell was born under a bad sign (Al's Cut-Price House O'Births and Hysterectomies), and the sardonic anti-hero is said to bring out the devil is us all. He has a host of favourite sayings including, 'Being red with pointy ears doesn't make me a devil - being a bastard does'. He favourite film is Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and he loves smoking, drinking and women with large breasts.

Mr Hell introduces us to a range of weird and wonderful characters. For instance there's Damien, the timid offspring of Mr Hell's relationship with Angela,�an angel.

Damien is literally half-devil/half-angel. His favourite food is screaming hot wings and angel cake.

His mother is truly�angelic...�but to Mr Hell, she's hell on earth.

Josh believes in reincarnation, which is just as well as he gets killed every week. The there's Tommy Tomorrow, who is under psychiatric care and loves saying 'Blistering Boosters!'

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Q.� Who created the programme

A.� The writers are David Freedman and Alan Gilbey. Mr Hell himself comes from a range of bitter-and-twisted greeting cards created by Scottish cartoonist and misanthrope Hugh MacLeod. The cards are infamous for greetings such as 'I was sorry to hear you (haven't died yet) weren't feeling too well'.

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Q.� Will it rival The Simpsons

A.� The Simpsons paved the way for adult cartoons, followed by Cartman, Kenny and the other resident of �South Park. Mr Hell�was sold to Universal in America immediately; eventually the BBC took an interest, and plan to schedule the show.
The programme makers faced many difficulties, however, because making a cartoon involves a lot of work. To do an animated sitcom, you need a lot�of drawings.
On The Simpsons, the team learns how to draw Bart; that's why he wears the same clothes and spends so much time in the house. But�Mr Hell�has a cast of nearly 1,000 characters, with sometimes 30 different sketches in a show.

The makers turned to Canada's Sextant Entertainment, who came up with a really�innovative animation technique. This�allows�them to build a range of puppet characters inside a computer which�the animators can then�manipulate.

The show has been successful in Canada and Australia, and enjoys a prime-time slot on Saturday nights Down Under.

Check out Mr Hell's website at www.mrhell.com for a taste of how nasty things�are about to�get.

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by Katharine MacColl

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