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'A politically correct shadow of his former self' says Daily Mail
Dennis 'n' Walter
Dennis the Menace to stop 'gay bashing' Walter
In the BBC's new version of Dennis the Menace he will no longer be able to pick on Walter the Softy, partly because of fears that he could be seen as a homophobe. Since the character's creation in 1951, Dennis had tormented Walter for his enjoyment of tea parties and picking flowers, but recently their print relationship has changed and this will be reflected in CBBC's new series, the first TV adaptation for ten years.
Last year, Euan Kerr, who edited the comic between 1984 and 2006, explained why Dennis's attitude had changed. "I definitely felt a sense of responsibility in making sure the characters did nothing that was easily imitable. But the relationship between Dennis and Walter was always the one that worried me.
"There were accusations from certain quarters that it was a little like gay bashing - this obviously wasn't the way we intended it to be perceived. We decided that the best way to approach it was to make sure that even though he and Dennis didn't get along, Walter was completely happy about who he was and a confident, likeable character in his own right." Kerr said that at this time Walter was also given a girlfriend "as a measure to combat any further criticism".
The Daily Mail said yesterday that the BBC makeover of Dennis was "a politically correct shadow of his former self," but comic fans (and others) may be interested in the Wikipedia profile of Walter the Softy, where we learn that he has a "white cat called Fluffy and a pink poodle named Foo Foo." The history of DC Thomson, the publisher of The Beano, is related in the Gazetter for Scotland's site, which tells of the company's refusal to employ Roman Catholics and strenuous resistance to trade unionism.
