The Guardian revisits Danger 5 as a fever dream of absurdity and critique
More than a decade after its original run, The Guardian highlights how Dario Russo and David Ashby’s show turned budget constraints into a stylistic triumph.
The Guardian has published a retrospective piece on the Australian comedy series Danger 5, describing the show as a "fever dream" that successfully blends absurdity with sharp critiques of spy-genre tropes and male entitlement. The article, published on 19 August 2026, notes that the series remains greater than the sum of its parts despite its deliberately poor production values and recycled sets.
Created by Dario Russo and David Ashby following the viral success of their low-fi web series Italian Spiderman, Danger 5 originally aired on SBS. The series is characterised by its pseudo-1960s Eurospy aesthetic, hammy acting, and human-animal hybrid characters played by actors in obvious masks. The show revels in its budget restraints, utilising the same footage and miniatures in every episode while ending each instalment with shoehorned advertisements for non-existent products.
The narrative follows an international team of heroes attempting to kill Hitler every week, transitioning from a World War II setting in the first season to an 1980s Miami Vice-inspired extravaganza in the second. The Guardian highlights specific plot elements, including Nazi dinosaurs and the "sit down gun," a shotgun fired by a bird-headed colonel to hurry up meetings. The article observes that the show’s commitment to playing absurdity straight allows it to get away with being one of the least politically correct shows SBS has ever broadcast.
Beyond its slapstick humour, the series offers a critique of male entitlement through its characters. The article points to the dynamic between the chain-smoking Ilsa, played by Natasha Ristic, and the macho Jackson, played by co-creator David Ashby. Jackson’s endless pursuit of Ilsa, whom he imagines as a sexy deer he cannot catch on his own terms, serves as a focal point for the show’s commentary on gender dynamics.
More than 10 years after the series concluded with a space battle, co-creator Dario Russo has released a film titled The Fox, which won an audience award at the Sydney Film Festival and is scheduled to screen at the Melbourne International Film Festival. The Guardian notes that while The Fox appears different in tone, it treads similar ground to Danger 5 with its exploration of talking animals and male entitlement. Danger 5 is available to stream via Foxtel and Binge in Australia, Tubi in the US, and Netflix in the UK.
