Cute two tear drops for ears, one long thing piece of paper for the tail (curl with scissors) and two shorter thin strips of paper for whiskers. Rees, Jasper (7 September 1997). "It could be a job for roland rat". Independent . Retrieved 12 June 2011. Although I haven’t managed to find the titles of all of the episodes, I have shared when they were first aired here. Arguably Roland Rat's golden age on TV-am was the period from summer 1983 until summer 1985. During this period, Roland and friends would feature in a half-hour episode transmitted on school holiday weekdays on TV-am from 9:00 am. The school summer holidays of 1983 and 1984 saw Rat on the Road in which Roland and Kevin would spend each week in a different town of the United Kingdom. One notable highlight during this period was the visit of Austrian racing driver Roland Ratzenberger who appeared on the show in a motor race against the Ratmobile ending with Ratzenberger's car [5] being sabotaged by his near-namesake. In December 2007, Roland Rat appeared on a puppet special of The Weakest Link hosted by Anne Robinson which was originally broadcast on Friday 28 December 2007 at 18:00 GMT on BBC One. Roland reached the final round with Soo from The Sooty Show which went to sudden death after initially drawing with four points each. Roland ultimately lost out to Soo's superior wisdom in the tense final standoff.

Just as Roland Rat was beginning to reach stratospheric levels of fame and popularity, though, The Sun and The Daily star published stories which revealed a little known association from Claridge's recent past. The tabloids had discovered that Claridge had established a rubber/latex fetish night called Skin Two at gay club Stallions in Falconberg Court, Soho. Anne Wood C.B.E. – The Children's Media Foundation". Thechildrensmediafoundation.org . Retrieved 14 May 2014. Despite Claridge having handed the club over to Leslie Herbert at this point, the papers had a field day digging up earlier quotes from Claridge - when hosting the club - such as:We were treated to two different cover songs in Rat on the Road II during the school summer holidays. Firstly we had Kevin’s version of Cliff Richard’s Summer Holiday. Then, Roland did his own version of Elvis Presley’s Love Me Tender. Roland Rat – The Cassette of the Album". 991.com. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012 . Retrieved 24 April 2012. This was our first introduction to Glenis the Guinea Pig who gets rescued from the pet department in Harrods. Roland Rat merchandising was extensive and the Hasbro range of soft toys was hugely popular. Roland has appeared on hundreds of items ranging from toothbrushes to wallpaper, bedding, stationery, mugs, canned pasta, and children's glasses by Dolland and Aitchison. love me tender | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com . Retrieved 30 October 2019.

In 1986, Roland’s second album - Living Legend - was released by BBC / Rodent Records. The album incorporated the theme tune and songs used in Roland Rat: The Series. A defining figure of British TV in the 1980s, Roland Rat first appeared on TV-am in April 1983 and soon become a phenomenal success taking in several TV series, records and more merchandise than Errol the Hamster could shake a leek at. Naturally, being a puppet, Roland was an inanimate object brought to life by a human and, in this instance, it was David Claridge. Cut out the quarters – each one will make one mouse. Keep the off course for the paper mice details! On 11 February 2010, whilst making an appearance on BBC's The One Show to answer a question about how children's programmes have changed over the years, Roland Rat spent so much time joking about the presenters ( Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley) that Adrian ended the interview before he answered the question. Roland Rat first appeared on 1 April 1983 [2] (Good Friday) on the ailing breakfast television network TV-am, and is generally regarded as its saviour, being described as "the only rat to join a sinking ship". After a couple of months on TV-am, Roland took the audience from 100,000 to 1.8 million. Roland was launched at TV-am by Children's editor Anne Wood to give kids entertainment during the Easter holidays. [3] [4]Colour in the tear drop ears for the mouse, add glue to the bottom and glue half way along the cone. Roland last appeared on TV-am at the end of August 1985, when the last summer holiday slot was broadcast. [6] TV-am serials (selected) [ edit ] In 1985, Roland Rat moved from the BBC to ITV with Roland Rat: The Series. Roland is quoted as saying “I saved TVam and now I’m here to save the BBC.” There were 27 episodes over two series which included two Christmas Specials.

The half-term week of October 1984 saw Operation FOGI (Free Our Glenis Immediately) which revolved around the gang's attempts – eventually successful – to liberate Glenis The Guinea Pig from her life in the pets department of Harrods. Following enormous demand, the season was repeated across subsequent Sundays for the benefit of school pupils whose half term had not fallen the week of the series' transmission. no 1 rat fan | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com . Retrieved 30 October 2019. Claridge's interest in music from Japan soon morphed from a club night into a fully fledged mobile entertainment experience in the form of The Mobile Suit. Featuring New Wave from almost every corner of the Far East (and, as a curveball, Poland), The Mobile Suit would travel around the country putting on club nights to spread the word about these curious new sounds. Decorated with Chinese symbols and portraits of Chairman Mao, The Great Wall was an arresting spectacle and provided a fascinating foothold into an unexplored subculture. Naturally, it attracted prime faces of the London club scene and helped to further cement Claridge's reputation for having a unique and creative vision swilling about in his brainbox. At some point during the late 1970s, Claridge moved to London and immersed himself into the club scene and was soon a regular at The Blitz club - the undeniable breeding ground of the New Romantic movement - which was located in Covent Garden.

The series purported to be broadcast from Roland's personal channel BBC3, complete with "THREE" ident spoofing BBC2's " TWO" ident of the period. [7] Roland and Kevin the Gerbil would travel around the United Kingdom, spending each week in a different town. In one episode, they met Austrian racing driver Roland Ratzenberger and raced the rat’s car, the ratmobile against Ratzenberger’s racing car. Roland Rat offers to rescue ITV's Daybreak breakfast show yeahhh!". asda.com. 21 October 2010. Archived from the original on 6 December 2010 . Retrieved 23 November 2010.

Given the era and the typical scaremongering of the tabloids, it was the last thing that Claridge and TV-am needed. Claridge was quoted as simply saying "It's all very embarrassing" and a TV-am spokesman, upon hearing the news, reportedly said " I am slowly sliding off my chair under my desk…". Thankfully, TV-am stood by Claridge and this support saw him produce endless more hours and even rap records whilst with ITV. Roland Rat is a British television puppet character. He was created, operated and voiced by David Claridge, who had previously designed and operated Mooncat, a puppet in the Children's ITV television programme Get Up and Go!. Claridge worked for Jim Henson, then the second series of The Young Ones. Claridge would later operate and voice Brian the Dinosaur for BBC's Parallel 9, create and direct Happy Monsters, a preschool series for Channel 5, and shoot a CGI series, Mozart's Dog, for Paramount Comedy.The OWRRAS Summer Spectacular (Summer 1985) – This stood for Official Worldwide Roland Rat Appreciation Society. Broadcast in the summer of 1985, a studio based programme like The Spectacular Shedvision Show and the half-term series Roland Live. The last TV-am Roland Rat series. Tired of popular music by bands by such as Visage, I fell in love with new music from the East that's exciting and fresh - not discovered and swiftly destroyed. Bands to include: Do, Mastoshi and Sandii. I´ve coupled that music with Oriental imagery ranging from China's Cultural Revolutionary Period to Japanese Kabuki, Bunraku even Thai fisherman's wear and Cantonese Opera" Roland appeared in the fourth episode of the second series of Ashes to Ashes. This appearance was anachronistic, as the show is set in 1982 whereas Roland did not debut until the following year. Add glue to one long edge of the quarter, roll up and secure. Your basic paper cone and paper mouse are finished. Adding the mouse puppet’s features You see, despite being behind such a massive cultural event, Claridge managed to keep well and truly beneath the radar. Claridge, of course, isn't completely immune from Google and there are certainly a few whispers and titbits about him floating around online. Sure, there's a brief CV of his achievements to be found over here, but it misses many interesting facts and trivia about this intriguing man and his achievements.