Roland Rat is celebrating the big 4-0 this year – and he’s still lovin’ life.
The rodent puppet became a household name after appearing on ailing TV-am in 1983.
And with Roland on board, alongside pals like Kevin the Gerbil and Errol the Hamster, the show’s ratings soared from 100,000 to 1.8 million.
Roland, the creation of puppeteer David Claridge, effectively became the only rat to join a sinking ship. Here, we celebrate his milestone birthday and recall other TV puppet favourites.
Roland Rat
Roland's inventor David Claridge was just six when he wrote a little essay that was to define his life – about his dream of being a puppeteer one day.
At the age of 12, he attended classes in mime and puppetry at the Midlands Arts Centre in Birmingham before training as an actor, puppeteer and designer.
His breakthrough moment in TV came when Mooncat, a puppet he’d created, apeared on ITV kids’ programme Get Up and Go!
David was 30 when he created Roland – who lived under King’s Cross station – to help breathe new life into TV-am by attracting a younger audience. After two years, the lovable rodent was poached by the BBC before scuttling on to Channel 4 and Channel 5.
There were Roland Christmas specials, endless rat merchandise and even a stint on Big Brother.
Nowadays, his 70-year-old creator lives in California and will only give interviews as Roland, declaring: “It spoils the magic if it becomes all about me.”
So Roland continues, in his trademark accent that seems to range somewhere between Essex and Brummie: “Fans love the fact I put TV presenters in their place if they’re pompous.
“I’m currently thinking of selling meself to Netflix or Hulu.” At the moment he's working on his autobiography, Rat’s Life, which will be published later this year.
“It’s all about my superstar showbiz lifestyle… should be out before Christmas,” he says. And Roland certainly has plenty to shout about.
Over the years, he has rubbed shoulders with the likes of Iggy Pop, Frankie Howerd and The Monty Python team.
And even after more than 400 shows, Roland reckons there’s still a lot more to come.
“Look at Mickey Mouse … he’s still going strong at 95. I’m only 40,” he says. “Here’s to another 40 years rat fans, yeahhhhhhhh!”
Rosie & Jim
Rosie & Jim were big hits on ITV between 1990 and 2000. The two puppets had adventures aboard a narrowboat called The Ragdoll and came alive when no one was looking – with puppeteers Rebecca Nagan and Robin Stevens operating them.
Rebecca, 55, from Bournemouth, also operated Tootle, one of the Motorettes from The Hoobs, and starred in other TV shows, such as Becky and Barnaby Bear and Bug Alert. Robin, 63, from Chorleywood, Herts, a puppeteer, director and TV writer for almost 40 years, has worked on shows like Teletubbies (he was The Man in the Magic House) and Tots TV.
Robin said: “Rosie & Jim was actually my favourite job ever.
“Every year in the summer, we would get together and ride the beautiful British canals having a lot of fun.
“I enjoyed being Rosie’s sidekick – she was such a strong, bouncy character. Opening Tower Bridge and winding up Big Ben is not something everyone gets to do, but we did as Rosie & Jim.”
Rebecca added: “It was my first ever puppet job. Robin and I rarely stuck to the script – we were allowed to improvise and be silly and happy.
“I’ve worked on many children’s TV programmes since and everyone seems to remember Rosie & Jim. It had a charm all of its own.
“Mind you, it was very cramped on that narrowboat. We were for ever banging our heads.”
Sooty
Sooty has been enthralling children since the mid-1950s. The little yellow bear was created by puppeteer Harry Corbett in 1948 and appeared on the BBC from 1955 to 1967 before moving to ITV from 1968 until 1992.
Generations of children have enjoyed Sooty’s magic tricks and practical jokes, as well as his adventures with pals, Sweep and Soo.
Harry’s son Matthew inherited Sooty when his dad retired in 1976. And after he called it a day in 1998, illusionist and magician Richard Cadell took over.
As well as touring with live shows every year, he runs the Sooty TV series, which is shown daily on ITVBe.
Richard, 54, from Leicester, said: “I’ve been a lifelong fan of Sooty and his magic tricks.
“I became a professional magician and always wanted to be a kids’ presenter.
“Succeeding Matthew Corbett was the ultimate dream job. I cried like a kid when I got it.”
Richard describes Sooty – who will be celebrating his 75th birthday later this year with a free kids’ party at Sooty Land in Exeter, Devon – as a “naughty little boy”.
He once squirted ex-PM Tony Blair ’s wife Cherie with water at Downing Street. And King Charles met Sooty at his 70th birthday bash.
Basil Brush
Basil Brush made his debut on ITV in 1962 and was voiced and operated by Ivan Owen until his death at 73 in 2000.
Sixty years on, boisterous Basil – catchphrase “Ha ha, ‘boom boom” – still tours theatres and holiday camps. Over the years, he’s appeared at Glastonbury and with stars from Lulu to Cilla. He even met Princess DIana.
But puppeteer Ivan never courted publicity in almost 40 years as the hand behind Basil. And when Michael Winsor succeeded him in 2000, the proviso was he only gave interviews as the famous fox.
Ivan’s son Jonathan said: “I was born in 1960 and Basil arrived two years later.
"Nearly all my life I have had a surrogate ‘brother’, along with my own brother Michael and sister Christine. Basil is still is a major part of our family. But he would take great umbrage at being ‘owned.’ He is his own man, or fox, I should say.”
Zippy
Zippy was the star of iconic kids’ show Rainbow, which ran for 20 years on Thames Television until 1992.
Ronnie Le Drew, 75, was the hand behind the popular wide-mouthed puppet. He says: “For any puppeteer, getting the chance to play a know-all with a zip for a mouth who thinks he is the best at everything he does couldn’t be better.
“I have a very happy memory of a show we did with Ernie Wise, where Zippy didn’t seem to get his verbal jokes right until Ernie helped him out.
“I also liked two episodes we did where we used a little Zippy who had legs. And it was always funny when Zippy got his comeuppance and was zipped up.”
Ronnie has worked in TV and theatre as a puppeteer, performer and director. His credits included The Muppet Christmas Carol and Muppet Treasure Island.
He also operated Bill and Ben and Brains from Thun-derbirds, and founded The London School of Puppetry with Caroline Astell-Burt.
