The Rottentrolls on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
''Roger and the Rottentrolls'' (sometimes called ''The Rottentrolls'') is a children's comedy
television series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...
made for
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
by
The Children's Company, which combined
puppet
A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods ...
s with
live action
Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...
human actors. It was first broadcast on 13 September 1996, and ended on 25 February 2000.
Written by
Tim Firth
Tim Firth (born 13 October 1964) is an English dramatist, screenwriter and songwriter.
Life and career
Firth was born in Frodsham, England. He spent much of his time at school writing songs and it was only a few weeks before going to Cambrid ...
, it was based on characters created by
Gordon Firth (always referred to as "his dad" in the credits) directed by
Julian Kemp and executive produced by Robert Howes. The first series won the 1997
BAFTA for "Best Children's Entertainment Show", beating the ''
Ant and Dec Show''. Later series were nominated for awards from both BAFTA and the
Royal Television Society
The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...
.
History
Roger and the Rottentrolls started life as a book and audio tape, written by Tim Firth and commissioned by EMI and
W H Smith
WHSmith (also written WH Smith, and known colloquially as Smith's and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son) is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, port, hospital and m ...
and produced by Robert Howes and The Children's Company, intended as a 'spooky story' for children part of a series, of over thirty titles.
Firth's father, Gordon, who had originally invented the characters, drew the designs for all the characters from which the puppets were made. The pilot for the television series was filmed in and around old lead mines in the Yorkshire Dales, by multi award-winning documentary director/cameraman Paul Beriff, as a gesture of support for the project.
The television series was filmed at
Brimham Rocks
Brimham Rocks, once known as Brimham Crags, is a 183.9-hectare (454-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Geological Conservation Review (GCR) site, 8 miles (13 km) north-west of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, Engla ...
near
Harrogate
Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor at ...
,
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
. There were two
spin off series: a half hour special for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
named ''Combat Sheep'' (based around Commander Harris), and a series for pre school children (ITV) called ''
Ripley and Scuff
Ripley and Scuff is a children's programme that was produced for ITV's children's strand CITV, and originally aired from 7 January 2002 to 28 February 2003. The show is a spin off to the highly successful ''Roger and the Rottentrolls''.
Plot
T ...
''.
Plot
The series followed the adventures of Roger Beckett (aged 10¾) in Troller's Ghyll ("where the rocks are all slightly mad") as King of the Rottentrolls. He was crowned
King
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
of the Rotten Trolls after crashing his
bike
A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist.
Bic ...
in the valley. As well as ruling over the Rottentrolls, Roger teaches them about things like
sport
Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...
and
politics
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...
, and, in return, learns a few lessons himself.
Actors and Narrator
There were three humans on screen in the series:
*
Narrator
Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the a ...
– voiced by
Martin Clunes
Alexander Martin Clunes OBE DL (born 28 November 1961) is an English actor, comedian, director and television presenter. He is best known for portraying Martin Ellingham in the ITV comedy-drama series ''Doc Martin'' and Gary Strang in ''Men Be ...
who told the story and, at times, interacted with the actors and the audience. He has been known to panic in crisis situations. He has some talent for
JimJamYAHA, which he used to get Roger's attention.
*Roger Beckett – the "Roger" of the title, played by Nick Barber. He became King of the Rottentrolls when he accidentally crashed in the Valley and screamed "Roger was ere!" the name of the mythical leader of the Rottentroll. He regularly attempted to teach the Rottentrolls new things. In Series 3 and 4, his presence is reduced as High School takes up more of his time, so Kate handles day-to-day business herself. Roger of the characters trying to learn, shows the least talent for JimJamJAHA as he is only able to dislodge a tin can from three yards.
*Kate Beckett (also known as Princess Kate) – Roger's little stepsister, played by
Holly Grainger
Holliday Clark Grainger (born 27 March 1988), also credited as Holly Grainger, is an English screen and stage actress. Some of her prominent roles are Kate Beckett in the BAFTA award-winning children's series ''Roger and the Rottentrolls'', L ...
. She follows Roger to the Valley and becomes Princess, taking over day-to-day running of the valley from the now overworked Roger (though in some rare situations she does pass the buck on to Roger as the higher authority). She has a natural talent for JimJamJAHA.
The Rottentrolls
The Rottentrolls are a group of strange, knee-high creatures who have been waiting for the return of their king for centuries. A thousand years ago, their ancestors were accidentally brought by a snow cloud summoned by Merlin, who was attempting to turn the valley into a ski resort for King Arthur. They found the name 'Roger Wasere' carved into a rock, and interpreted it as the name of their king. When young Roger entered the valley and shouted 'Roger was 'ere!', the current Rottentrolls crown him their king. The Rottentrolls include:
*
Yockenthwaite
Yockenthwaite is a hamlet in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Langstrothdale valley in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Yockenthwaite is north of Skipton and ...
– A lovable and daft Rottentroll who is always getting things wrong, often called a berk by others. His catchphrase is "Yo-o!". He is credited throughout the series as "the stupidest of the Rottentrolls". His favourite song, which he sang in the ''Rottentroll of the Year'' competition, is "Ten Thousand in the Bed". It is often Yockenthwaite who sets the plot of the episodes in motion through his blundering, yet, in some instances, he also manages to rectify the situation, either through chance or his above average proficiency at map reading (''Commander Harris Loses It''). Yockenthwaite is a slow reader and not very good with numbers but he is excellent at map reading.
*
Aysgarth
Aysgarth is a village and civil parish in Wensleydale, in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. The village is in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, about south-west of Richmond and west of the county town of Northallerton.
...
– The oldest and wisest of the Rottentrolls, he likes to think of himself as a leader. Following ''The Rottentroll Revolution'', he becomes official leader in King Roger's absence. He is an accomplished artist, proficient at drawing landscapes and scenic portraits, but he doesn't approve of the more obscure forms of "modern" art. Despite his age and maturity, he has proved to be gullible (as when being hoodwinked by Blacksyke's story of "The Almighty Underwater Chicken") and also competitive (as when taking part in art competitions and roulette gambling).
*
Penyghent
Pen-y-ghent or Penyghent is a fell in the Yorkshire Dales, England. It is the lowest of Yorkshire's Three Peaks at ; the other two being Ingleborough and Whernside. It lies east of Horton in Ribblesdale. It has a number of interesting geologi ...
– Penyghent is an artistic and creative female Rottentroll, with an impressive talent for football. Generally considered "the cleverest of the Rottentrolls". In the episode ''Rottentroll of the Year'', Penyghent is the organizer of the titular competition and is crowned champion for her efforts.
*
Kettlewell
Kettlewell is a village in Upper Wharfedale, North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it lies north of Grassington, at the point where Wharfedale is joined by a minor road (Cam Gill Road) which leads north ...
– A bad cook who often has a sudden desire to 'deck' people - hence "I'll deck yer!". She has muscles the size of potatoes, and her special dish is the garlic pasty, much to the chagrin of the other Rottentrolls.
*
Askrigg
Askrigg is a small village and civil parish in Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. It is part of the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. The village and its parish are located in Upper Wensleydale, west of Leybur ...
– A completely sports obsessed Rottentroll. He attempts every sport imaginable – without any teammates. According to ''The Rottentroll Files'', Askrigg is revealed to have "no brain", leaving him clueless on words such as "athletic" and "tomorrow".
*
Blacksyke – Aysgarth's older twin sister, The rottenest, scariest, and most mysterious Rottentroll, complete with her spiky
umbrella
An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is usually mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is designed to protect a person against rain or sunlight. The term ''umbrella'' is traditionally used ...
and her cat. Her catchphrase is a pronounced "Cackle cackle cackle." Ironically, Blacksyke is a masterful practitioner of JimJamJAHA without knowing it; as she uttered the name of the practice in disgust, the bookshelf she was standing in front of collapsed on top of her. She is also responsible for instigating the Troller's Ghylle Crime Wave and for beginning the Movement of the Almighty Underwater Chicken.
*
Trucklecrag – A failed
wizard, prone to creating
dustbins
A waste container, also known as a dustbin, garbage can, and trash can is a type of container that is usually made out of metal or plastic. The words "rubbish", "basket" and "bin" are more common in British English usage; "trash" and "can" a ...
,
toasters
A toaster is a small electric appliance that uses radiant heat to brown sliced bread into toast.
Types
Pop-up toaster
In pop-up or automatic toasters, a single vertical piece of bread is dropped into a slot on the top of the toaster. ...
, and
mackerel
Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of pelagic fish, mostly from the family Scombridae. They are found in both temperate and tropical seas, mostly living along the coast or offshore in the oceanic environment.
...
. On one occasion, during the ''Rottentroll of the Year'' competition, he tried a complex spell on Pennyghent that would lift her into the air, where, while floating on her back, she would gently spin anti clockwise like a dervish. In practice, the spell simply turned her into a pizza. In spite of these failures and setbacks, he is sometimes the one approached for help.
*The Nab Twins – A pair of
teenage
Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the te ...
rottentrolls who speak in slang terms which are now slightly dated, such as 'radical', 'spurious', and 'wicked'. They are also the members of a rock band called 'Cattlegrid'.
*
Little Strid – Kettlewell's daughter, the youngest Rottentroll.
*
Sigsworthy Crags – A failed
inventor
An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...
, who is completely mad; ''The Rottentroll Files'' observes that Crags has a brain only in the sense that someone who broke a jug and puts it back together with Sellotape still has a jug. He often trails when speaking and starts making dog noises, the latter of which, he claims, helps to relieve stress. Used to be an estate agent prior to the death of his wife and loss of his children, the trauma of which sent him mad. Since then, his greatest ambition is to be the furthest travelled of all Rottentrolls, to which end he attempted to build an airship and later a rocket. Four attempts were made to build a rocket; all but the third (upon which Sigsworthy forgot to embark) were met with failure. On the fourth attempt, he crashed underground and awoke to the sound of drumming on his rocket; looking for the source of the noise, he realized that he was reunited with his sons.
*Ripley and Scuff – A pair of young Rottentrolls, sons of Sigsworthy Crags. They appear in Series 4, and in their own spin off series, Ripley and Scuff. They seemed to have inherited their father's mental instability, or at least his tendency to make dog noises. They also communicate through making drumming noises.
*Loupscar - Kettlewell's son and Strid's biological brother. He was only seen via flashback in the episode "The Stake Out" where Penyghent tells Princess Kate how she grew up with him. She also tells her that he had been eaten by the Barguest.
Their names are all taken from places in
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
. Tim Firth said about how he named the Rottentrolls: "I put a compass in the OS map of the area, centred on Troller's Ghyll and drew a circle of about 5 cm radius. I then harvested the strangest-sounding villages and geographical features. These then seemed to suggest, bizarrely, the colours of various mad characters. Yockenthwaite would clearly be an idiot because it had a 'k' in it. Sigsworthy Crags would clearly be off his trolley, but older. Penyghent would be female... and so on. I wish every assembly of characters was that easy."
The voices of the Rottentrolls were provided, in the first series, by
John Thomson,
Phil Cornwell
Philip Cornwell (born 5 October 1957) is an English actor, comedian, impressionist and writer. He is part of the '' Dead Ringers'' television and radio series, and was the voice of Murdoc Niccals in the virtual band Gorillaz. Cornwell has co-w ...
and
Rebecca Front
Rebecca Louise Front (born 16 May 1964) is an English actress, writer and comedian. She won the 2010 BAFTA TV Award for Best Female Comedy Performance for ''The Thick of It'' (2009–2012).Jennifer Lipma"Bafta for Jewish actress Rebecca Front" ...
. In later series
Ronni Ancona
Veronica "Ronni" Jane Ancona (born 4 July 1966)''England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007'' is a British actress, comedian, impressionist and writer best known for '' The Big Impression'', which she co-wrote and starred in an ...
replaced Rebecca Front.
Other creatures
*The
Barguest
In Northern English folklore, the Barghest or Barguest is a mythical monstrous black dog with large teeth and claws, This in turn cites:
*Wirt Sikes, ''British Goblins'' (1880)
*''Notes and Queries'', first series, ii. 51.
*Joseph Ritson, ''Fa ...
is a menacing creature that lives in the valley and terrifies the Rottentrolls.
*Commander Harris is a sheep who used to be an army mascot – he always has a tale from his old army days to tell. He too lives in the valley. Commander Harris is an expert on the ancient art of
JimJamYAHA, and is regularly involved in Roger's adventures.
Episodes
There were four series of Roger and the Rottentrolls and 36 episodes.
Series 1
#Coronation Valley
#The Rubbish Monster
#Rottentroll of the Year
#The Extraordrinary Dinner Telephone
#King Yockenthwaite
#The Giant Floating Sprout
#The Great Rescue
Series 2
#Dirty Tricks*
#The First Rottentroll Revolution*
#The Civil War
#The Great Television Franchise
#The Miner's Strike
#The Gambling Crisis
#The Art Gallery
#The Football Sponsorship Scandal
#The Complimentary Cafetiere
* * These two episodes were originally a single 15 min election special made between production of the first & second series. When Series 2 was being filmed; The episode was split into two, and to fill the runtime; Extra scenes were shot and added a subplot, involving Roger & The Narrator falling out.
Series 3
#The New Princess
#The Monsters of Rock Festival
#Commander Harris Loses It
#The Almighty Underwater Chicken
#Twelve Angry Trolls
#The Incredibly Frightening Sheet
#The Rottentroll Olympics
#The Appalling Voice Swap
#The Mid-Air Disaster
#The Time Capsule
#The Trendy Trainers
#The Stake Out
#Trucklecrag's Aftershave
Series 4
#Commander Harris in Love
#The Four Missing Eyes
#The Cattle Grid World Tour
#The Extremely Tempting Caravan
#Full Metal Jimjam
#Sigsworthy's Final Rocket
#Yockenthwaite, the Amazing Puppet
Season 4 episodes
/ref>
VHS and DVD releases
The first series of ''Roger and the Rottentrolls'' was released on VHS as 'Roger and the Rottentrolls: A Complete Set of Adventures' in 1998. The second series was released in two parts: 'Combat Without Contact' (which also featured the special episode 'The Rottentroll Files') and 'State of Emergency', both of which were released on both VHS and DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
.
All four series were released on DVD in March 2020 as part of the Kaleidoscope archive project.
References
External links
Official ''Rottentrolls'' website includes Video and Audio clips
*
*
*
*
*
Tim Firth's website
*
The Children's Company websiteWebsite of Simon Buckey - puppet co-ordinatorBAFTA Children's Award winners 1996-2005
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roger And The Rottentrolls
1990s British children's television series
2000s British children's television series
1996 British television series debuts
2000 British television series endings
British children's fantasy television series
ITV children's television shows
Television shows produced by Meridian Broadcasting
Television series by Yorkshire Television
Television series by ITV Studios
English-language television shows
Fictional trolls
Television shows about telekinesis
Wizards in television
British television shows featuring puppetry
Films directed by Julian Kemp