Anyone over the waves recall Roland Rat?

He was a Puppet Rat that single handedly saved a Breakfast Television show in early 1983. Roland was hired to save the fortunes of GMTV, and ended up pulling in so many viewers that he left to host his own TV show!

At the moment in the UK we are being subjected to a lot of 80's nostalgia TV shows - the 'I love 80-89' series has just finished doing the rounds, and I forgot just how big Roland Rat actually was :lol:

He may have been insanely annoying with his catchphrase of 'Yeeeeea, Ratfaaans' :hammer: but you gotta admit he had style.

DJDaffy - you may want to check out Rolands 1984 uk top 20 hit 'Rat Rappin'.....enough said!! :cry:

I tried to download it a few days ago and nothing came up on WinMX, are you sure he was that big? :lol: It sounds....um....interesting....and....um......very ..British :laugh:

OK....it's confession time...

whisper mode=ON I have it on mp3, Interested then PM...I can't have my credibility falling further in full view of the public, LOL!!

After downloading the song, via Chopper's e-mail, I realize this song is...um...interesting...and..very....um....British :laugh:

I guess you had to be there to understand the appeal of this one :lol:

He also tried to save the ailing Big Breakfast TV show a couple of years ago without that much success unfortunately.

I do remember buying the "Rat Rapping" single when it came out.

But the truth was that Roland Rat DID single-handedly save GMTV on his own, after ratings plummeted mere months into it's launch in 1983.

Cue a furry Rodent whose catchphrase was 'Yeeeeeaaahhhhh', and bingo - 6 months later you have one rejuvenated Breakfast show.

And then he split from GMTV to form his own TV show! I'll never forget how uncomfortable the then TV presenter Anne Diamond was on her introduction to Roland. The look on her face was a scream!!

And his Assistant's name was ...........................................

Yep! KEVIN the Gerbil!!!!!!

oh God, Chopper. You've got me on a nostalgia trip!

Sounds like I would have hated this rat :lol: Just as much as I freakin' hated the California raisins! They were dancing singing raisins, who were done in claymation. They gained success after being used in an advertisement. Did the raisins gain any success in the UK? The album they released here had moderate success with their version of Marvin Gaye's "I heard it through the grapevine" (yes, it was done in Marvin Gaye's style even though Gladys Knight had the original hit version of the song) charting at #84 in 1988. Man I hated those damn things :lol:

The only famous Rat puppet in the States (that I can think of) is the one on Ed Sulivan's show in the 50's and 60's. I wasn't born yet so I don't remember his name off hand.

And following on from Daffy's musings about the California Raisins, who can forget the Spitting Image 'California Reagans' sketch which featured Ronnie Reagan and the FBI as the cartoon raisins?

The tv station was, in fact, called TV-AM, not GMTV as that's the station that's running now.

The TV-AM building is now the home of MTV Europe.

And who were the original presenters on TV - AM?

Annie Diamond and a bloke called Mike....I think?

The Original presenters were Angela Rippon, Robert Kee, David Frost, Anna Ford and Michael Parkinson. They were known as the "Famous Five" and, when viewing figures started depressingly low (more people were curling up to Frank Bough and Selina Scott on the BBC), all but Frosty and Parky got the chop and were replaced by Anne Diamond and Nick Owen.

Other presenters at the time included Mike Morris (sports reporter), John Stapleton (married to Lynn Faulds-Wood, who also appeared on TV-AM in a feature called Alarm Call), Lorraine Kelly, Mad Lizzie, Timmy Mallett, Michaela Strachan, Wincey Willis........I could go on!

John Stapleton and Lorraine Kelly moved on to GMTV.

Timbo, your knowledge of this subject just astounds me!!!!!

And me!!

You could tell that I was a student at the time TV-AM started up, couldn't you?

As an encore, Michael Parkinson did eventually move on, of course back to his beloved chat show on the BBC. The Wide-Awake Club took its place, Tommy Boyd (now on TalkSport Radio) one of its original presenters.