Roland Rat

Roland Rat was brought to TV-am by Children's editor Anne Wood to brighten up the last fifteen minutes of "Good Morning Britain" during the easter holidays in 1983.  His first programme was "The Spectacular Shedvision Show" broadcast from the roof of the TV-am building.  Between easter and the summer holidays Roland would appear every morning with Nick Owen and Lynda Berry, then later Anne Diamond, to introduce a cartoon.  He quickly became very popular with younger viewers and it was clear Roland was a superstar in the making.  Roland and his friend Kevin the Gerbil became a big hit when they took the Ratmobile (pictured below complete with TV-am window stickers) around the UK during the summer holidays.  "Rat on the Road" visited London, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Oxford, York and Newcastle upon Tyne.  Roland and his rodent friends were devised by David Claridge who also appeared in some episodes.