''Roger and the Rottentrolls'' started life as a book and audio tape, written by Tim Firth, commissioned by EMI and W.H. Smith, and produced by Robert Howes and The Childrens Company, intended as a 'spooky story' for children, part of a series of over 30 titles.

Tim's dad, Gordon, who had originally invented the characters, drew the designs for all the characters from which the puppets were made.

The series followed the adventures of Roger Beckett (aged [[strike:about 10½]] 10¾) in Troller's Ghyll, "where the rocks are all slightly mad"; after crashing his bike in the valley, it is soon discovered that he is TheChosenOne and he was crowned King of the Rottentrolls. Cue four seasons of a pretty damn funny mix of live-action and puppetry. It won a BAFTA.
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!!Examples of tropes:

* BlatantLies: The Rottentroll National Anthem, which ''must'' be heard to be believed.
* BritishBrevity: Four seasons, 36 episodes. The first two seasons are on VHS and DVD... alternatively, you could just [[http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=rottentrolls&aq=f watch them on]] Website/YouTube.
* BunglingInventor:
* CallBack: At the end of the {{pilot}}, Roger tells the {{Narrator}} that he's never coming back to Troller's Ghyll, with the Narrator calmly assuring the viewer that he will, [[OrMyNameIsnt or his name isn't]]... [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep Narrator]]. The second episode comes around, Roger's back, with Narrator immediately calling him out on his prior statement; Roger says he's [[BlatantLies just passing]], the Narrator calls him out on ''that'' as well...
* CloserToEarth: Pretty much all the female characters are shown to be at least a little bit brighter than the boys, with Penyghent pretty much being the [[OnlySaneMan Only Sane Rottentroll]]. Not used too badly, what with Roger balancing things out as a pretty down-to-earth kid... until season 3, which introduced [[RememberTheNewGuy Kate, Roger's sister]] who pretty much ended up being a CanonSue from day one, with her and Penyghent being [[TheThreeFacesOfEve The First Two Faces Of Eve]] pretty much every episode.
* GodGuise: All one needs to do to become a God-king of the trolls is to stand in the middle of an abandoned quarry and yell "Roger was here", as the trolls had an ancient document (graffiti on the wall of the quarry) that said those exact words.
* GreenAesop: First Season, Episode 2: If you litter in the woods when you're out camping, then [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped you're a stupid, thoughtless berk]].
* GrumpyOldMan: Aysgarth is a pretty mild example.
* HeyItsThatVoice: DocMartin is the {{Narrator}}; he is, of course, a prime example of a LemonyNarrator (with a good dollop of DeadpanSnarker thrown in, natch).
** He's also an InteractiveNarrator, to a hilarious degree. In one episode, [[NoFourthWall he got hit with a spell that changed his voice]] and [[CrowningMomentOfFunny spent the whole of the closing credits trying (and failing) to persuade a friend not to come over to his place]] [[LockedOutOfTheLoop to find out what's going on]].
* IKnowKungFaux: Jim-Jam Ya-HA! - The SecretArt of [[SupernaturalMartialArts Combat without Contact]]... and the OldMaster is [[RuleOfFunny a ram]].
* IneptMage: Trucklecrag, [[TryToFitThatOnABusinessCard The Great But Slightly Disappointing Wizard Of The Rottentrolls]]. His spells usually make the valley full of dustbins.
* LethalChef: Kettlewell, The Dangerous Chef Of The Rottentrolls, who could [[SuperStrength rip old telephone directories with her bare hands]]. It would not be wise to criticise her [[OneNoteCook garlic pasties]]...
* LocationThemeNaming: Pen-y-ghent is a hill in Yorkshire, Yockenthwaite is a village in Yorkshire... and so on. Troller's Ghyll really exists, though it's a different valley to the one they filmed in.
* {{Merlin}}: He was the one who brought The Rottentrolls to Troller's Ghyll from Scandinavia ([[MST3KMantra he was trying to make a ski resort for]] KingArthur) and named them (he actually called them "rotten trolls" but they were too dumb to realise it).
* OfficerAndAGentleman: Commander Harris. [[RuleOfFunny He's a ram]] and is the local leader of the SAS - no, not the [[BritsWithBattleships Special Air Services]], the [[FunWithAcronyms Silently Armed Sheep]].
* ScarecrowSolution: In Season 1, Episode 2, ''"The Rubbish Monster"'': The Rottentrolls need to scare away some {{Jerk Ass}}es who're camping (and littering) in their valley, so Yockenthwaite says he'll make a pretend [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barguest#Film_and_TV Barguest]] to scare them away. Sure enough, the two get scared away by two big red eyes and scary noises. Yockenthwaite is proclaimed the hero of the day[[spoiler: ... except that when Roger goes to congratulate him, it turns out Yockenthwaite ''didn't'' make the pretend Barguest because... well... [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption it]]'s [[IdiotBall Yockenthwaite]]. But ''[[RealAfterAll something]]'' scared the campers away, and it's [[OhCrap a full moon tonight]] so... Roger and Yockenthwaite agree to [[SecretKeeper let everyone think Yockenthwaite didn't screw up as usual]], so he [[HeartwarmingMoment ends up as the guest of honour at the celebratory feast]]. ]]
* SpinOff: It got two; ''Combat Sheep'' which was pretty much a [[ADayInTheLimelight one-off special about Commander Harris]] and ''Ripley & Scruff'', a SoAverageItsOkay preschool show which happened to star some of the Rottentrolls who showed up in Season 4.
* TooDumbToLive: Yockenthwaite. Hell, pretty much everyone in Troller's Ghyll qualifies, but he dials it UpToEleven, so that even [[EveryoneHasStandards the other Rottentrolls think he's a berk]].
* TotallyRadical: The Nab Twins try to be this. The key word is '''''"try"'''''.
* RiddleMeThis: Spoofed when Roger answers The Great Magic Riddle Of The Rottentrolls:
-->'''Aysgarth''': What has four legs, is covered in wool and goes "Baa"?
-->'''Roger''': What, you mean [[CaptainObvious a sheep]]?
-->'''Aysgard''': [[TheOnlyOne It is he!]]