Roland's Rat Race was a children's gameshow made by BBC North West for CBBC and broadcast on Saturday mornings in 1988-89, before Going Live!. It was presented by Roland Rat (aka puppeteer David Claridge), assisted by Roland's various friends and relatives - Kevin the Gerbil, Errol the Hamster, Fergie the Ferret and Roland's nephew Reggie Rat.
Motor-racing was used as a Framing Device for what was otherwise a fairly standard children's quiz, enlivened by Roland's anarchic comedy. There were two teams of three children each, Yellow and Red, who each wore racing kit and had a full-size racing car in the studio in their team colour. The teams represented UK towns or cities and earned 'miles' rather than points for correct answers, with successful towns/cities able to return for the semi-final and final. Scoring was provided by Stan, a fictional jobsworth character with a moustache who was replaced by actor and quizmaster Nicholas Parsons for the last semi-final and final.
The first round saw the children take it in turns to answer general knowledge questions, each seated in the car - and this began with a race to the car, with five miles instantly awarded for getting into the driving seat first! Round two was then an observation video round, with the children given questions after watching a short clip. In the second series this was Dial R for Rat, a Sherlock Holmes spoof with Roland as Holmes and Kevin as Watson. This aspect of the show later gained a Spin-Off series of its own, Tales of the Rodent Sherlock Holmes (1990), also shown on Saturday mornings. The final round was more general knowledge, this time against the clock. Roland's friends would award bundles of prizes to the winners.
Roland's Rat Race provides examples of:
- The '80s: Lots of questions on late 1980s pop music, politicians, films and TV.
- Accidental Misnaming: Stan always referred to Roland as Ronald. May alternatively have been Malicious Misnaming - see below.
- Ambiguously Gay: Stan talked about his son Damian, who apparently does his makeup for the show.
- Ambiguous Time Period: Dial R for Rat is mostly set in Victorian times, but there are 1930s-style telephones. Then again... (see below)
- Awesome Anachronistic Apparel: In Dial R for Rat Roland is wearing his usual shades along with his Sherlock Holmes deerstalker and cape.
- Beleaguered Assistant: Kevin the Gerbil.
- Bratty Half-Pint: Reggie Rat.
- Catchphrase: YEEEAAAHH!!!
- Carried by the Host: Roland made an otherwise average children's quiz immensely entertaining.
- Darker and Edgier: Could happen at any moment, with Roland Rat.
- In one episode, Roland opened a concealed trapdoor to get rid of Kevin the Gerbil, and left him down there for the rest of the show. When he asked for "a bang on the drums" at the end, he heard Kevin knocking to get out.
- Roland also sacked Stan on-air ahead of the second semi-final, causing him to faint. He was replaced thereafter by Nicholas Parsons.
- Fartillery: Reggie Rat broke wind, regularly and deliberately. This was almost his Catchphrase.
- Geek: Errol the Hamster.
- Lovely Assistant: Averted, unless you find puppet rodents attractive.
- Malicious Misnaming: Roland occasionally deliberately mangled the names of contemporary celebrities mentioned, e.g. calling Phillip Schofield "Phyllis".
- Rodents of Unusual Size: Obviously.
- Rude Hero, Nice Sidekick: Roland and Kevin.
- Servile Snarker: Stan.
- Shout-Out: Dial R for Rat is an obvious shout-out to Dial M for Murder. The strand was otherwise a parody of Sherlock Holmes. Roland's Holmes was also often mistaken for Bergerac when he introduced himself as "the world's greatest detective", in a Running Gag.
- Speed Round: The final general knowledge round was against the clock and contestants had to buzz in.
- Spin-Off: The Dial R for Rat segments were essentially a pilot for the 1990 series Tales of the Rodent Sherlock Holmes, starring Roland Rat and Kevin the Gerbil as Holmes and Watson.
- Studio Audience: A studio audience of cheering children was present.
- Thing-O-Meter: Stan's big scoreboard which measured the number of miles scored.
- Violent Glaswegian: Fergie the Ferret.
