Roger and the Rottentrolls (sometimes called The Rottentrolls) is a children's comedy television series made for ITV by The Children's Company, which combined puppets with live action human actors. It was first broadcast on 13 September 1996, and ended on 25 February 2000. Written by Tim Firth, 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. 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 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 near Harrogate, Yorkshire. There were two spin off series: a half hour special for the BBC named Combat Sheep (based around Commander Harris), and a series for pre school children (ITV) called Ripley and Scuff. 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 of the Rotten Trolls after crashing his bike in the valley. As well as ruling over the Rottentrolls, Roger teaches them about things like sport and politics, and, in return, learns a few lessons himself. Actors and Narrator There were three humans on screen in the series: Narrator – voiced by Martin Clunes 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