Roland Rat: The Series Series 1, Episode Two (TV story)
The second episode[nb 1] of the first series of Roland Rat: The Series produced by the BBC,[1][2] sometimes mistakenly identified as the third,[3] was broadcast on 13 September 1986.[1][2][4] The episode was notable for being a crossover with Doctor Who; it starred Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor presenting continuity announcements for the in-universe series, as the series was shown to be a show-within-a-show.
Plot
The Sixth Doctor disdainfully introduces an episode of BBC3's Roland Rat: The Series, and then proceeds to inanely cry out "Yeeeaaah!" — Roland Rat's catchphrase.
Entering the Ratcave, Roland Rat enquires to Maureen if there have been any telephone calls. Maureen answers in the positive, but when asked if she had written it down, it is revealed that she only wrote the number of telephone calls down, not the actual substance of the calls.
Kevin the Gerbil enters and asks if Roland has the ratings for the previous episode. Roland asks Maureen to hand him the very important blue envelope, but it is revealed that she has deposited it in the rubbish bin. It is revealed that 7438000 people were watching. It is further revealed that Kevin has, in fact, read out the BBC's telephone number, and that the actual number of people watching was 20 million. This fact is celebrated by all present, until Roland realises that 20 million viewers is actually a very small number, proclaiming that "even EastEnders got more than that!". Maureen says that she never misses an episode of EastEnders, to which Roland tells her to shut up. D'Arcy De Farcy says that "the whole world is obsessed with soap operas", at which Roland decides that they are now a soap opera.
D'Arcy De Farcy then proceeds to introduce Roland Rat (whom he wrongly calls Raynard), and Roland comes on stage. A train goes overhead, as they are underneath King's Cross station.
more to be added
After the episode finishes, the Doctor is awoken by the prodding of a pole. He recaps the audience on what they had been watching, and then excitedly tells them to switch over to BBC1 to watch Doctor Who, which he refers to as "the series". Ron Rat jumps up, calling Doctor Who "rubbish" — an act for which the Doctor attempts to murder Ron, using a ray-gun he just happens to have on his person. Fortunately for Ron, the Doctor is a lousy shot.
Cast
- Sixth Doctor - Colin Baker
- Maureen - Anna Karen
- D'Arcy De Farcy - James Saxon
- Curiosity Killed the Cat - themselves
- Wendy Richard - herself
- Ron Rat - David Claridge
more to be added
Crew
- Writer - David Claridge, Colin Bostock-Smith, John Cangoon, Sean Carton, David Tomlinson
- Director - Marcus Mortimer[source needed]
- Producer - Marcus Mortimer[source needed]
- Music - Matt Aitken, Mike Stock, Pete Waterman
- Cameraman - Dave Grey
- Sound Recordist - Doug Mawson
- Film Editor - Nick Hutchings
- Properties Buyer - Bob Warans
- Graphic Design - Iain Greenway, Simon Everson
- Vision Effects Designer - Malcolm James
- Camera Supervisor - Spencer Payne
- Technical Co-ordinators - Jeff Jeffery, Terry Wild
- Vision Mixer - Angela Beveridge
- VT Editors - Peter Bird, Mykola Pawlock
- Make-up designer - Cecile Hay-Arthur
- Costume designer - Ken Trew
- Production assistant - Claire Sharp
more to be added
References
- The Doctor compares the Dalek, Cybermen, and even "Wogan from the planet Shepherd's Bush" and green slimy things to Roland Rat: The Series.
- According to Kevin the Gerbil, there are 4,684,356,738 people in the world.
Notes
- The story was broadcast in conjunction with The Trial of a Time Lord, with the Doctor wearing his stripy waistcoat and yellow star-speckled necktie from Terror of the Vervoids.
Continuity
- This story is not the first to depict the Doctor Who series existing in-universe, having been depicted in in many sources released both before and after this episode.
Footnotes
Notes
- ↑ Documentation of the series is scarce online, with the appearance of the Sixth Doctor not even being noted on many television listing pages. This Wiki has instead found that the performance of Curiosity Killed The Cat within this episode is attributed to episode 2 by several sources, so the Wiki has identified the episode as such.
Sources
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Category:Stories that crossover with non-DWU series Category:1986 television stories Category:Sixth Doctor television stories Category:Stories about Doctor Who
