Hi Roland. Thanks for agreeing to be interviewed exclusively for Ratfans.com!
We’ve had loads of questions sent in, but before we start, how are you and what have you been up to since we last saw you in the UK?
lt's been far too long since l was on tv in the UK, l spend my time between here and the U.S.A, RREtv.inc is busy with lot's of new projects, as you know we don't just make my Roland Rat series.

What are the rest of the gang up to – and how are your Mum and Dad?
Kev always travels with me and the rest of the gang are in the sewer under the Hollywood sign, apart from mum and dad who refuse to come to America, especially since Bush was re-elected, cus they love England!

Let’s kick off with the questions then – these are from Zyggy 

What's your earliest memory?
My earliest memory was looking at myself in the mirror for the first time and thinking who is that hunky, sexy, talented little rodent!!!

What is your fondest memory of working on TV-AM?
Fondest memory at TV-AM was building up my legions of loyal Ratfans, talking to them on live links and getting their fan mail, oh and telling the presenters they were all rubbish.


Which TV-AM adventure was your most enjoyable?
Winter Wonderland was my fave adventure, although it was difficult to shoot cus it was flipping freezin!!!!

Do you have any regrets joining the BBC?
The BBC is the biggest bureaucratic dump in the world!!! They paid me a fortune so l can't complain, but the place is full of bores!!!!!!!


What's your favourite sketch from "The Series"?
My fave sketch would be  The Christmas Carol and lggy Pop was my fave guest.

Is your favourite car still a Rolls Royce or is it something else now?
My fave car is not a Rolls Royce anymore, sorry they're rubbish... very dated, no give me an Aston Martin about £130,000 that would do me! AND NOT IN PINK KEVIN!!!!!!!!

What's your favourite film?
My fave film would be CLOCKWORK ORANGE!

Which comedians, actors, singers, etc have been great influences on your work?
People who have influenced me? Well l worked several times with Frankie Howerd he was fab, l always liked him cus he was rude. John Cleese and Spike Milligan l love too. Musically Bowie, lggy, PIL, Stravinsky, Mozart, Bach, Mahler and Vivaldi.

Do you prefer living in the UK or US?
l love the UK but l like it when the sun shines everyday!!! So l  prefer California, Errol hates it of course yeahhhhhh!!!!!!!

So do you think you will be returning to the UK in the near future, or are you happy jetting between the two?
l'm afraid l'm spending more time in the U.S.  as we are putting together THE
DESERT RATS which l hope to be shooting soon near The Joshua Tree National Park and in L.A. next year.

More questions – this time from Sanya

Do you have a tail?
Do l have a tail? Now you're getting personal!!!!! OF COURSE I HAVE A TAIL!!!
There were a series of photos in 1983 where l showed it!!! ln the 'Winter Wonderland Special' magazine, but l thought l looked better with it tucked in my trousers, so l keep my tail to myself these days!!!!!!

If you were a contestant on 'I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!', what luxury item would you take with you?
lf l was on 'l'm A Celebrity' my luxury item would be a large roll of sellotape so l could tape over the mouths of the lesser known celebs (that's nearly all of 'em!) that keep rabbiting on about themselves, pathetic idiots, let me
loose in there l'd give 'em what for!!!

Our next set of questions comes from Luke

Any news on the Winter Wonderland DVD?  Is it still in the works?
News on the Winter Wonderland DVD is that it is delayed due to tracing certain episodes, but we are now working on ROLAND GOES EAST as all the original episodes are intact and have been re-digitised, so that will be the next release yeahhhh!!!

Incidentally, how is the website progressing?
The official website is a constant embarrassment to me so don't mention it!!!! Problem is l can't find the right people to work on it, so l leave it and get on with making programmes which leaves me without a web site!!! lt is
ridiculous l don't have one, but we will get there eventually..... you fans do a brill job though!!!

Can you finally reveal the true story about what happened with you and Glenis The Guinea Pig, her disappearance and the arrival of Roxanne Rat?  I must have missed it in the News Of The World at the time.
There was no story with Glenis, she ran off with Gary Glitter at the Ratcave wedding ceremony!!!!!!!!! l ran off with Samantha Fox!!!!!!! Sort of unfortunate choices in hindsight!!! We were only acting as you know!!! So Glenis and Roxanne are still part of the team, they hang out in the Ratcave spending all my
money. l don't fancy either of 'em, l'd rather have Jordan!!

Whatever happened to the Ratmobile?  If it's still around that's pretty amazing for a clapped out 1980's Ford Anglia.  You could probably sell it on the internet now as a vintage collectable and finally make that eighty quid back!
I'll let you into a little secret there were several Ratmobiles!!! And we left one in Hong Kong!!!

Any chance of you turning up if the fans were to hold a Roland Rat Fan Convention?  How about if we held it in a club with lots of free booze and girls?
A Roland Rat Convention sounds great!!!! lf l was in the country of course l
would come, Errol wouldn't he can't see the point of conventions, l took him
to a sci-fi one in the U.S. and he was arrested for having a leek in public.

I hear you were close friends with Brian The Dinosaur from Parallel 9.  Can you tell us what happened to him and how he is?  Cup' O Tea ?
l like Brian the Dinosaur and Derek yeah, part of RREtv's stable of characters, Mooncat is another one, he was good. Brian was due to appear in his own series, but for some reason didn't happen.

RREtv has just finished writing a new series for the Beeb which is like the Young Ones, has CG, puppets and live action, for adults not kids it is great, very edgy though!!!!

Do you have any official statement to make following the death of D'Arcey De Farcey?
To hear about D'Arcey  De Farcey was a big shock l did not know until you fans started talking about him (on the Roland Rat Message Board) so a big thank you for telling me!!! l was very upset he was an old friend and a great guy....and very funny.....a sad loss.
Ratfans.com note - James Saxon, aka D'Arcey De Farcy sadly passed away in July 2003.
 
 

Being the brill, ace and skill jet setting superstar you are, you've visited lots of places over the years.  Which has been your favourite to film in and why?
My fave location is L.A. cus there's so much to send up there, everyone takes life in the movie business so seriously! Also l loved shooting in Switzerland, l would like to shoot in Venice though, that's why 'Roland Rat the Movie' is
set there.

Our final set of questions were sent in by Jon

Do you still get lots of fan mail?
l still gets lots of fan mail from around the world from people who grew up watching me on tv, l always answer fan
mail!!!

Are you planning to release any more records?
l really would like to release a new version of Rat Rapping, BBC were going to get involved then for some reason went with Basil Brush!!! NO COMMENT. l would also like to make a Christmas album, a send up of all those cheesy charity naff songs!

How many pink buckets does Kevin have now?
Regarding Kev's pink bucket collection he has a storage unit in America full of hundreds of the pathetic things, he is weird!!!

Do you have a full set of all the official merchandise made over the years?
Merchandise wise l have everything yes, l have always loved toys especially if l am on 'em!!! Over the twenty odd years l have made sure l have copies of everything we ever made, that's a lot of stuff!!!

Some great questions there! So when can we expect to see you back on our screens here in Britain?
You can expect me to be on British screens if some moron commissions a series
yeahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!
l reckon you have to die before they give you a new series in the UK that's
what happened to the fox! Remade and remodelled sad innit!!!!!!!

Thanks very much for answering our questions, Roland. Do you have a greeting for all your Ratfans out there logging onto the Internet?
Finally a message to all my loyal fans in cyber space.....l love you all, quite rightly you all realise what a geni-arse l am, for twenty one years I've loved my Ratfans......I'm getting emotional now...what's great now is that l can actually talk to all those loyal fans 20 years on.... what could be better
than that?

ERROL: Your own web site, a series on tv, a new record, some new T-shirts would do!

OH DO SHUT UP ERROL, YOU TEDIOUS HAMSTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry Ratfans....
Love ya more than ever....
Hope you all have a cool Yule yeahhhh!!!!!
ROLAND RAT SUPERSTAR 2004

Ratfans.com would like to thank Roland for his time in conducting the interview.

© 2004 Roland Rat Superstar