Sheila loves prawn cocktail crisps and cigarettes, and is so lazy she asks Zoe to pick her nose for her.

Zoe taught it tricks and had ambitions to be a famous animal trainer, but the hamster dies in suspicious circumstances.

Several months later, Zoe finds a baby rat that has sneaked into her room, and discovers that it is intelligent and can dance to music.

Zoe names the rat Armitage (after the name of a plumbing company which she finds on a toilet bowl) and hides it in her blazer, but he is seen by her headmaster and her history teacher Miss Midge, who insists that Zoe should be suspended, as pets aren’t allowed to be brought into school.

Sheila learns of Zoe's suspension and tries to force her to give Armitage to the blind burger seller Burt (who at which point is pretending to be a pest-control man).

She tries to escape by digging a hole through the wall of her room into the neighbouring flat, but this leads to Tina Trott's bedroom.

The next day, Zoe's suspension is lifted and she and Armitage perform at the school talent show with Tina.

On 22 February 2017, David Walliams confirmed on Twitter that Ratburger was being adapted for British broadcaster Sky UK.