His colleagues include dour Welsh technical whizz Errol the Hamster and over-enthusiastic self-appointed "number one ratfan" Kevin the Gerbil, who is from Leeds and loves pink buckets.
Roland Rat was launched at TV-am by children's editor Anne Wood to give kids entertainment during the Easter holidays.
[2][3] Roland first appeared on 1 April 1983[4] (Good Friday) on the ailing breakfast television network TV-am, and is generally regarded as its saviour, being described as "the only rat to join a sinking ship".
Initially, Roland was featured as the host of The Shedvision Show, ostensibly broadcast from a wooden shack on the roof of TV-am's studios.
The character of Errol the Hamster was gradually drafted in during the first year as a VT technician responsible for running the cartoons inserted into the show.
Following enormous demand, the season was repeated across subsequent Sundays for the benefit of school pupils whose half term had not fallen the week of the series' transmission.
These series also featured Roland's parents, Iris and Freddie, his pet flea Colin, Fergie the Ferret, Eric the Eagle, and his agent D'Arcy De Farcy.
[10] Roland appeared on Big Brother several times, his first being 2004 in a task that involved the housemates playing a version of 20 questions in order to guess the identity of various celebrities.
Tracks included a song from Colin, Roland’s pet flea, Kevin’s lost love, Linda, and a ditty from D'Arcey De Farcey about being bald.
The player had to guide Roland through the sewers of London and collect nine pieces of a door which, when complete, would allow him to rescue his companions in time for an appearance on TV-am.
Roland had to avoid enemies in the form of animated wellington boots which could be temporarily incapacitated with a squirt of glue, which could also be used to stop tube trains in order to ride on them.
Roland has appeared on hundreds of items ranging from toothbrushes to wallpaper, bedding, stationery, mugs, canned pasta, and children's glasses by Dolland and Aitchison.