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.
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 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.
There were three humans on screen in the series: The Rottentrolls are a group of strange, knee-high creatures who have been waiting for the return of their king for centuries.
A thousand years ago, their ancestors were accidentally brought by a snow cloud summoned by Merlin, who was attempting to turn the valley into a ski resort for King Arthur.
Tim Firth said about how he named the Rottentrolls: "I put a compass in the OS map of the area, centred on Troller's Ghyll and drew a circle of about 5 cm radius.
The voices of the Rottentrolls were provided, in the first series, by John Thomson, Phil Cornwell and Rebecca Front.