Tales of the Riverbank

Tales of the Riverbank, sometimes called Hammy Hamster and later called Once Upon a Hamster, was a British children's television show developed from a Canadian pilot. The original series was later broadcast on Canadian and U.S. television, dubbed by Canadian and American actors for the markets they were to be broadcast in.

The pilot was created by David Ellison and Paul Sutherland, CBC film editors, in 1959. After completing the pilot programme, CBC turned down the production and so Dave Ellison travelled to the BBC in London to show it.^[1] The BBC initially commissioned thirteen episodes, but extended this later. A second series were made in colour in the 1970s, narrated by Johnny Morris.

The show also aired on the Animal Planet during the late 1990s and early 2000s.

A later remake was produced by YTV and Channel 4 in 1995 which ran for three years, and a feature-length film was made in 2008 using puppets rather than live animals.

Format

The programme had human voices in sync with the actions of the live animals, to give the impression that the creatures were performing activities. They lived in a place called "The Riverbank" and operated various artifacts including toy sailboats, cars, and even a diving bell. Various techniques were used to persuade the animals to do what was required, including smearing jam on the objects they were to handle.^[2] The voices were selected to reflect the personalities of the animals. Each episode ended with the narrator alluding to an event involving the characters, but refusing to elaborate, saying "But that is another story."

The original black and white Tales of the Riverbank series was first shown by the BBC on 3 July 1960 at 4:50 pm.^[3] It was originally narrated by Paul Sutherland, but the BBC did not want Canadian accents and so for the BBC showings, all the voices were provided by Johnny Morris. The series was eventually sold to 34 countries around the world.

UK VHS releases

UK DVD releases

Further episodes

After the original thirteen episodes, 39 further episodes were made in black and white. The majority were written by David Ellison, Charles Fullman, Paul Sutherland and Cliff Braggins. The episodes of Tales of the Riverbank purchased by the BBC were adapted by staff writer Peggy Miller. Much of the filming was done on location at Wootton Creek on the Isle of Wight.

A later series with 26 episodes was filmed in colour in the 1970s, retitled Hammy Hamster^[4] (full title: Hammy Hamster's Adventures On the Riverbank) launched in 1972. The BBC had introduced a policy of not using human voices for live animals and so this series was shown in the UK by ITV. In Australia the show aired on ABC TV through the '70s as Adventures on the River Bank.

A further series, from 1995 to 1998, was produced for YTV and Channel 4; 65 episodes of that series were made.^[3] It is ranked 79th in the UK Channel 4's 2001 poll of the 100 Greatest Kids' TV shows. In the United States, Once Upon A Hamster was broadcast in a late-night slot, which helped the programme transcend its intended audience and develop a cult status among American viewers.^[5]

Dave Ellison has recently launched his own website ^[6] to regularly update information about Hammy Hamster and his friends. He has also been involved with optimising the TV series, last shown on Channel 4, for release on DVD. The first nine episodes are now readily available.

Three children's books were published by Scholastic Publications Ltd in 1993 based on the series and illustrated by Pauline Hazelwood.

Main characters

In the later series the list of characters was expanded from the original first three listed below.

Feature film

A feature-length film, also titled Tales of the Riverbank, was released in September 2008 directly to DVD. It used a mix of puppets, live action, and special effects. Directed by John Henderson, produced by Handmade Pictures and starring Stephen Fry as Owl, Ardal O'Hanlon as Hammy, Steve Coogan as Roderick and Jim Broadbent as G. P., the story follows three friends who live in a riverbank. After being swept away from their homes by a storm, they embark on an adventure to find their home and save it from the danger of the Fat Cats' factory.

Environmental impact

The series was filmed at Cothy Butts near Fishbourne on the Isle of Wight. At the end of filming in 1973, the animals were released into the wild at this site. The rats, hamsters and cavies died not long after release, but the Mongolian Gerbils survived for at least three years, the colony reaching c. 100 individuals by this time.^{[7] [8]}

US news broadcast accidental reference

A publicity image by Paul Sutherland of Hammy - an image showing Hammy holding a clapperboard that is reprinted on page 69 of True North: Everything You Wanted to Know About Canadian Television by Peter Kenter (Vancouver/Toronto: Whitecap, 2001, ISBN 1-55285-146-X) made an unexpected appearance on a January 2009 news broadcast regarding the disappearance of a young girl named Molly Bish. During a report regarding the arrest of a potential suspect eight years after the girl's disappearance, an error resulted in an image of a hamster - specifically, the clapperboard publicity image of Hammy Hamster - being shown instead of a photo of the suspect.^[9]

See also

• Anthropomorphism

References

External links

• Tales of the Riverbank Movie Website
• Andante in C by Giuliani
• The Official website of Dave Ellison and Hammy Hamster