Dave Ellison spares no attention to detail

Hammy the hamster, GP the guinea pig and Roderick the rat are no longer to be seen on British television but they are making a big hit in the States.

The series' creator, Dave Ellison, has just finished making a series of 56 half-hour episodes for America and Canada where the show is known as Once Upon a Hamster.

Ellison, who lives on the Isle of Wight, where many of the original episodes were filmed, said the programmes are syndicated across dozens of American networks and are becoming increasingly popular.

But he admits he's still using the same old storylines for the watery folk as he did in the original series, which was first shown on the BBC using the vocal talents of Animal Magic star Johnny Morris.

A hamster's work is never done

"I think the appeal of what we do is constant, just like children are the same all over the world," he said. "We couldn't change it now even if we wanted to."

For those who do not remember Tales of the Riverbank with its distinctive opening theme tune played over shots of a fast-flowing river, it featured the exploits of the bumbling Hammy, his friend GP and Roderick the rat.

Ellison came up with the idea while he was working as a film editor for Canadian television and, after making a demo, flew to London where he sold the idea to the head of BBC Children's Television. The first programme appeared in 1958.

"We were lucky with the animals we chose for the main characters," he said. "They all got on well together and if you have a guinea pig, a hamster and a rat on set at least they are not going to eat each other."

Many of the scenes were filmed in a barn on the Isle of Wight, where Ellison constructed a 40ft-long river with the animals' homes built into the bank.

Roderick: the macho image had to go

The latest series was filmed in Toronto with an American voiceover. And, to update the show and include a female character, Roderick the rat has undergone a sex change to become Rodericka.