Roger and the Rottentrolls

History

Plot

Actors and Narrator

• Narrator – voiced by Martin Clunes who told the story and, at times, interacted with the actors and the audience. He has been known to panic in crisis situations. He has some talent for JimJamYAHA, which he used to get Roger's attention.
• Roger Beckett – the "Roger" of the title, played by Nick Barber. He became King of the Rottentrolls when he accidentally crashed in the Valley and screamed "Roger was ere!" the name of the mythical leader of the Rottentroll. He regularly attempted to teach the Rottentrolls new things. In Series 3 and 4, his presence is reduced as High School takes up more of his time, so Kate handles day to day business herself. Roger of the characters trying to learn, shows the least talent for JimJamJAHA as he is only able to dislodge a tin can from three yards.
• Kate Beckett – Roger's little stepsister, played by Holly Grainger. She follows Roger to the Valley and becomes Princess, taking over day-to-day running of the valley from the now overworked Roger. She has a natural talent for JimJamJAHA.

  The Rottentrolls

• Yockenthwaite – A lovable and daft Rottentroll who is always getting things wrong, often called a berk by others. His catchphrase is "Yo-o!". He is credited throughout the series as "the stupidest of the Rottentrolls". His favourite song, which he sang in the Rottentroll of the Year competition, is "Ten Thousand in the Bed". It is often Yockenthwaite who sets the plot of the episodes in motion through his blundering, yet, in some instances, he also manages to rectify the situation, either through chance or his above average proficiency at map reading. Yockenthwaite is a slow reader and not very good with numbers but he is excellent at map reading.
• Aysgarth – The oldest and wisest of the Rottentrolls, he likes to think of himself as a leader. Following The Rottentroll Revolution, he becomes official leader in King Roger's absence. He is an accomplished artist, proficient at drawing landscapes and scenic portraits, but he doesn't approve of the more obscure forms of "modern" art. Despite his age and maturity, he has proved to be gullible and also competitive.
• Penyghent – Penyghent is an artistic and creative female Rottentroll, with an impressive talent for football. Generally considered "the cleverest of the Rottentrolls". In the episode Rottentroll of the Year, Penyghent is the organizer of the titular competition and is crowned champion for her efforts.
• Kettlewell – A bad cook who often has a sudden desire to 'deck' people - hence "I'll deck yer!". She has muscles the size of potatoes, and her special dish is the garlic pasty, much to the chagrin of the other Rottentrolls.
• Askrigg – A completely sports obsessed Rottentroll. He attempts every sport imaginable – without any teammates. According to The Rottentroll Files, Askrigg is revealed to have "no brain", leaving him clueless on words such as "athletic" and "tomorrow".
• Blacksyke – The scariest and most mysterious Rottentroll, complete with her spiky umbrella and her cat. Her catchphrase is a pronounced "Cackle cackle cackle." Ironically, Blacksyke is a masterful practitioner of JimJamJAHA without knowing it; as she uttered the name of the practice in disgust, the bookshelf she was standing in front of collapsed on top of her. She is also responsible for instigating the Troller's Ghylle Crime Wave and for beginning the Movement of the Almighty Underwater Chicken.
• Trucklecrag – A failed wizard, prone to creating dustbins, toasters, and mackerel. On one occasion, during the Rottentroll of the Year competition, he tried a complex spell on Pennyghent that would lift her into the air, where, while floating on her back, she would gently spin anti clockwise like a dervish. In practice, the spell simply turned her into a pizza. In spite of these failures and setbacks, he is sometimes the one approached for help.
• The Nab Twins – A pair of teenage rottentrolls who speak in slang terms which are now slightly dated, such as 'radical', 'spurious', and 'wicked'. They are also the members of a rock band called 'Cattlegrid'.
• Little Strid – Kettlewell's daughter, the youngest Rottentroll.
• Sigsworthy Crags – A failed inventor, who is completely mad; The Rottentroll Files observes that Crags has a brain only in the sense that someone who broke a jug and puts it back together with Sellotape still has a jug. He often trails when speaking and starts making dog noises, the latter of which, he claims, helps to relieve stress. Used to be an estate agent prior to the death of his wife and loss of his children, the trauma of which sent him mad. Since then, his greatest ambition is to be the furthest travelled of all Rottentrolls, to which end he attempted to build an airship and later a rocket. Four attempts were made to build a rocket; all but the third were met with failure. On the fourth attempt, he crashed underground and awoke to the sound of drumming on his rocket; looking for the source of the noise, he realized that he was reunited with his sons.
• Ripley and Scuff – A pair of young Rottentrolls, sons of Sigsworthy Crags. They appear in Series 4, and in their own spin off series, Ripley and Scuff. They seemed to have inherited their father's mental instability, or at least his tendency to make dog noises. They also communicate through making drumming noises.
• Lukeskye - Kettlewell's son and Strid's biological brother. He was only seen via flashback in the episode "The Stake Out" where Penyghent tells Princess Kate how she grew up with him. She also tells her that he had been eaten by the Barguest.

Other creatures

• The Barguest is a menacing creature that lives in the valley and terrifies the Rottentrolls.
• Commander Harris is a sheep who used to be an army mascot – he always has a tale from his old army days to tell. He too lives in the valley. Commander Harris is an expert on the ancient art of JimJamYAHA, and is regularly involved in Roger's adventures.

  Episodes

Season 1

1. Coronation Valley
2. The Rubbish Monster
3. Rottentroll of the Year
4. The Extraordrinary Dinner Telephone
5. King Yockenthwaite
6. The Giant Floating Sprout
7. The Great Rescue

   Season 2

8. The Civil War
9. The Great Television Franchise
10. The Miner's Strike
11. The Gambling Crisis
12. The Art Gallery
13. The Football Sponsorship Scandal
14. Dirty Tricks
15. The First Rottentroll Revolution
16. The Complimentary Cafetiere

    Season 3

17. The New Princess
18. The Monsters of Rock Festival
19. Commander Harris Loses It
20. The Almighty Underwater Chicken
21. Twelve Angry Trolls
22. The Incredibly Frightening Sheet
23. The Rottentroll Olympics
24. The Appalling Voice Swap
25. The Mid-Air Disaster
26. The Time Capsule
27. The Trendy Trainers
28. The Stake Out
29. Trucklecrag's Aftershave

    Season 4

30. The Four Missing Eyes
31. The Cattle Grid World Tour
32. The Extremely Tempting Caravan
33. Full Metal Jimjam
34. Sigsworthy's Final Rocket
35. Yockenthwaite, the Amazing Puppet
36. Commander Harris in Love

    VHS and DVD releases