Island Life Magazine Ltd October/November 2013 | Page 29

INTERVIEW

Dave Ellison

'Tales of the River Bank' creator tells how
he found his cast for popular TV series
By Peter White
It was an ongoing story about a
hamster, a white rat and a guinea
pig, and it proved to be arguably the
most popular children’s television
programme of its time.
But what is not so well known is
the fact that many episodes of the
multi-award winning ‘Tales of the
Riverbank’ were filmed on the Isle of
Wight, and its co-creator Dave Ellison
has lived in Whippingham for more
than 40 years.
The exploits of Hammy the Hamster,
Roderick Rat and GP the guinea pig,
captivated audiences worldwide, with
episodes screened in 52 countries and
translated into numerous languages,
including Chinese. I caught up with
Dave to find out more about how he
came up with the idea of working with
a few small animals, and how he rose
to become a renowned film maker and
producer.
Born and brought up in London,
Dave opted not to go to university,
deciding instead to ‘go and find
out what the real world was like’.
He worked as an apprentice for a
telephone and cable company that
wanted to get into the television
market as soon as the Second World
War was over.
Dave then joined the Army, serving
in the Royal Signal Regiment in
Palestine, Aden and Libya as a wireless
operator, and when he was demobbed
he successfully applied for a job with

Picture by Nathan Lewis

the BBC as a ‘call boy’ at their studios
at Alexandra Palace.
Within a few weeks of joining the
BBC, Dave was promoted to studio

manager, coinciding with the opening
of the Corporation’s new studios at
Lime Grove. He recalled: “While I was
still there a group of people came over
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