Tales of the Riverbank

Tales of the Riverbank
Hammy the Hamster and G.P. the Guinea Pig during the episode Hammy the Flying Postman
Also known as	Hammy Hamster Once Upon a Hamster
Genre	Children's television
Created by	Dave Ellison Paul Sutherland
Written by	Dave Ellison Charles Fullman Paul Sutherland Cliff Braggins
Presented by	Peggy Miller
Voices of	Paul Sutherland (Canada) Johnny Morris (UK)
Opening theme	Andante in C by Mauro Giuliani
Country of origin	Canada/UK
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	5
No. of episodes	143   First: 13   Second: 39   Hammy Hamster: 26   HBO/C4: 65
Production
Producer(s)	Dave Ellison Paul Sutherland
Cinematography	Josef Seckeresh
Release
Original network	BBC (1960) HBO (Hammy Hamster, 1972) /Channel 4 (1995–1998)
Picture format	Black-and-white (1960s) 405-line (Hammy Hamster) PAL (C4 episodes)

Hammy Hamster

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. 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.

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. 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. 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.