The Wind in the Willows (TV series)

The Wind in the Willows
Genre	Stop-motion Family
Created by	Cosgrove Hall
Written by	Kenneth Grahame Rosemary Anne Sisson Brian Trueman
Directed by	Mark Hall Chris Taylor Jackie Cockle
Starring	Richard Pearson Peter Sallis Michael Hordern David Jason Ian Carmichael Daphne Oxenford Brian Trueman Delia Corrie Brian Southwood Kate Lee Peter Wheeler Jimmy Hibbert
Theme music composer	Keith Hopwood
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	65
Production
Producer(s)	Brian Cosgrove Mark Hall John Hambley Chris Taylor
Running time	20 min.
Production company(s)	Cosgrove Hall Films Thames Television
Release
Original network	ITV Network (Thames), Channel 5, KidsCo TBA (UK) ABC-1 (Australian Broadcasting Company), ABC-2 (Australia), The Disney Channel (USA) PBS (USA) RTÉ (Ireland) TF1 (France) RTL 7, TVP 1 (Poland)
Original release	27 December 1983 – 19 June 1990
Chronology
Preceded by	The Wind in the Willows (1983 film)
Followed by	A Tale Of Two Toads (1989 film) Oh, Mr. Toad

ITV Network (Thames), Channel 5, KidsCo TBA (UK)
ABC-1 (Australian Broadcasting Company), ABC-2 (Australia),

The Wind in the Willows is a TV series that was originally broadcast between 1984 and 1987, based on characters from Kenneth Grahame's classic story The Wind in the Willows and following the 1983 film The Wind in the Willows. It was made by animation company Cosgrove Hall for Thames Television and shown on the ITV network. An hour-long feature, A Tale Of Two Toads, was broadcast in 1989, and a fifth season of 13 episodes was shown in 1990 under the title Oh! Mr Toad in some countries, whilst retaining the title The Wind in the Willows in others.

The series stars David Jason as Toad and the Chief Weasel, the late Michael Hordern as Badger, Peter Sallis as Rat (replacing Ian Carmichael who voiced Rat in the original 1983 film), and the late Richard Pearson as Mole. Ian Carmichael remained in the series, re-cast as the narrator. The Chief Weasel was almost always accompanied by his unnamed bumbling henchman.

The series is sometimes misidentified as being filmed in claymation. The method used by Cosgrove Hall is a stop-motion animation process using scale model sets and posable character figurines. The figurines are composed of an articulate metal skeleton (armature) covered in latex rubber, providing the flexibility and the detail which distinguishes the series. The series is set at "The Riverbank", a mythical location somewhere in Berkshire. The Riverbank is where Ratty, Mole and Toad live. Nearby is the Wild Wood, where Badger and the Wily Weasels live. Each episode has a unique story line, although there are some common themes running throughout the series. In series 4, the humans start building a new railway that is planned to be built through the area where the animals live. The show teaches children about the destruction of forests and animals' natural habits. The railway gets closer and closer to the animals' homes, yet in the episode Happy New Year it turns out that the railway would be travelling under unsuitable land, and therefore the route is diverted from the Riverbank & Wild Wood areas.

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