Brian Trueman
writer, voice of the Henchman

What would The Wind in the Willows have been without Brian Trueman? Not only did he write almost every episode, he provided the voice of the Chief's henchman. He did the same for many other Cosgrove Hall shows, all the good ones like Dangermouse & Duckula. In the latter he provided the voice of Duckula's nanny.

David Jason
voice of Toad, Chief Weasel, Billy Rabbit

David Jason has provided more voices for cartoons than you can keep track of. At Cosgrove Hall he voiced the title characters in Dangermouse, Duckula, The BFG and Hugo in Victor & Hugo. Even so, he is better known for his many roles in live-action television shows such as Open All Hours, Only Fools and Horses, The Darling Buds of May and, of course, he plays Inspector Jack Frost in the ongoing series of A Touch of Frost telemovies.

Sir Michael Hordern
voice of Badger

Distinguished veteran of over 100 movies, knighted in 1983. His most famous films include Scrooge (1951), Tom Brown's Schooldays, Cleopatra, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, How I Won the War, Up Pompeii, Anne of the Thousand Days, Gandhi, Yellowbeard, Young Sherlock Holmes, Labyrinth and Danny the Champion of the World, and the television series Middlemarch. He also narrated Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon. Sir Michael also gave his voice to animations such as Watership Down, Freddie as F.R.O.7, and he narrated Paddington Bear.
 

Sir Michael passed away in 1995 aged almost 84.

Peter Sallis
voice of Rat

Although better known as a television actor, Peter Sallis has also starred in movies such as The Curse of the Werewolf, Scream and Scream Again, Wuthering Heights and Charlie Bubbles, in which Sallis played a solicitor and Richard Pearson played an accountant. His television shows include Rumpole of the Bailey and Last of the Summer Wine. And, like all British actors, he has appeared on Doctor Who. Sallis did not provide the voice of Rat in the original movie. He took the role over from Ian Carmichael at the beginning of the television series. Sallis' other famous voice role is, of course, as Wallace in Wallace and Gromit, and he will be starring in the upcoming movie version.

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Richard Pearson
voice of Mole

Since the 1950s, Richard Pearson has starred in a variety of supporting roles in film and television. One of his first little parts was in Scrooge with Michael Hordern. They both also featured in Man in the Moon, The Yellow Rolls-Royce, and How I Won the War. Pearson also performed in Polanski's Macbeth and Tess, Sunday, Bloody Sunday, Agath Christie's The Mirror Crack'd and as Granville in James Herriot's All Things Bright and Beautiful. His biggest role (outside The Wind in the Willows, of course) was in Polanski's 1986 comedy epic Pirates, where he starred alongside Walter Matthau. The film was a box-office disaster and lost over $30million.

Ian Carmichael
narrator, original voice of Rat

Ian Carmichael played Rat in the 1983 movie, but was replaced by Peter Sallis at the beginning of the series. Carmichael stayed on as the show's narrator until the end of the 1987 series. Carmichael performed in dozens of movies in the 1950s and '60s, including The Colditz Story, Heavens Above! and Smashing Time.

Jimmy Hibbert
various minor voices

Writer and voice actor Jimmy Hibbert is still with Cosgrove Hall. He was Victor to David Jason's Hugo, and today plays Ben in the new version of Bill and Ben, which he also writes. He has also done work away from Cosgrove Hall - rubbish like Albert the Fifth Musketeer and Little Monsters.

Keith Hopwood and Malcolme Rowe
music writers

Keith Hopwood was a member of the 1960s hit band Herman's Hermits, whose songs included 'No Milk Today' and 'I'm Into Something Good'. He fell into writing music for advertisements and has written for Cosgrove Hall throughout most of its existence. You can visit Hopwood's website, where you can order The Wind in the Willows soundtrack. 

Rosemary Anne Sisson
additional writer

Adapted Kenneth Grahame's novel for the original movie, doing the same with several of the early episodes. Most recently she adapted 2,000 years of British history for the 2000 Royal Military Tattoo.

Model Characters Designed & Sculpted by

Brian Cosgrove
Bridget Appleby
David Hayes

 

Other Voices

Beryl Reid
Una Stubbs
Edward Kelsey
Daphne Oxenford
Brian Southwood
Jonathan Cecil
Delia Corrie
Kate Lee

 

Theme Tune Sung by

Ralph McTell

Directed by

 Mark Hall

Chris Taylor
Jackie Cockle
Barry Purves
Francis Vose

 

Associate Producer

Chris Taylor

 

Produced by

Mark Hall
Brian Cosgrove

 

Executive Producer

John Hambley