The Wind in the Willows - Specials (1983)

The Wind in the Willows is a 1983 79-minute film by the studio Cosgrove Hall for Thames Television and aired on the ITV network. The movie is based on Kenneth Grahame's classic story The Wind in the Willows. It won a BAFTA award and an international Emmy award. Subsequently the studio made a 52 episodes series, The Wind in the Willows based on characters from the Wind in the Willows between 1984 and 1990. Stone Roses guitarist John Squire worked on this series for Cosgrove Hall. Voice actors on this adaptation included David Jason, Ian Carmichael and Michael Hordern.

The Chief Weasel discovers that Toad has a double: an actor, impersonator and con artist (in short, someone after his own heart) called Isambard Bilbone Toad. Together, they form a plan which involves the kidnapping of the real Toad and the acquisition of Toad Hall, all without the riverbankers noticing. Once this is done, Isambard continues to play the rôle of Toad in public, having perfected his voice and mannerisms. However, Badger, Rat and Mole cannot help noticing some slight oddities about their friend, particularly when he spreads slanderous remarks that the three have supposedly made about each other. Then, as if that were not strange enough, Toad breaks off his friendship with them, in favour of the weasels who are now sharing the Hall. Eventually, Badger’s keen observation leads them to realise the truth, and they must now rescue the real Toad before the weasels put an even more audacious plan into action…