Be careful what you wish for...

The "fantasy island" of the title is a strange, other-worldly place somewhere in the Pacific which is overseen by the white-suited Mr Roarke and his diminutive assistant Tattoo.

In each episode they welcome new visitors who have paid a sum that is important to them (wealthy visitors pay fortunes, while one little girl emptied her piggy bank). In return, they get to live-out seemingly impossible ambitions and fantasies - such as being reunited with lost loves, reliving moments from their past, meeting long-cherished idols and - in the case of three secretaries - becoming Charlie's Angels!

Some learn valuable lessons, others are changed forever, and sometimes the fantasy can turn sinister. Through it all, Mr Roarke and Tattoo watch and muse on the misadventures - but just who are these two mysterious purveyors of the impossible?

The men behind Mr Roarke

Fantasy Island was actually the result of an argument between legendary producer Aaron Spelling (he who gave us Charlie's Angels and Beverly Hills 90210, among other things) and some of the big cheeses at a TV studio.

The cheeses in question had rejected a number of Spelling's programme ideas, saying they wanted something "sexier". An exasperated Spelling satirically suggested a programme about "sexual fantasies", but while driving home from the meeting he had a brainwave: not sexual fantasies, but just fantasies. A series that would make all kinds of fantasies come true. The studio loved the idea, and Spelling handed it over to writer Gene Levitt to develop the plot and characters - and so Mr Roarke and Tattoo were born.

The long and short of it

As soon as the character of Mr Roarke was sketched out, Aaron Spelling knew he wanted Ricardo Montalban - an exotic, Mexican character actor - to fill his impeccable white suit. Naturally, the studio had other ideas - they wanted Orson Welles, the eccentric Hollywood genius who had directed Citizen Kane and was known for his sly wit, deep voice and conjuring talent. However, the fact that Welles was at this point morbidly obese and notoriously demanding meant Montalban was indeed cast.

As far as Mr Roarke's assistant went, the studio assumed that a leggy goddess in a bikini was in order. So you can imagine how they felt when Spelling said he and Gene Levitt had a (male) dwarf in mind. Luckily they relented (after initial bemusement) and the iconic pairing of Ricardo Montalban and Herve Villechaize was made.

The mystery of Mr Roarke

The character of Mr Roarke has puzzled and intrigued millions of viewers since the show was first aired. The programme itself never reveals who he is and how he is able to make fantasies come to life, but in order to embody the character properly Ricardo Montalban decided to come up with his own backstory.

And the explanation he chose was that Mr Roarke was actually a flawed angel with the "sin of pride", and that in order to purge himself of this sin he used his powers to improve the lives of humans. As far as Ricardo was concerned, Tattoo was a "cherub" and Mr Roarke himself had no first name. He was just Roarke - like "the archangel Michael". So there you have it - straight from the actor's mouth.

The other Mr Roarkes

Fantasy Island ran from 1978 until 1984 and was one of the most popular shows of its day. And the studio clearly never forgot it, as they decided to bring it back in 1998 with an entirely new cast. This time round they had Clockwork Orange star Malcolm McDowell as Mr Roarke, and instead of Tattoo he had a whole team of mysterious assistants.

The show differed from its predecessor by being more overtly magical and featuring a black-clad Mr Roarke (in the first episode he makes a point of picking the single black suit out of a whole wardrobe of white ones). Audiences didn't warm to this version and it was cancelled, but it's recently been announced that yet another remake is in the pipeline: this time in the form of a knockabout comedy starring Eddie Murphy both as Mr Roarke and the visitors to the island. Hmm, the Fantasy Island purists aren't gonna like it...


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