Trumpton

TRUMPTON
Made by: Gordon Murray Puppets
Shown on: ITV
Years shown: 1967, plus endless repeats

The second of the Camberwick Green trilogy saw the villagers moving to the nearby town of Trumpton, obviously eager for the bright lights. Still narrated by Brian Cant, and with all the old characters present, there was also Miss Lovelace and her dogs; Bill Stickanick, the billboard-pasting man; the Mayor; the town clerk Mr Troop; Mrs Cabbit and Mr Platt, and the most famous team of fire-fighters on TV, led by Captain Flack - they were, of course, Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble and Grubb. Pugh and Pugh were identical twin brothers, by the way. Each episode would briefly focus on the town hall clock, which kept the time for Trumpton, and they would end with the fire brigade band holding a concert in the park. Bet they wished they’d stayed in Camberwick Green. Gordon Murray went to a fair bit of expense with these series, because although television was still in black and white when he started, he shot them in colour, with a mind to the future. In fact, when he finished work on Chigley, his final series of this ilk, he burned all the characters and sets so that no-one could re-use them, meaning that only his original Technicolor repeats could be shown. Cunning.

SQUARE EYES RATING: 6/10

(Thanks to www.telegoons.org for the borrowed pic)