Camberwick Green
Encyclopedia
Camberwick Green is a British children's television series
, originally seen on BBC One
, featuring stop-motion puppets. It was one of the first British television series to be filmed in colour.
and animated by Bob Bura, John Hardwick and Pasquale Ferrari. Music was by Freddie Phillips
, and narration and song vocals were provided by Brian Cant
. There are 13 fifteen-minute colour episodes produced by Gordon Murray Pictures. The inspiration for the name is believed to have stemmed from the East Sussex
village of Wivelsfield Green supported by the nearby villages of Plumpton
(Trumpton) and Chailey
(Chigley).
Each episode begins with a shot of a musical box
which rotates while playing a tune. It is accompanied by the following narration:
The lid of the box then opens and the puppet character that is central to the particular episode emerges. After a brief introduction, the background appears and the story begins.
The series is set in the small, picturesque (and fictitious) village of Camberwick Green, Trumptonshire, which is inhabited by such characters as Police Constable McGarry (Number 452), Mickey Murphy the baker, Dr Mopp (who makes house calls in his vintage car), and the town gossip, Mrs Honeyman, who is always seen carrying her baby. Just outside the village lives Jonathan Bell, owner of a "modern mechanical farm", who has a friendly rivalry with Windy Miller, owner of a clanking old - but nevertheless efficiently functional - windmill
and a firm believer in old-fashioned farming methods. Mr Dagenham, a travelling salesman who drives an open-topped convertible occasionally appears, as do the staff and cadets of Pippin Fort, a nearby military academy
run by Captain Snort and Sergeant-Major Grout. Almost all the characters have their own theme songs. There is one other character who never appears in the stories: an unnamed clown
or pierrot
who turns a roller caption to display the show's closing credits
.
Each week the villagers undergo such domestic crises as a shortage of flour; a swarm of bees; a water shortage; and rumours of an unwanted electrical sub-station being built in the village. At the end of each episode the narrator bids farewell to the puppet character who was seen at the beginning, and the latter disappears back into the musical box.
Camberwick Green is notable for having no overt fantasy content (apart from the musical box). For the most part it is simply about ordinary people doing everyday things, and perhaps for that reason it has remained popular to this day. Unfortunately the original masters seem to have been lost; most of the surviving episodes tend to suffer from scratched, wobbly or grainy picture quality and a muffled soundtrack. Camberwick Green is available on DVD along with Trumpton
and Chigley
, its two sequels in a similar vein.
which has its own particular rhythmic sound when turning. Windy is very adept at walking between the turning sails. As well as being a character in Camberwick Green, he also appears in the series Chigley
, the fictional neighbouring village to Camberwick Green. Windy is known for brewing his own cider
, which makes him very 'sleepy'. He rejects modern ways and prefers to live a self sufficient life. He keeps a cow for milk and free range chickens for eggs. Windy is superstitious and believes in whistling for the wind and that touching a chimney sweep's collar brings good luck.
Note: Episode titles were given in Radio Times, but were not shown on-screen.
, as "Gamberwick Greenbelt". The 90-second sketch had a puppet Nicholas Ridley
, described as "Old Nicky Ridley, the village idiot", demolishing the village for redevelopment with the aid of a bulldozer.
The character Windy Miller and his famous windmill appeared in September 2005 along with some other Camberwick Green characters in commercials for Quaker Oats on UK television. The puppets and setting are all re-creations because Murray destroyed the originals in the 1970s. The original narrator, Brian Cant, auditioned to do the voiceover for the commercials, before the job was instead given to Charlie Higson
.
Episode five of the second series of the BBC's Life on Mars
features a recreation of the opening of Camberwick Green, with a puppet of the show's main character, Sam Tyler (John Simm
), emerging from the musical box and despairing over his colleague, Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister
), who can be seen in puppet form "kicking in a nonce
" at the end. This later leads to Sam to threaten Hunt, telling him to "Stay out of Camberwick Green!". It emerges that Sam is tripping
after being accidentally overdosed in his hospital bed. Again the voice-over was not supplied by Brian Cant, but is delivered in a similar style. It differs from the original by saying: "This is a box, a magical box, playing a magical tune. But inside this box there lies a surprise. Do you know who's in it today?"
The narration was provided by Brian Little, the co-founder of Hot Animation
, the company that created the sequence. His recording was supposed to be a temporary guide track to help the animators time the shots, but the producers of Life on Mars were content to retain it for the final version. The one-minute sequence was designed and animated by Paul Couvela, the supervising animator of Bob the Builder
.
Chippy Minton features in the opening and closing sequences of the 2009 BBC Children in Need charity single Peter Kay's "Animated All Star Band" video when Peter Kay as Roary the Racing Car's Big Chris asks Postman Pat over the phone if Chippy is "ex-directory". Big Chris acts in a 'Bob Geldof' role to recruit characters from children's TV shows, past and present, to star in a Band Aid style video covering a range of songs by the Beatles to Take That. Windy Miller and Miss Lovelace also appear.
released the first four episodes on Video as part of its 'Children's Treasury' collection.
later in 1989 the BBC released a video with the last three episodes (including ep12 Mickey Murphy the Baker as the first episode, ep11 Mr Carraway the Fishmonger as the second episode and ep13 Mrs Honeyman and her Baby as last episode.
then in 1996-1997 Telstar Home Entertainnment as part of its 'Star Kids' range released three videos.
Music : Freddie Phillips
Narration : Brian Cant
Settings : Margaret Brownfoot, Andrew Brownfoot
Animation : Bob Bura, John Hardwick, Pasquale Ferrari
Puppets : Gordon Murray
Produced by : Gordon Murray
Children's television series
Children's television series, are commercial television programs designed for, and marketed to children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run in the early evening, for the children that go to school...
, originally seen on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
, featuring stop-motion puppets. It was one of the first British television series to be filmed in colour.
Background
The series was written and produced by Gordon MurrayGordon Murray (puppeteer)
Gordon Murray is a British television producer and puppeteer.He is the creator and writer of some of the most popular children's television programmes ever seen in Britain, Trumpton, Camberwick Green and Chigley, the Trumptonshire Trilogy were all made by the company he set up.-Early life and...
and animated by Bob Bura, John Hardwick and Pasquale Ferrari. Music was by Freddie Phillips
Freddie Phillips
Freddie Phillips was a British musician and composer, best known for his work on television theme music, particularly the children's programmes, Camberwick Green, Trumpton and Chigley....
, and narration and song vocals were provided by Brian Cant
Brian Cant
Brian Cant is an English actor, television presenter and writer.-Personal life:Born in Ipswich, he currently lives in Buckinghamshire and is married to writer and director Cherry Britton, sister of TV presenter Fern Britton and actor Jasper Britton. They have three children, daughter Rose, and...
. There are 13 fifteen-minute colour episodes produced by Gordon Murray Pictures. The inspiration for the name is believed to have stemmed from the East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
village of Wivelsfield Green supported by the nearby villages of Plumpton
Plumpton, East Sussex
Plumpton is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. The village is located five miles north-west of Lewes. The parish includes the small village of Plumpton and the larger village of Plumpton Green to the north where most of the community and services are based...
(Trumpton) and Chailey
Chailey
Chailey is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. It is located ten miles north of Lewes, on the A272 road from Winchester to Canterbury...
(Chigley).
Each episode begins with a shot of a musical box
Musical box
A music box is a 19th century automatic musical instrument that produces sounds by the use of a set of pins placed on a revolving cylinder or disc so as to pluck the tuned teeth of a steel comb. They were developed from musical snuff boxes of the 18th century and called carillons à musique...
which rotates while playing a tune. It is accompanied by the following narration:
"Here is a box, a musical box, wound up and ready to play. But this box can hide a secret inside. Can you guess what is in it today?"
The lid of the box then opens and the puppet character that is central to the particular episode emerges. After a brief introduction, the background appears and the story begins.
The series is set in the small, picturesque (and fictitious) village of Camberwick Green, Trumptonshire, which is inhabited by such characters as Police Constable McGarry (Number 452), Mickey Murphy the baker, Dr Mopp (who makes house calls in his vintage car), and the town gossip, Mrs Honeyman, who is always seen carrying her baby. Just outside the village lives Jonathan Bell, owner of a "modern mechanical farm", who has a friendly rivalry with Windy Miller, owner of a clanking old - but nevertheless efficiently functional - windmill
Windmill
A windmill is a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Originally windmills were developed for milling grain for food production. In the course of history the windmill was adapted to many other industrial uses. An important...
and a firm believer in old-fashioned farming methods. Mr Dagenham, a travelling salesman who drives an open-topped convertible occasionally appears, as do the staff and cadets of Pippin Fort, a nearby military academy
Military academy
A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps of the army, the navy, air force or coast guard, which normally provides education in a service environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned.Three...
run by Captain Snort and Sergeant-Major Grout. Almost all the characters have their own theme songs. There is one other character who never appears in the stories: an unnamed clown
Clown
Clowns are comic performers stereotypically characterized by the grotesque image of the circus clown's colored wigs, stylistic makeup, outlandish costumes, unusually large footwear, and red nose, which evolved to project their actions to large audiences. Other less grotesque styles have also...
or pierrot
Pierrot
Pierrot is a stock character of pantomime and Commedia dell'Arte whose origins are in the late 17th-century Italian troupe of players performing in Paris and known as the Comédie-Italienne; the name is a hypocorism of Pierre , via the suffix -ot. His character in postmodern popular culture—in...
who turns a roller caption to display the show's closing credits
Closing credits
Closing credits or end credits are added at the end of a motion picture, television program, or video game to list the cast and crew involved in the production. They usually appear as a list of names in small type, which either flip very quickly from page to page, or move smoothly across the...
.
Each week the villagers undergo such domestic crises as a shortage of flour; a swarm of bees; a water shortage; and rumours of an unwanted electrical sub-station being built in the village. At the end of each episode the narrator bids farewell to the puppet character who was seen at the beginning, and the latter disappears back into the musical box.
Camberwick Green is notable for having no overt fantasy content (apart from the musical box). For the most part it is simply about ordinary people doing everyday things, and perhaps for that reason it has remained popular to this day. Unfortunately the original masters seem to have been lost; most of the surviving episodes tend to suffer from scratched, wobbly or grainy picture quality and a muffled soundtrack. Camberwick Green is available on DVD along with Trumpton
Trumpton
Trumpton is a stop-motion children's television show from the producers of Camberwick Green first shown on the BBC in the 1960s. The third and final series in the sequence was Chigley....
and Chigley
Chigley
Chigley is the third and final stop-motion children's television series in Gordon Murray's Trumptonshire sequence. Production details are identical to Camberwick Green....
, its two sequels in a similar vein.
Major characters
Several residents of Camberwick Green feature repeatedly throughout the series and some have whole episodes dedicated to them. In each episode, the first appearance of a major characters is usually accompanied by their own particular theme song which is sung by the narrator.Mickey Murphy the baker
Mickey lives on Camberwick Green with Mrs Murphy and their children Paddy and Mary. His bakers shop sells delicious walnut cakes at 5 shillings each.
Mr Murphy is a master baker,
Pudding pies and pastry maker,
Biscuits buns or birthday cake,
Everything is marvellous that Murphy makes.
Windy Miller
Windy lives in Colly's Mill, a windmillWindmill
A windmill is a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Originally windmills were developed for milling grain for food production. In the course of history the windmill was adapted to many other industrial uses. An important...
which has its own particular rhythmic sound when turning. Windy is very adept at walking between the turning sails. As well as being a character in Camberwick Green, he also appears in the series Chigley
Chigley
Chigley is the third and final stop-motion children's television series in Gordon Murray's Trumptonshire sequence. Production details are identical to Camberwick Green....
, the fictional neighbouring village to Camberwick Green. Windy is known for brewing his own cider
Cider
Cider or cyder is a fermented alcoholic beverage made from apple juice. Cider varies in alcohol content from 2% abv to 8.5% abv or more in traditional English ciders. In some regions, such as Germany and America, cider may be termed "apple wine"...
, which makes him very 'sleepy'. He rejects modern ways and prefers to live a self sufficient life. He keeps a cow for milk and free range chickens for eggs. Windy is superstitious and believes in whistling for the wind and that touching a chimney sweep's collar brings good luck.
Windy Miller, Windy Miller sharper than a thorn,
Like a mouse he's spry and nimble when he grinds the corn.
Like a bird he'll watch the wind and listen for the sound,
Which says he has the wind he needs to make the sails go round.
Farmer Jonathan Bell
Farmer Bell runs his farm using modern machinery and practices. He is very proud of his milking machine and forklift loader. In this he is the very opposite of Windy Miller who he often teases about his old-fashioned ways. Despite this they are good friends.
A go ahead farmer is Jonathan Bell
Who works his farm and he works it well
He doesn't hold much with the good old days.
In modern times use modern ways.
Electric mechanical all that is new
Which does the work that men used to do.
He swears by it all and he proves it too
On his modern mechanical farm.
PC McGarry number 452
Police constable McGarry is the local 'bobbie'. He rides around on his motorbike and talks to HQ on the bike's radio.
Here comes the policeman,
The big friendly policeman,
PC McGarry number 452.
Lost dogs, thick fogs,
Don't know what to do.
Then get the policeman,
The big friendly policeman.
PC McGarry number 452.
Here comes the policeman,
The big friendly policeman,
PC McGarry number 452.
Lost a key, cat up a tree,
Baby lost a shoe.
Then get the policeman,
A big friendly policeman.
PC McGarry number 452.
Mr Carraway the Fishmonger
Mr Carraway runs the fishmongers shop on Camberwick Green. He enjoys fishing in the river that runs behind behind his shop.
Fresh fish! fine fresh fish!
Herring, plaice, mackerel turbot,
Whiting, cod, halibut, dab,
Prawn, crabs, crayfish and lobster,
In green parsley and set upon a slab.
Fresh fish, fine fresh fish.
Peter the Postman
Peter Hazel is a postman who empties the postbox and delivers the mail. He travels on foot with the mail in a large sack upon his back.
Peter the postman is a very busy man
He empties the boxes as quickly as he can
He puts all the letters in a great big sack
And whistles as he marches with his load upon his back
Mr Crockett the garage owner
Mr Crockett operates a petrol station and on the outskirts of Camberwick Green. He also does automotive repairs and runs a breakdown truck.
If your car is needing petrol, if your van is broken down,
If your motorcycle engine starts to stick,
Then go to Crockett's garage, to Mr Crockett's garage.
He will do the work and he'll do it very quick.
Fill her up, fill her up, the petrol pumps are working,
Pump them up, pump them up, you know what tyres are.
Hurry up, hurry up, there is no time for shirking,
If you want a very super sort of car.
Doctor Mopp
Doctor Mopp drives a vintage car (reg 1901) and wears a top hat and beard.
If you want a doctor,
Get Doctor Mopp,
For he can stop
A sneeze or a wheeze,
Or a lump or a bump,
A headache or a sprain,
Or rheumaticy pain.
So if you're feeling sickly,
Please call him quickly.
He can cure all ills,
With his pale pink medicine,
And sugar coated pills.
Thomas Tripp the milkman
Mr Tripp operated Camberwick Green's dairy. On Saturdays, Paddy Murphy helps out.
Here comes the milkman, Thomas Tripp the milkman.
Can you hear the milkman with his jangle jingle jang?
What does it matter if the bottles make a clatter?
One doesn't want to chatter over jangle jingle jang.
Roger Varley the chimney sweep
Roger would travel around on his motorbike & sidecar.
Sweep all,
Here comes Roger Varley,
As black as a crow,
To sweep all your chimneys,
Which stand in a row.
Big chimneys, small chimneys,
Low chimneys tall chimneys.
Chimneys so straight and chimneys awry,
With his rod, brush and sack,
And his suit shiny black,
He'll purl and twirl his brush,
Up the flues to the sky.
Sweep all.
Mr Dagenham the salesman
Mr Dagenham is a travelling salesman and drives a red sportscar. He sells everything from table lamps to forklift loaders. In one episode he tries to sell a helicopter to Farmer Bell.
Our Mr Dagenham, he can sell anything,
Anything, anything money can buy.
A tea set or a jacket,
A pram or tennis raquet,
A telly or a toaster,
A trumpet or a trike,
An overcoat, a motor boat,
A holiday in Africa,
A bathtub or a button,
A bugle or a bike.
Our Mr Dagenham, he can sell anything,
Anything, anything money can buy.
Captain Snort
Captain Snort runs a military academy for boys located in Pippin Fort. Members of the academy all wear red shirts in the style of the British Empire.
Captain Snort is a soldier man,
Scarlet and gold a soldier man.
He'll work a boy as hard as he can,
To turn him into a soldier man.
Captain Snort is a soldier man,
Who lives in Pippin Fort
Sergeant Major Grout
Sergeant Major Grout is second in command at Pippin Fort. In each episode he is seen calling the troops to attention.
ATTEN-TION!
SLO-OPE ARMS!
OR-DER ARMS!
Mrs Honeyman
Mrs Honeyman is the Chemist's wife and always appears carrying her baby. She is the local gossip.
Chatter chatter have you heard the latest gossip?
Not a word to anyone...
But do you know that natter natter well my dear
You could have knocked me over with a feather.
I was shocked !
Episodes
- "Peter the Postman" (3 January 1966)
- "Windy Miller" (10 January 1966)
- "Mr Crockett, the Garage Man" (17 January 1966)
- "Dr Mopp" (24 January 1966)
- "Farmer Jonathan Bell" (31 January 1966)
- "Captain Snort" (7 February 1966)
- "Paddy Murphy" (14 February 1966)
- "Roger Varley, the Sweep" (21 February 1966)
- "PC McGarry" (28 February 1966)
- "Mr Dagenham, the Salesman" (7 March 1966)
- "Mr Carraway, the Fishmonger" (14 March 1966)
- "Mickey Murphy, the Baker" (21 March 1966)
- "Mrs Honeyman and Her Baby" (28 March 1966)
Note: Episode titles were given in Radio Times, but were not shown on-screen.
Modern use
Camberwick Green was spoofed for a 1988 edition of Spitting ImageSpitting Image
Spitting Image is a British satirical puppet show that aired on the ITV network from 1984 to 1996. It was produced by Spitting Image Productions for Central Television. The series was nominated for 10 BAFTA Awards, winning one for editing in 1989....
, as "Gamberwick Greenbelt". The 90-second sketch had a puppet Nicholas Ridley
Nicholas Ridley, Baron Ridley of Liddesdale
Nicholas Ridley, Baron Ridley of Liddesdale, PC was a British Conservative Party politician and government minister.-Personal life:...
, described as "Old Nicky Ridley, the village idiot", demolishing the village for redevelopment with the aid of a bulldozer.
The character Windy Miller and his famous windmill appeared in September 2005 along with some other Camberwick Green characters in commercials for Quaker Oats on UK television. The puppets and setting are all re-creations because Murray destroyed the originals in the 1970s. The original narrator, Brian Cant, auditioned to do the voiceover for the commercials, before the job was instead given to Charlie Higson
Charlie Higson
Charles Murray Higson , more commonly known as Charlie Higson - also Switch - is an English actor, comedian, author and former singer...
.
Episode five of the second series of the BBC's Life on Mars
Life on Mars (TV series)
Life on Mars is a British television series broadcast on BBC One between January 2006 and April 2007. The series combines elements of science fiction and police procedural....
features a recreation of the opening of Camberwick Green, with a puppet of the show's main character, Sam Tyler (John Simm
John Simm
John Simm is an English stage and screen actor. In recent years he is best known for his roles as Sam Tyler in the detective drama Life on Mars and as The Master in the revival of the science fiction series Doctor Who, but he has also starred in many highly acclaimed award-winning television...
), emerging from the musical box and despairing over his colleague, Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister
Philip Glenister
Philip Haywood Glenister is an English actor, known for his role as DCI Gene Hunt in British television series Life On Mars and its sequel Ashes To Ashes.-Television and films:...
), who can be seen in puppet form "kicking in a nonce
Nonce (slang)
In the United Kingdom and Australia, the term nonce is a slang word used to refer to a sex offender and/or child sexual abuser...
" at the end. This later leads to Sam to threaten Hunt, telling him to "Stay out of Camberwick Green!". It emerges that Sam is tripping
Psychedelic experience
The term "psychedelic experience" is vague – characterized by polyvalence or ambiguity due to its nature – however in modern psychopharmacological science as well as philosophical, psychological, neurological, spiritual-religious and most other ideological discourses it is understood as an altered...
after being accidentally overdosed in his hospital bed. Again the voice-over was not supplied by Brian Cant, but is delivered in a similar style. It differs from the original by saying: "This is a box, a magical box, playing a magical tune. But inside this box there lies a surprise. Do you know who's in it today?"
The narration was provided by Brian Little, the co-founder of Hot Animation
Hot Animation
HOT Animation is a British stop motion animation studio based in Broadheath, Altrincham, Greater Manchester, England. It was established in 1998 by Jackie Cockle, Brian Little and Joe Dembinski....
, the company that created the sequence. His recording was supposed to be a temporary guide track to help the animators time the shots, but the producers of Life on Mars were content to retain it for the final version. The one-minute sequence was designed and animated by Paul Couvela, the supervising animator of Bob the Builder
Bob the Builder
Bob the Builder is a British children's animated television show created by Keith Chapman. In the original series Bob appears as a building contractor specialising in masonry in a stop motion animated programme with his colleague Wendy, various neighbours and friends, and their gang of...
.
Chippy Minton features in the opening and closing sequences of the 2009 BBC Children in Need charity single Peter Kay's "Animated All Star Band" video when Peter Kay as Roary the Racing Car's Big Chris asks Postman Pat over the phone if Chippy is "ex-directory". Big Chris acts in a 'Bob Geldof' role to recruit characters from children's TV shows, past and present, to star in a Band Aid style video covering a range of songs by the Beatles to Take That. Windy Miller and Miss Lovelace also appear.
VHS and DVD Releases
In 1984, 18 years later after the broadcasts on BBC in 1966. Longman VideoPickwick Video Group
Pickwick Video Group Ltd was a home video division based in the United Kingdom and United States. It was first established in 1982. The company was divided into six video labels:-*Pickwick Video - published children's, sports and drama videos...
released the first four episodes on Video as part of its 'Children's Treasury' collection.
| VHS video title | Year of release | Episodes |
|---|---|---|
| Camberwick Green (SLL 5024) | 1984 | Peter Hazel, Windy Miller, Mr Crockett, Doctor Mopp. |
later in 1989 the BBC released a video with the last three episodes (including ep12 Mickey Murphy the Baker as the first episode, ep11 Mr Carraway the Fishmonger as the second episode and ep13 Mrs Honeyman and her Baby as last episode.
| VHS video title | Year of release | Episodes |
|---|---|---|
| Camberwick Green 1: Mickey Murphy the Baker (BBCV 4231) | 1989 | Mickey Murphy the Baker, Mr Carraway the Fishmonger, Mrs Honeyman and her Baby . |
then in 1996-1997 Telstar Home Entertainnment as part of its 'Star Kids' range released three videos.
| VHS video title | Year of release | Episodes |
|---|---|---|
| A Busy Day in Camberwick Green (TVE 3011) | 1996 | Peter the Postman, Windy Miller, Mr Crockett, Dr Mopp. |
| It's Fun to Work in Camberwick Green (TVE 3018) | 1997 | Mr Murphy, Mrs Honeyman, PC McGarry, Mr Carraway |
| Meet Your Friends in Camberwick Green (TVE 3022) | 1997 | Farmer Bell, Paddy Murphy, Captain Snort, Roger Varley |
Credits
Created by : Gordon MurrayMusic : Freddie Phillips
Narration : Brian Cant
Settings : Margaret Brownfoot, Andrew Brownfoot
Animation : Bob Bura, John Hardwick, Pasquale Ferrari
Puppets : Gordon Murray
Produced by : Gordon Murray