“Here is the clock, the Trumpton clock. Telling the time steadily, sensibly, never too quickly, never too slowly. Telling the time for Trumpton.”
Those words from Brian Cant and music from Freddie Phillips heralded the start of each programme focusing on the stop-frame animated characters in the village of Trumpton, county of Trumptonshire
A sequel to Camberwick Green and set in a nearby village each episode of this series featured the local fire service. “Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble, and Grub” was the chant echoed by Captain Flack each week.
Other characters to appear were Chippy Minton, the carpenter. The Mayor of Trumpton. Mr.Antonio, the ice-cream man. Mr.Bolt, the borough engineer. Mr.Clamp, the greengrocer and his cat Aggee. Mr.Craddock, the park keeper. Mr.Munnings, the printer. Mr.Platt, the clock maker. Mr.Robinson, the window cleaner. Mr.Troop, the town clerk. Mr.Wantage and Fred, the telephone engineers. Mr.Wilkins, the plumber. Miss Lovelace, the hat maker. Mrs.Cobbit, the flower seller. Nick Fisher, the bill sticker. Philby, the Mayor’s driver. Policeman Potter. Raggy Dan, the rag and bone man. Walter Harkin, the painter and decorator.
If ever a children’s show deserves to be in the TV Hall of Fame then Trumpton must be it offering up a rosy hued view of an idyllic England, a place where the biggest drama is for the Trumpton Fire Brigade to have to rescue the Mayor’s hat from a tree (not once in the whole series do the boys attend a real fire).
What is actually so great about the Trumpton trilogy is that it actually tells stories of ordinary people and their daily lives, a definite rarity in children’s television.
Creator: Gordon Murray / Writers: Alison Prince, Gordon Murray / Designs by Andrew and Margaret Brownfoot / Music: Freddie Phillips / Animation: Bob Bura, John Hardwick
UK / BBC One – Gordon Murray / 13×15 minute episodes / Broadcast 3 January – 28 March 1967
