Chigley

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Chigley
ChigleyTitleCard.jpg
Title card
Genre Stop motion animation
Written by Gordon Murray
Narrated by Brian Cant
Theme music composer Freddie Phillips
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes13
Production
ProducerGordon Murray
Animators
  • Bob Bura
  • John Hardwick
Running time15 minutes
Production companyGordon Murray Productions
Original release
Network BBC 1
Release6 October (1969-10-06) 
29 December 1969 (1969-12-29)
Related

Chigley (1969) is the third and final stop-motion children's television series in Gordon Murray's Trumptonshire trilogy. Production details are identical to Camberwick Green and Trumpton .

Contents

As in Camberwick Green and Trumpton , the action centres on a small community, the village of Chigley, near Camberwick Green in Trumptonshire. Chigley is more of an industrial area than Camberwick Green and Trumpton.

A digitally restored version of the series from the rediscovered original film masters emerged in 2012. [1]

Background, Overview, Story and structure

Winkstead Hall, a stately home, is central to life in Chigley. The aristocratic owner, Lord Belborough, and his butler Brackett, also operate a heritage railway. They are called on to transport or collect goods in every episode, much to Lord Belborough's delight, as he loves driving the engine, Bessie. Another character frequently delighted by these excursions is Winnie Farthing, whom Lord Belborough and Brackett nearly always invite to join them for a train ride. The notable song unique to Chigley, "Time flies by when I'm the driver of a train", was always sung during these sequences. Winkstead Hall and its grounds are regularly opened to the public, who have access to the picture gallery and tea gardens (both regularly seen). Other parts of the Hall and its estate which also feature in the programmes include the library, the hall, the kitchen garden (and greenhouses), the engine shed (home of Bessie), and the pump room (home of Binnie, Lord Belborough's stationary steam beam engine).

Chigley features many guest appearances by characters from the previous two series. This was at least partly for economic reasons, as it allowed the re-use of theme songs and puppets, thus saving money on recording and manufacture.

Lord Belborough invites everyone to the grounds of Winkstead Hall after the daily 6 o'clock whistle (which marks the end of the day's work at the local biscuit factory), when he plays his vintage Dutch organ, while the workers dance. This scene forms the conclusion of each episode.

Chigley also happened to be the first programme on the BBC to feature the copyright year in Roman numerals in the credits (MCMLXIX) nearly seven years prior to most other regular BBC programmes from 1976 (MCMLXXVI) to the present time.[ citation needed ]

Episodes

Episode titles were given in Radio Times but were not shown on-screen.

No.TitleOriginal air date
1"Lord Belborough's Secret
(Dr Mopp (Camberwick Green))"
6 October 1969 (1969-10-06)
2"Bessie to the Rescue
(Farmer Jonathan Bell (Bell's Farm near Camberwick Green))"
13 October 1969 (1969-10-13)
3"The Balloon Flight
(The Mayor of Trumpton (Trumpton Market Square, Trumpton))"
20 October 1969 (1969-10-20)
4"The Fountain
(PC McGarry (Camberwick Green))"
27 October 1969 (1969-10-27)
5"The Garden Wall
(Mr Crockett the Garage Man (Crockett's Garage near Camberwick Green))"
3 November 1969 (1969-11-03)
6"Binnie and Bessie
(Roger Varley the Sweep (Camberwick Green))"
10 November 1969 (1969-11-10)
7"Lord Belborough's Lucky Day
(Thomas Tripp the Milkman (Tripp's Dairy near Camberwick Green))"
17 November 1969 (1969-11-17)
8"The Broken Bridge
(Mr Carraway the Fishmonger (Camberwick Green))"
24 November 1969 (1969-11-24)
9"Clay for Mr Farthing (Mr Wantage and Fred the Telephone Men
(Trumpton Market Square, Trumpton))"
1 December 1969 (1969-12-01)
10"Trouble with the Crane
(Mr Rumpling the Barge Driver (Trumpton Canal between Trumpton and Chigley))"
8 December 1969 (1969-12-08)
11"Apples Galore
(Mickey Murphy the Baker (Camberwick Green))"
15 December 1969 (1969-12-15)
12"Willie Munn
(Mr Clamp the Greengrocer (Trumpton Market Square, Trumpton))"
22 December 1969 (1969-12-22)
13"A Present for Lord Belborough
(Mr Antonio the Ice Cream Man (Trumpton Market Square, Trumpton))"
29 December 1969 (1969-12-29)

Characters

Winkstead Hall

The Winkstead Hall estate is a large stately home whose activities, including a heritage railway, dominate life in Chigley village.

The Villagers

Only a relatively small number of Chigley villagers are introduced in the series, as many storylines involve existing Trumpton or Camberwick Green characters visiting Chigley.

The biscuit factory

The factory is the village's chief source of employment. Cresswell's Chigley Biscuits is the company which owns and operates the facility, and operates a fleet of delivery lorries transporting the finished biscuits from the factory to the railway station at Wintlebury.

Visitors

Chigley was frequently visited by tradesmen and other characters from neighbouring communities, allowing the re-use of Trumpton and Camberwick Green figures.

Unseen characters

Home releases

In 1984, 15 years after its broadcast on the BBC in 1969. Longman Video released one video with the first four episodes as part of its 'Children's Treasury' collection.

VHS video titleYear of
release
Episodes
Chigley (SLL 5025)1984
  • "Lord Belborough's Secret"
  • "Bessie to the Rescue"
  • "The Balloon Flight"
  • "The Fountain"

5 years later, in 1989, the BBC released a video with the three more episodes (ep.13 A Present for Lord Belborough, ep.11 Apples Galore and ep.10 Trouble with the Crane).

VHS video titleYear of releaseEpisodes
Chigley 1- A Present for Lord Belborough (BBCV 4232)10 April 1989
  • "A Present for Lord Belborough"
  • "Apples Galore"

  • "Trouble with the Crane"

And in 1996–1997, Telstar Video Entertainment released two videos as part of its 'Star Kids' range.

VHS video titleYear of releaseEpisodes
Let's Visit Chigley (TVE 3014)7 October 1996
  • "Bessie to the Rescue"
  • "Lord Belborough's Secret"
  • "The Balloon Flight"
  • "The Fountain"
A Ride To Chigley (TVE 3021)12 May 1997
  • "Trouble with the Crane"
  • "A Present for Lord Belborough"
  • "Apples Galore"

  • "The Broken Bridge"

In 2011, Chigley and the two earlier series Camberwick Green and Trumpton were digitally-restored from the rediscovered original film masters. [1] [2]

Credits

Cultural references

References and notes

  1. 1 2 "New, new Barney McGrew: Trumpton and Camberwick Green cleaned up". The Guardian. 13 January 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  2. "December 2011: BBC Studios and Post Production digitally restores all 39 episodes of the first children’s animated colour television series" Archived 18 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine , BBC Studios and Post Production

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