Chigley | |
---|---|
Genre | Stop motion animation |
Written by | Gordon Murray |
Narrated by | Brian Cant |
Theme music composer | Freddie Phillips |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 1 |
No. of episodes | 13 |
Production | |
Producer | Gordon Murray |
Animator | |
Running time | 15 minutes |
Production company | Gordon Murray Productions |
Original release | |
Network | BBC 1 |
Release | 6 October – 29 December 1969 |
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 .
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]
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 ]
Episode titles were given in Radio Times but were not shown on-screen.
This section needs a plot summary.(April 2024) |
No. | Title | Original air date |
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1 | "Lord Belborough's Secret (Dr Mopp (Camberwick Green))" | 6 October 1969 |
2 | "Bessie to the Rescue (Farmer Jonathan Bell (Bell's Farm near Camberwick Green))" | 13 October 1969 |
3 | "The Balloon Flight (The Mayor of Trumpton (Trumpton Market Square, Trumpton))" | 20 October 1969 |
4 | "The Fountain (PC McGarry (Camberwick Green))" | 27 October 1969 |
5 | "The Garden Wall (Mr Crockett the Garage Man (Crockett's Garage near Camberwick Green))" | 3 November 1969 |
6 | "Binnie and Bessie (Roger Varley the Sweep (Camberwick Green))" | 10 November 1969 |
7 | "Lord Belborough's Lucky Day (Thomas Tripp the Milkman (Tripp's Dairy near Camberwick Green))" | 17 November 1969 |
8 | "The Broken Bridge (Mr Carraway the Fishmonger (Camberwick Green))" | 24 November 1969 |
9 | "Clay for Mr Farthing (Mr Wantage and Fred the Telephone Men (Trumpton Market Square, Trumpton))" | 1 December 1969 |
10 | "Trouble with the Crane (Mr Rumpling the Barge Driver (Trumpton Canal between Trumpton and Chigley))" | 8 December 1969 |
11 | "Apples Galore (Mickey Murphy the Baker (Camberwick Green))" | 15 December 1969 |
12 | "Willie Munn (Mr Clamp the Greengrocer (Trumpton Market Square, Trumpton))" | 22 December 1969 |
13 | "A Present for Lord Belborough (Mr Antonio the Ice Cream Man (Trumpton Market Square, Trumpton))" | 29 December 1969 |
The Winkstead Hall estate is a large stately home whose activities, including a heritage railway, dominate life in Chigley village.
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 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.
Chigley was frequently visited by tradesmen and other characters from neighbouring communities, allowing the re-use of Trumpton and Camberwick Green figures.
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 title | Year of release | Episodes |
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Chigley (SLL 5025) | 1984 |
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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 title | Year of release | Episodes |
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Chigley 1- A Present for Lord Belborough (BBCV 4232) | 10 April 1989 |
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And in 1996–1997, Telstar Video Entertainment released two videos as part of its 'Star Kids' range.
VHS video title | Year of release | Episodes |
---|---|---|
Let's Visit Chigley (TVE 3014) | 7 October 1996 |
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A Ride To Chigley (TVE 3021) | 12 May 1997 |
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In 2011, Chigley and the two earlier series Camberwick Green and Trumpton were digitally-restored from the rediscovered original film masters. [1] [2]
Camberwick Green is a British children's television series that ran from January to March 1966 on BBC1, featuring stop motion puppets. Camberwick Green is the first in the Trumptonshire trilogy, which also includes Trumpton and Chigley.
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