Trumpton

Trumpton first appeared on BBC television on 3 January 1967. The stop-motion animation enlarged on the world of Trumptonshire created by Gordon Murray, first seen the previous year in Camberwick Green. Brian Cant narrated all the characters in Alison Prince's script and sang Freddie Phillips’ songs, while the puppets were brought to life by Bob Bura and John Hardwick. In the title sequence Cant introduced the town clock "telling the time for Trumpton".

Every week a minor emergency led to the call-out of the Trumpton fire brigade, led by Captain Flack: Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble, Grubb. They never put out any fires, but searched for missing artists, rescued the Mayor’s hat from a tree, removed fallen branches, unblocked the movement of the town clock and rescued a rocking horse containing Chippy Minton’s savings from a bonfire (which was unlit). At the end of each episode the band concert was a welcome release from the tension.

Only 13 episodes of Trumpton were made, but Trumptonshire was revisited in 1969 with Chigley. Trumpton was first shown in black and white but later repeats revealed the bright colour in which it was made. Other children’s animations such as Postman Pat and Fireman Sam can be said to be influenced by its everyday setting. Gordon Murray died in 2016 but the enduring influence of Trumpton can be seen – recently cropping up in the promo for the Radiohead song "Burn the Witch".