On 3 January 1966 Camberwick Green became the latest addition to Watch with Mother, the strand of children's programmes. Viewers met Peter the Postman, who was introduced rising from a revolving musical box. The other villagers included Micky Murphy the baker, Dr Mopp, Mr Carraway the fishmonger, Mrs Dingle the postmistress, salesman Mr Dagenham, Roger Varley the chimney sweep and Windy Miller, who ran the windmill.
Quite often a small crisis befell the villagers – such as there being no wind to power the sails on Windy's windmill – and it was up to Captain Snort, Sgt Major Grout and the soldiers at Pippin Fort to sort it out. As an evocation of village life Camberwick Green was already dated in 1966, but that added to its charm.
Brian Cant narrated Camberwick Green, and sang Freddie Phillips' songs. It was created by Gordon Murray, who honed his craft in the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Puppet Theatre but risked his own money on the success of the programme. The stop motion animation was done by Bob Bura and John Hardwick on sets by Margaret and Andrew Brownfoot.
The success of Camberwick Green led to an expansion of Trumptonshire, with first Trumpton and then Chigley. Only 13 episodes of each series were made - partly because stop-motion animation is so laborious to make - but filming in colour ensured the programmes had long lives. The Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's commitment to beautifully crafted children’s programmes continues today with shows such as Shaun the Sheep.
January anniversaries
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The Six Wives of Henry VIII
1 January 1970 -
The Brains Trust
1 January 1941 -
The Archers
1 January 1951 -
Z Cars
2 January 1962 -
Trumpton
3 January 1967 -
Open University
3 January 1971 -
Camberwick Green
3 January 1966 -
Final edition of The Listener published
3 January 1991 -
Gardeners' World
5 January 1968 -
A Question of Sport
5 January 1970 -
Forces Programme
7 January 1940 -
Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit
10 January 1990 -
First in-vision television weather forecaster
11 January 1954 -
The League of Gentlemen
11 January 1999 -
Goodness Gracious Me
12 January 1998 -
Listen with Mother
16 January 1950 -
Life On Earth
16 January 1979 -
First episode of Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Breakfast Time
17 January 1983 -
Blankety Blank
18 January 1979 -
The Week's Good Cause
24 January 1926 -
Under Milk Wood
25 January 1954 -
Television Dancing Club
27 January 1948 -
Desert Island Discs
29 January 1942 -
Newsnight
30 January 1980 -
The State Funeral of Sir Winston Churchill
30 January 1965 -
Alas Smith and Jones
31 January 1984