Chigley

Chigley
Genre	Stop motion animation
Written by	Gordon Murray
Narrated by	Brian Cant
Theme music composer	Freddie Phillips
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	13
Production
Producer(s)	Gordon Murray
Running time	15 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	BBC One
Original run	6 October 1969 (1969-10-06) – 29 December 1969 (1969-12-29)
Chronology
Preceded by	Trumpton

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

As in Camberwick Green and Trumpton, the action centres around a small community, in this case the fictitious village or hamlet of Chigley, near Camberwick Green in Trumptonshire. Chigley is more of an industrial area, and according to Gordon Murray, the three communities are at the corners of an equilateral triangle.

As with the other two series, the original masters seem to have been lost, and the surviving versions of most episodes are extremely grainy and scratched. However, a remastered version of the entire Trumptonshire trilogy was issued on DVD in 2009 to mark the series' fortieth anniversary.

Characters

Unlike Trumpton, Chigley includes many guest appearances by characters from the previous two series, including Windy Miller of Camberwick Green, and the Trumpton Fire Brigade, complete with their famous roll-call. This was at least partly for economic reasons, as it allowed the established characters' theme songs to be re-used, thus saving money on recording.

Notable new characters include Mr Swallow of Treddle's Wharf, Mr Cresswell, owner of Cresswell's Chigley Biscuit factory, Harry Farthing the potter and his daughter Winnie, and last but not least Lord Belborough of Winkstead Hall and his butler Brackett, who also operate a private railway that seems to run through most of Trumptonshire. Each week Lord Belborough and Brackett can usually be seen rushing to someone's assistance in their vintage steam engine, Bessie.

As with the other series, everybody's problems are sorted out by the end of each episode and Lord Belborough invites everyone to the gardens of Winkstead Hall after the 6 o'clock whistle which sounds the end of the day's work at the local biscuit factory. Lord Belborough plays his vintage Dutch organ while the locals dance, and then the episode fades out.

Lord Belborough's song (by Gordon Murray and Freddie Phillips)

Time flies by when I'm the driver of a train

And I ride on the footplate, there and back again.

Under bridges, over bridges, to our destination

Puffing through the countryside there's so much to be seen;

Passengers waving as we steam through a station,

Stoke up, fireman, for the signal is at green:

Time flies by when I'm the driver of a train

And I ride on the footplate, there and back again.

In the cutting, through the tunnel,

Rushing, clanking, on the track;

Wheezing pistons, smoking funnels,

Turning wheels go clickety-clack:

Time flies by when I'm the driver of a train

And I ride on the footplate, there and back again.

(The Trumptonshire Web)

Episodes

1. "Lord Belborough's Secret" (6 October 1969)
2. "Bessie to the Rescue" (13 October 1969)
3. "The Balloon" (20 October 1969)
4. "The Fountain" (27 October 1969)
5. "The Garden Wall" (3 November 1969)
6. "Binnie and Bessie" (10 November 1969)
7. "Lord Belborough's Lucky Day" (17 November 1969)
8. "The Broken Bridge" (24 November 1969)
9. "Clay for Mr Farthing" (1 December 1969)
10. "Trouble with the Crane" (8 December 1969)
11. "Apples Galore" (15 December 1969)
12. "Willie Munn" (22 December 1969)
13. "A Present for Lord Belborough" (29 December 1969)

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

VHS and DVD Releases

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

VHS video title	Year of release	Episodes
Chigley (SLL 5025)	1984	Lord Belborough's Secret, Bessie to the Rescue, The Balloon and the Fountain.

later in 1989 the BBC released a video with the last three episodes (including ep13 Mickey Murphy the Baker as the first episode, ep11 Apples Garlore as the second episode and ep10 Trouble with the Crane as last episode.

VHS video title	Year of release	Episodes
Chigley 1- A Present for Lord Belborough (BBCV 4232)	1989	A Present for Lord Belborough, Apples Galore, Trouble with the Crane.

then in 1996-1997 Telstar Home Entertainnment as part of its 'Star Kids' range released two videos.

VHS video title	Year of release	Episodes
Let's Visit Chigley (TVE 3014)	1996	Bessie to the Rescue, Lord Belborough's Secret, The Balloon. the Fountain
A Ride To Chigley (TVE 3021)	1997	Trouble with the Crane, A Present for Lord Belborough, Apples Galore, The Broken Bridge.

Cultural references

• The indie group Half Man Half Biscuit parodied the Chigley Train Song in their song "Time Flies By (When You're the Driver of a Train)".
• In the comic book Preacher, the train song was sung by Jesus de Sade, a sexually depraved character, whilst riding a bicycle, naked.

References and notes

External links

• The Trumptonshire Web
• The Trumptonshire Trilogy
• BBC Radio 4 Sunday Best - Here is a Box, a Musical Box
• Chigley at the Internet Movie Database
• Chigley at TV.com