THE TRUMPTONSHIRE TRILOGY

CAMBERWICK GREEN,TRUMPTON AND CHIGLEY

OLDER DVD RELEASES

Now all deleted but still crop up on ebay.

The original full 39 episode boxset,released in April 2003,and deleted in June 2005.

The footage on this is simply a less refined version than the one above.

And it's undeniably mixed here,with some episodes emerging worse than others.With

judder,a general lack of sharpness,quite a lot of extraneous marks on the film and very

variable exposure.Sounds awful,but isn't really.The quality's still chalk & cheese when

compared to the VHS.And even when comparing with the more recent release you're

unlikely to be knocked sideways by the difference.

So if you're not bothered about the complete absence of any extras,can live with a bit

more of the original 'patina' and can get it at a better price then why not ?

You could pick it up for as little as £9.99 from an online retailer like play.com when it was

still on general release.But,incredibly,it was deleted just prior to the the launch of the

Quaker tv ads and the upsurge in interest pushed eBay prices up to the 50 pound mark.

With the highest that I'm aware of being a staggering £ 87 (yes,I did say eighty seven).

Proof here.

But that was then,& it's a cheaper option than it's successor when it crops up these days.

Picture Quality

I can't help feeling that the problem with emblazoning the sleeves with "digitally restored" is that it somehow gives the viewer the feeling that it'll look like the latest Hollywood blockbuster filmed only 4 months ago,rather than 40 years.

But there are 2 things that help to bring us quickly back to reality.

Firstly,common sense and the hard-won knowledge that things are rarely as good as you hope they'll be.

And secondly,the tiny lettering on the back that tells you "Please note that whilst every care has been taken to ensure the quality of this programme,due to the age of the original materials the technical quality of the programme may be slightly impaired in places"

Which is perfectly fair enough of course.It's exactly what we should expect and exactly what we get.

The footage is undeniably "cleaner" and overall it's certainly an improvement over the earlier releases.But clarity and exposure levels are still variable and judder is still present.Which may be because the budget didn't allow them to go as far as they apparently could have done.Although how much difference that extra half mile would have made is anyone's guess of course.And,judging by the surreal-looking and thankfully unrepresentative figures on the box,we may have been saved from airbrush hell.

But it's only tinkering when all's said and done,and just an excuse to get some more product on the shelves.

It's a well-known scientific fact that minor imperfections disappear when you've got your rose-tinted specs on anyway. And frankly who cares when you're just after a few happy memories  ?

And the new generation of viewers   ? Well,they'll either find it engaging or they won't.Simple as that.

And if they don't then you clearly have to blame the parents rather than any deficiencies in Trumptonshire.

Not sure what for though..................but how about "sub-standard indoctrination" lol !

Anyhow,deleted or not,they're all still available. And I hope this page has been helpful.

These last 3 were the very first dvds to be released.

Several anomalies here.With the main one being that the Camberwick example doesn't appear to have been released until after the first boxset and over 2 years after its Trumpton and Chigley counterparts.Very bizarre (if indeed true)

Camberwick   Released June 2004 : Deleted August 2004.

Only 12 of the 13 episodes are featured.

With the "Mr.Dagenham" one absent for some reason.

Trumpton   Released March 2002 : Deleted June 2005.

There's a major error on the sleeve notes for this one.

Because whilst it states there are only 8 episodes,it does actually contain all 13

Chigley   Released March 2002 : Deleted June 2005.

This time the sleeve is correct ie.there are indeed just the 8 episodes.

In short,a bit of a mish mash,but all fairly irrelevant now in view of what's come out subsequently.

Page updated

Feb.2008

A REVIEW OF THE 2006 BOXSET

The Extras

Described as "Exciting bonus extras",sadly they're tantalising at best.

The Trumpton dvd

-This one falls into the "tantalising" category as it has an interview with Gordon Murray and some shots of the original animation process (below)

But it lasts under 3 minutes (not mentioned on the sleeve) and isn't new

material but simply lifted from the BBC3 series "Animation Nation" (which is)

And as it's a chunk simply lifted out un-editied,there's one particular guy

happily chatting about the series whose identity is a complete mystery.

Why they didn't just sit Gordon down and get their own more in-depth

interview I've no idea.It would've been the ideal opportunity to get a

definitive one-to-one with him on film ......before it's too late.Although I'm glad

to say he looks fine,despite clearly suffering from bad arthritis in his hands.

And I'm sure he would've been only happy to oblige too. Sigh.

Some nice glimpses of the original animation process though,revealing the

actual size and scale of the models and sets.

But not very much to hang yer hat on though.Very disappointing in fact.

Stop motion animators really are an amazing bunch.

Painstakingly creating movement with a succession of thousands of tiny little alterations and still frames.

A sort of magical 3D flip-chart.

And one of the few things where a look behind the scenes can increase the sense of wonder rather than diminish it.

A pretty timeless process too. Because if  you add in a few more high tech gizmo's and take away the cardies & the sideburns,it could just as easily be Wallace & Gromit being created here.

Ok,a greatly refined version using plasticine & lip syncing,but same basic principle.

Would I have the patience   ?  No.

Are they  slightly certifiable for putting themselves through it   ?

Well,probably "yes",but it's our extreme good fortune that they do.

It pays to wait........

As stated above,the 3 dvds in the boxset are exactly the same products that came out individually earlier in 2006 -including the sleeves and plastic cases.

And if you were one of those people that bought all 3, then the the boxset's arrival may have left you feeling a bit cheated.Because with each seperate dvd costing around 11.99 you'd have paid out a total of around 36 quid as opposed to the 16 pounds for the boxset .(based on the best available prices available around the time of release and assuming all 3 were bought).

Prices now   ?  Well,ironically,it may even work out cheaper now to buy them seperately.........

..........if you can live without the cardboard box.

The Extras continued

The Camberwick dvd

This one is the lamest of the 3,with something called the "Trumptonshire Art gallery",which is simply a paltry collection of 8 stills from the series.

In their defence,the original pre-release blurb had mentioned a feature on the Quaker Oats ads,which was clearly pulled quite late-on for some unknown reason.

But,Blimey O'Reilly ! If there isn't some kind of minimum requirement for something to be called an "extra" then there should be,and whatever it is then this sure as hell wouldn't qualify.

It's actually so inadequate it's almost comical.And I doubt even a tot would waste a perfectly good eggy soldier by tossing it at the screen in protest.

The Chigley dvd

Well,what do you know   ?  For once,dear old Chiggers isn't 3rd of 3.

Not to say it 's solitary extra is any great shakes and frankly anything had to be better than the Camberwick one.

But nevermind.It's "bienvenue" to Chigley and "nul point" for Camberwick,and you don't hear that said too often.And certainly never by the Luxembourg jury.

And what we get here is a look at the digital restoration process that supposedly sets these apart from the previous offerings.And whilst it'll detain you twice as long as the Trumpton extra,that's still only about 6 minutes in total.

But it is actually quite interesting and I'll include more on it here when I get the time.

And it also leads quite nicely into the last part of our look at them...........

The most recent dvd is this complete boxset

Released on September 25th, 2006.

The 3 seperately packaged dvds it contains (below)  had actually been released seperately earlier in the yr.

Trumpton - March 27th,2006

Camberwick  - May 8th,2006

Chigley - June 9th,2006.

Which explains why you see them popping up individually on ebay too.

In fact,the only extra you get by buying this boxset is a nicely printed cardboard box.Because the dvd's are completely unchanged.

There was one exception to that

with this effort,exclusive to HMV,

that included 4 fridge magnets.

Not much of an extra incentive,

but more marketing imagination

than anyone else could muster.

REVIEWED FURTHER DOWN

Trivia- The cover's a take-off of the "Trainspotting" film poster apparently.Although "The Usual Suspects" might have been more appropriate.

ON THIS PAGE -details of all the dvd releases,starting with the most recent.

Trumpton clickable