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THE TRUMPTONSHIRE TRILOGY
CAMBERWICK GREEN,TRUMPTON AND CHIGLEY
OLDER DVD RELEASES Now all deleted,but still available 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.Which sounds awful,but isn't really.And 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, 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
The problem with emblazoning the sleeves with "digitally restored" is that you kind of assume it'll look like the latest Hollywood blockbuster released 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 variations in both clarity and exposure levels are still quite noticeable from episode to episode.And some are quite badly affected by picture wobble too.
But the good news is that the budget didn't allow them to go as far as they apparently could have done.And the clean-up technology should also improve in the coming years too.So it's possibly not the best we'll ever see them.
And better to step in now with some remedial work than let the original footage deteriorate for another 5 years or so.
Which is particualrly nice to know they're being saved for future generations.
But I don't think any Trumptonshire veterans will let a few minor imperfections get in the way of a lot of happy memories.
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.
A REVIEW OF THE 2006 BOXSET
The Extras
Described as "Exciting bonus extras",sadly they're some way short of that.
Trumpton dvd - "Creating Trumptonshire"
There's a brief interview with Gordon Murray and some shots of the original animation process which is great.
But it lasts under 3 minutes (not mentioned on the sleeve) and isn't even new material but simply lifted from the 2005 BBC3 series "Animation Nation".And as it's simply a chunk lifted out un-editied,there's one particular guy happily chatting about the series whose identity is a complete mystery.
In short,it's just plain lazy and actually quite insulting.
Why they didn't just sit Gordon down and get their own definitive interview I've no idea.It would've been the ideal opportunity to get a proper,full-length one-to-one with him on film ......before it's too late.Cheap to do,and I'm sure he would've been only happy to oblige,which makes it all the more frustrating.
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 when they each came out then you'd have cause to be miffed.Because with each costing around 11.99 you'd have paid out a total of around 36 pounds as opposed to the 16 pounds for the boxset .(based on the best available prices available around the time of release)
Ironically,it could work out cheaper now if you were to buy them seperately...if you can live without the cardboard box.
Camberwick dvd - "Trumptonshire Art Gallery"
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 this sure as hell wouldn't qualify.
It's actually so ridiculous it's almost comical.And whilst you'd think it was hard to short-change every possible age-group, they've managed to pull it off admirably.
The most recent dvd is this complete boxset
Released on September 25th, 2006.
But.....The 3 dvds it contains (pictured below) had all been released seperately earlier in the year.
Trumpton - March 27th
Camberwick - May 8th
and Chigley - June 9th.
And the only differences you get by buying the boxset are different menu designs and a nicely printed cardboard box.With the sleeves & extras unchanged.
And whilst HMV did sell a version,exclusive to them,that
that included 4 fridge magnets,
you'd be right in thinking that this
was at best uninspired and at
worst pretty cynical.
Thankfully,cynicism doesn't exist
here in Trumptonshire of course.
But no-one felt like bursting into
song either.So,enough said !
Trivia- I'm grateful to 2 correspondants for pointing out the following about the above cover.
1) It's actually a take-off of the "Trainspotting" film poster.Although "The Usual Suspects" might be more appropriate. And,
2) That's actually Sergeant Major Grout pictured and not Captain Snort. Which is an easy mistake to make,but not if you're paid to get it right.
ON THIS PAGE -details of all the dvd releases,starting with the most recent.
Trumpton clickable
Chigley dvd - "Restoring Trumptonshire"
Well,what do you know ? Just for once,Chiggers isn't 3rd out of 3.
Not to say its solitary extra is any great shakes and it didn't have much to beat.
But nevermind.It's "nul point" for Camberwick,and "bienvenue" to Chigley,which you don't hear very often.And certainly never by the Luxembourg jury.
It's a look at the digital restoration process that supposedly sets these releases 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 also leads nicely into the last part of the review...........
