without the deaths and somewhat unusual methods of execution...

I have been known to mention, on occasion, Camberwick Green, or Trumpton or PC McGarry or very occasionally Chigley.

To some people, probably to a lot of people these names mean nothing, but they have been brought back to my mind by the fact that my sister has bought a DVD box-set of the aforementioned Camberwick Green.

This was a British children's television series featuring stop-motion puppets. It was made before I was old enough to enjoy it, but I have memories of it being repeated as I got older. It was actually one of the first British television series filmed in colour, a major mile-stone in TV history. Okay, maybe not, but something I think worthy of note.

First of all a quick explanation of stop-motion, and I quote “Stop motion (also known as stop frame) is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence. Dolls with movable joints or clay figures are often used in stop motion for their ease of repositioning. Stop motion animation using clay is called clay animation or "clay-mation". Thank you Wikipedia.

The series is set in the picturesque and fictitious village of Camberwick Green, Trumptonshire, The county of Trumptonshire could be described as a plasticine version of Midsomer (as featured in Midsomer Murders/Inspector Barnaby) but without the deaths and somewhat unusual methods of execution, (death by pitch-fork, death by wine bottle, death by drowning in a beer cask, etc, etc, etc).

The village is inhabited by characters such as Police Constable McGarry (Number 452), not exactly Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby (either Tom or John), but the sole representative of law enforcement none the less. This makes me think that there is an extremely low crime rate and my comparison with Midsomer and the surrounding area isn’t that accurate. But I digress.

There is the local baker is Mickey Murphy. Then there is Dr Mopp (who makes house calls in his vintage car, not sure if it’s a Ford Model T, but it’s rather nice) and looks a bit like a bespectacled Abraham Lincoln.

Mrs Honeyman, is the local gossip who is always seen carrying her baby. This probably suggests that she isn’t as old as she first appears, as she seems to dress in Victorian garb, as indeed do most of the villagers.

Every week the villagers underwent such crises as a shortage of flour; a swarm of bees; a water shortage; and rumours of an unwanted electrical sub-station being built in the village, as I said before Midsomer without the deaths and somewhat unusual methods of execution.

Outside of the village there is Jonathan Bell, who owns the "modern mechanical farm", who is a friendly business rival of owner of a creaking old windmill, Windy Miller. Windy is a firm believer in old-fashioned farming methods. He is probably one of those ‘We don’t like strangers in these here parts’ that you would see at the start of An American Werewolf in London. Or maybe not.

Every once in a while there is the appearance of the staff and cadets of Pippin Fort, a nearby military academy run by Captain Snort and Sergeant-Major Grout.

You see what I mean about the similarities between this and Midsomer Murders? No? So it’s just me then?

Anyway, one of the things I did notice was the titles of many of the programmes in the Trumptonshire series and how they would suit themselves to crime stories. Most of which fall into Sherlock Holmes titles...

1. Peter the Postman (or rather Sherlock Holmes and The Adventure of...)
2. Mr Crockett, the Garage Man (or rather Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of...)
3. Farmer Jonathan Bell (or how about Sherlock Holmes and the Disappearance of...)
4. PC McGarry (Sherlock Holmes, Inspector Lestrade and...)
5. "Mr Dagenham, the Salesman" (7 March 1966)
6. "Mr Carraway, the Fishmonger" (14 March 1966)
7. "Mickey Murphy, the Baker" (21 March 1966)
8. "Mrs Honeyman and Her Baby" (28 March 1966) The Strange Case of...

As for Trumpton, well the episode titles are as follows:

1. "The Printer and the Bill Poster" (or rather Sherlock Holmes and The Adventure of...)
2. "Miss Lovelace and the Mayor's Hat" (or rather Sherlock Holmes and The Adventure of...)
3. "Mrs Cobbit, the Ice Cream Man and the Branch" (or rather Sherlock Holmes and The Adventure of...)
4. "Miss Lovelace and the Statue" (or rather Sherlock Holmes and The Adventure of...)
5. "Mr Platt and the Painter" (or rather Sherlock Holmes and The Adventure of...)

As with Camberwick Green and Trumpton, the action centres on a small community, in this case the fictitious hamlet of Chigley, near Camberwick Green in Trumptonshire. Chigley is more of an industrial area, but still worthy of a mention. It also has landed gentry, one Lord Belborough and he seems to take up quite a few of the episode titles. So here goes.

1. "Lord Belborough's Secret" (or rather Sherlock Holmes and The Adventure of...)
2. "Lord Belborough's Lucky Day" (or rather Sherlock Holmes and The Adventure of...)
3. "The Broken Bridge" (or rather Sherlock Holmes and The Adventure of...)
4. "Willie Munn" (or rather Sherlock Holmes and The Adventure of...)

I think you get the idea now. Anyway, it was just another of my random thoughts passing through my random mind. Rather similar to the “James Bond” and “Cheese” blog entry some time back. 

And with that thought, I leave you to your day. 

Thank you.