Camberwick Green ran for a single series of 13 episodes in 1966, but did you know that this wasn't the end of life in Camberwick Green? This extended universe was contained within the pages of the Pippin in Playland comic and remained forgotten by almost everyone. Until today.
These continuing adventures for Gordon Murray’s finest came several years after Chigley aired in 1969, a fact which underlines how enduringly popular they were. Whether Gordon Murray was involved in these extracurricular activities is difficult to confirm. In fact, there appear to be no hard facts available that he had anything to do with them. Sure, the strips are titled Gordon Murray’s Camberwick Green, but this may simply have been a licensing requirement.
Nonetheless, they are official and can be considered canon. Naturally, the real fun comes from reading these tales, so let’s stop faffing about and take a look at them.
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First up, we have the curious tale of Peter Hazel’s uniform. In terms of narrative, it’s slight and basic. Peter doesn’t have a spare uniform, so he borrows a policeman’s uniform from PC McGarry and delivers the mail. It ends rather suddenly and a little awkwardly. I, at least, was left thinking “Was that it?!” But it captures the gentle world of Camberwick Green perfectly, and the cutesy illustrations are in keeping with the programme’s aesthetics.
Moving forward a few issues, we’re treated to a mini-narrative centring around the chaos of Roger Varley’s painted fence. Again, it’s an adventure which contains only the mildest brand of peril, but it’s nicely farcical and would have amused a three-year-old in 1977. I prefer this strip much more to the others, as it has something to get your teeth into, some japes and an actual ending.
Each issue also features a four-panel strip titled Chigley & Trumpton. These are ridiculously basic in terms of story, taking just 10 seconds each to read, although digesting them is hardly going to waste your life away. They’re as forgettable as they come, and the dentist one feels oddly un-Trumptonshire, but I’d rather have these than no additional Trumptonshire tales.
Would I spend much more time (or indeed money) tracking down more examples of these 'new' Camberwick Green stories? The answer is a resolute NO, but it has reminded just how glorious the original series was. And that's a fine state of mind to be in.
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