Camberwick Green

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Camberwick Green ranks 5,021 out of the 18,225 shows on TV.com.

The 5 users who count themselves as Camberwick Green fans have written a total of 3 reviews.

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For Brits of a certain age, Camberwick Green is a programme guaranteed to spark nostalgia. At the start of each episode, we saw a tall, hexagonal box sitting on a table. This was to be our way in to the charmingly old-fashioned world of Windy Miller, Mrs Honeyman the gossip, PC McGarry ("number four! five! two!")... more »

For Brits of a certain age, Camberwick Green is a programme guaranteed to spark nostalgia. At the start of each episode, we saw a tall, hexagonal box sitting on a table. This was to be our way in to the charmingly old-fashioned world of Windy Miller, Mrs Honeyman the gossip, PC McGarry ("number four! five! two!") and the rest.

Here is a box, a musical box,
Wound up and ready to play.
But this box can hide
A secret inside.
Can you guess what is in it today?

And from the box would emerge one of the residents of Camberwick Green. Following a brief chat between the narrator (Brian Cant) and the character (who would respond to Cant's questions silently with nods, shrugs and shakes of the head), the scene mixed through into Camberwick Green itself - a quiet country village with all the basic amenities (bakery, butcher, garage) and, in the land surrounding it, Windy Miller's windmill, Jonathan Bell's farm and the army fort commanded by Captain Snort, whose personnel seemed to spend most of their time doing odd jobs for the villagers.

Although Camberwick Green was looking back to a bygone era even in 1966, its olde-worlde charm still stands up well today. The animators, Bura & Hardwick, were shrewd enough to film the whole series in colour (even though British TV was still resolutely monochrome at the time), ensuring regular repeats for the series for over twenty years. Two generations grew up with the characters of Camberwick Green and its sequels, Trumpton and Chigley, and it remains one of the true classics of British television.less «

From the Forums

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  8.8 Great

  Here is a box, a musical box..., hide « show »

  ...wound up and ready to play. But, this box can hide a secret inside it. Can you guess what is in it today?
  
  So began all the episodes of 'Camberwick Green', a peaceful, sleepy village in Trumptonshire, the first of the Gordon Murray puppet series. One would be on the edge of one's seat, trying to guess which character would come turning up out of the music box, to the haunting, high-pitched tune.
  
  It might have been Peter Hazel the Postman, Jonathan Bell the farmer, Mickey Murphy the baker, Mr. Carraway the fishmonger or - best of all - Windy Miller. Each episode centred on this particular character, the story and events developing around him or her. The viewer tended to follow the character through a day, seeing where he or she lived and worked, and trying to join in with his or her own, catchy little song.
  
  For example : "Mr. Murphy is a master baker, pudding, pie and pastry maker, biscuits, buns and birthday cakes; everything is masterly that Murphy makes!"
  
  The episode ended with the character's return inside the musical box, with narrator Brian Cant wishing them, "Good-bye!"
  
  The strengths of the series were its good plots, repeated sequences (so important for children, like the musical box) and its rounded, memorable characters. Who can forget nosey gossip Mrs. Honeyman (we never saw her chemist husband - with a wife like her, he probably never spoke), Mrs. Dingle in the Post Office with her yappy dog Packet, P.C. McGarry Number 452, wealthy Dr. Mopp with his grand house and car and - above all - Windy Miller, with his penchant for home-brewed cider? There was room enough in Camberwick Green for Pippin Fort, where lived Captain Snort, Sergeant Major Grout and the six Privates Armitage, Featherby, Hopwood, Higgins, Lumley and Meek. ("Driving along in an army truck, in a humpity, bumpity army truck..."). Such was their popularity that ornamental figures of many of the characters in 'Camberwick Green', 'Trumpton' and 'Chigley' have been available for sale in the last few years. Videos of some episodes have been also produced. It is a compliment to the programme that I can remember so much about it, so many years later.

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  D-LinkUK Added May 28, 2007 All my reviews
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  8.6 Great

  A funny British comedy. hide « show »

  If this is a show that you do not normally watch and you are sitting at home with nothing to do, you are going to wish you had it on tape. Having it "on tape " had become the generic term for recorded programs. Today you are more likely to have the show on Tivo or DVR than VHS, or god forbid Beta!! It is kind of like how a lot of people still call CD's "records" or "albums." Anyway, back to the show. This is the type of show that is really pretty good if you would just give it a chance. So on those cold, lonely, rainy days, pop in your tape or DVR or whatever if you were smart enough to tape it. If not, check to see if it is on as a re-run. After all, as they say, if you have never seen it, it is new to you.

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  vicmackey31 Added Apr 17, 2006 All my reviews
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  10 Perfect

  Camberwick Green is very nice. I want to see the show again and again. So i give the rating as 10. Very nice picture. hide « show »

  Camberwick Green is very nice. I want to see the show again and again. So i give the rating as 10. Very nice picture.I must have watched this 10 times already. Damn I have no life but it's just THAT good. You have to watch it to believe it. Thank me later.
  

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  aratee76 Added Apr 13, 2006 All my reviews