Review of Chigley: The Complete Collection

Introduction

Chigley was the third and final instalment of Gordon Murray`s Trumptonshire trilogy and added a new cast of characters to the familiar roll-call from the previous shows.

Premiering in 1969, the show is probably not as fondly remembered as its predecessors although it is full of memorable characters and adventures. Camberwick Green had been character driven - each episode centred on a specific character who emerged from the musical box in the preamble. Trumpton had focussed on storylines, and Chigley continued the trend. As before, the stories were moved on in song by Brian Cant, and there were regularly repeated elements as Trumpton had been famous for.

Chigley introduced local bigwig Lord Bellborough, who operated his own private goods railway with his steam engine Bessie. There were other new characters, but this time they were backed up by characters from Camberwick Green and Trumpton (there was little if any crossover between CG and Trumpton, but characters from the previous shows regularly showed up in Chigley). Episodes always ended with the workers at the local factory coming out for an end-of-shift dance in front of Bellborough`s Dutch organ, which was a bit twee even for those days.

Having said that, as what can be seen as the poor relation of the three Trumptonshire series, Chigley still has a lot of charm and stands up very well in spite of the passage of time. If you`re buying the first two series, you have to buy Chigley, but if you only want one show, then Trumpton is probably the best of the three.

Video

Soho video specialists Machine Room carried out the digital restoration of the three Trumpton series. The shows look a little soft-focus and colours are maybe a little oversaturated, but they look better than they have in the past and are probably as good as this show can ever hope to look. The episodes are presented in their original 4:3.

Audio

The sound is in Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono and was restored and declicked at the same time as the picture was restored.

Features

Alongside the "art" gallery and trailer gallery of other Right Entertainment releases to be seen on the other discs, the Chigley disc includes a short six-minute featurette about Restoring Trumptonshire that is more interesting than most restoration-type featurettes I have seen in the past.

Conclusion

You`ll probably be driven insane by the waltz played by Lord Bellborough`s Dutch street organ, but Chigley is an excellent last chapter to Gordon Murray`s Trumptonshire trilogy. Fortysomething saddoes like myself having bought the three discs may overdose on teeny-nostalgia, but I can guarantee that they will keep any five-year-old Bob The Builder fan quiet.