Camberwick Green

Every time that I hear the theme tune, I wish that I was seven years old again.

What would today's media make of a kids show which features a character who gets drunk in his home made cider?

I remember when I was young and watching this series on television, and loving its simplicity. Now I'm older I have recently watched it on DVD and its just as excellent. It stands the test of time and have since shown it to my nephews, which they love. I whole heartily recommend this series, along with Trumpton and Chigely for young and old alike. It brings back nostalgic smiles and is such a truly well crafted production. 10 out of 10 for a simply brilliant collection to be worthy in anyones DVD collection. The series creator Gordon Murray has produced and created a true masterpiece. The bright colours and ingenious animations instantly will appeal to kids (my nephews are 3 and are glued to the TV when I put in on). The series narrator, Brian Cant does all the voices with enthusiasm and gusto to make the various characters really come alive and keep the small stories interesting. Each of the 3 series is around 13 episodes long and tells short 'tales' from the point-of-view of different people, yet all centre around the feeling of 'community' and 'pulling togeather'. The Music is also very nostalgic and complements the tone of the series nicely and each episode contains a 'charming' little song.

If you saw this as a kid, as soon as you hear the chiming mandolin notes of the opening theme you're mesmerised. This was the model for a thousand kids' shows, but what it has that most of them lack is that quality of calm. It really strikes me, seeing it again after so many years, how deeply it feels rooted in the past. Not the 1960s; with its farm smocks, mutton-chop sidies, penny farthings, windmills and crank-started motor cars, it feels more like the Edwardian era or even earlier. It's all about stability, continuity, and scepticism about change - several eps revolve around some art of the modern 'grid' going wrong, and the villagers having to rely on the old ways as maintained by Windy Miller. This is very much the opposite to the message of kids' programmes today; in fact these seem to be values which have now largely died out, and the battle for modernity (even in the mind) won.

So this is now, even more than at the time, a haven for those of us who feel bruised by the avalanche of improvement coming down on our heads. It's nothing short of amazing that it was created by a total of only seven people - today, with all the improvements, it would take at least a hundred. The stories are nothing much - maybe that's the attraction - but what really makes it is that fantastic acoustic music by Freddie Philipps. He deserves an MBE for it, at least - it just takes you away from yourself and into a better place: Camberwick Green. I suppose he was also responsible for the sound of Windy Miller's sails going round which, once you've heard it, it with you for life.

What amazes me to this day is that Camberwick Green was the only television show ever to really and perfectly cater for the needs of small children and to really adapt the story telling to their viewing habits. The pace is very slow, boring for an adult but just right for a small child to follow. Sets are lovingly made but never with so much detail that you can't take them in and there is a good mix of story telling and music. The 15-minute format is also perfect for a child's attention span. All that is pretty impressive. The show(s) are centered around a handful of characters who turn up over and over again. These characters are lovingly made. Some reviewers have criticized the show for not giving an accurate picture of 60s Britain. Two things: it never meant to do so and secondly there is quite an interesting contrast between old fashioned people like Windy Miller and the technology focused farmer. There is Windy but there is also the biscuit factory.So to some extent it shows a changing society without taking sides. Needless to say, you have to watch the lovingly made parody in Life on mars season 2.

'Camberwick Green' is another one of those shows watched regularly as a kid but forgotten about for a while during teenagehood. Reliving all the fond memories over-time as a young adult re-watching various forgotten about family shows, many of them still hold up incredibly well and manage to be even better today. More so than not. 'Camberwick Green' was one of those shows that was quite unique at the time in terms of target audience appeal and its structure, which were always part of its charm.

It is still a wonderful show today and holds up beautifully without being too old-fashioned or too stuck in the time. Really love how it appeals to children and knows and embrace their viewing habits, as well as the way it focused on its characters. It is not easy making people living what sounds to some like fairly mundane lives fascinating and even educational, but 'Camberwick Green' did that wonderfully and is one of the very few shows to do this and to this well an extent.

Everything is great here in 'Camberwick Green'. The visuals are colourful and beautifully quaint, also quite advanced back then and one can still see how much effort was put into it. The backgrounds are especially well rendered and there is nothing stilted about the way the characters look.

The music is easy on the ear and is never overused or bombastic. The Baroque minuet theme tune is a stroke of genius. Absolutely loved the use of the beautiful looking music box, 'Camberwick Green' was one of the few masters to repeat elements and ideas and do it in a way that never became tired. The portrayal of the village was charming and fascinated and the social attitudes were interesting to note and didn't come over as too of the time.

Furthermore, the writing has a good deal of charm. It is very easy for younger audiences to understand, but does so without resorting to juvenile or dumb humour or using over complex terminology. Older audiences shouldn't find it a problem either, and find plenty to be amused by and be charmed by its simplicity. The stories are full of quaint charm and wisely keep things simple, while the pacing is deliberate it doesn't feel dull. Loved that they centered primarily around each characters.

And there are some memorable and beautifully varied characters here, my favourite being Windy Miller. Brian Cant's voice work is enthusiastic and versatile with no signs of over-compensating.

Overall, a classic. 10/10.