Gordon Murray (puppeteer)
Encyclopedia
Gordon Murray is a British television producer
and puppeteer
.
He is the creator and writer of some of the most popular children's television programmes ever seen in Britain, Trumpton
, Camberwick Green
and Chigley
, the Trumptonshire Trilogy were all made by the company he set up.
After being demobbed after World War II
he set up his own puppet company, Murray's Marionettes. Following an invitation to BBC
producer Freda Lingstrom
to one of his shows he was offered work, operating Spotty Dog in The Woodentops
. Murray then became a producer in the BBC children's department, producing Sketch Club and Captain Pugwash
. Initially the shows he worked on went out live, but frustrated by the hit and miss approach of live work, developed his own film studio and shot his own films. In 1958 he created the series A Rubovian Legend
, which ran until 1963, with fellow puppeteers John Hardwick and Bob Bura who he would work with over the following twenty years.
in North London
.
Here he made arguably his most enduring and loved programmes, The Trumptonshire Trilogy; Camberwick Green
which aired in 1966, Trumpton
in 1967 and Chigley
in 1969. Murray would create the vehicles, puppets and scripts to the studio and Bura and Hardwick would create the animation. Realising that the string based marionettes used previously would look old-fashioned, he looked to Eastern Europe for the stop motion
animation technique he would use.
One far-sighted contribution by Bura and Hardwick was their insistence to record Camberwick Green in both monochrome and colour, at the time colour was not available on British television but the decision to use colour allowed the programmes to broadcast several years after colour was introduced.
Following Chigley, in 1969 it was six years before Murray had a new series on television, a stop-motion remake of The Rubovian Legends called just Rubovia. His next work was Skip and Fuffy which aired within Multi-Coloured Swap Shop
in 1978, his final series The Gublins aired in 1979.
.
In the 1980s he burnt all the remaining puppets and sets, except for one soldier which escaped the fire, a soldier from Camberwick Green. It was given by his eldest daughter to a friend who kept it in a shoe box. It was later auctioned by Christie's
in May 2003 but failed to meet the reserve price.
In 2001 a poll by Channel 4
television ranked Trumpton as the 22nd most popular children's television show.
His work has been revived recently, in a series of television adverts for Porridge Oats and most recently on the cult BBC drama Life on Mars
in a scene where the character Sam Tyler is hallucinating.
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
and puppeteer
Puppeteer
A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object, such as a puppet, in real time to create the illusion of life. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from the audience. A puppeteer can operate a puppet indirectly by the use of strings, rods, wires, electronics or directly by his or...
.
He is the creator and writer of some of the most popular children's television programmes ever seen in Britain, Trumpton
Trumpton
Trumpton is a stop-motion children's television show from the producers of Camberwick Green first shown on the BBC in the 1960s. The third and final series in the sequence was Chigley....
, Camberwick Green
Camberwick Green
Camberwick Green is a British children's television series, originally seen on BBC One, featuring stop-motion puppets. It was one of the first British television series to be filmed in colour.-Background:...
and Chigley
Chigley
Chigley is the third and final stop-motion children's television series in Gordon Murray's Trumptonshire sequence. Production details are identical to Camberwick Green....
, the Trumptonshire Trilogy were all made by the company he set up.
Early life and television career
Murray was always interested in puppets, as a child he made puppets and used to give little shows to friends and family at home. Speaking in 1999 he said, "I have been interested in puppets ever since I was a child. My enthusiasm was greatly stimulated, I remember, by a visit to the Victoria Palace when I was about eight to see Delvain’s Marionettes on the variety bill. Later, of course, I avidly read the Whanslaw books."After being demobbed after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he set up his own puppet company, Murray's Marionettes. Following an invitation to BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
producer Freda Lingstrom
Freda Lingstrom
Freda Violet Lingstrom OBE was a BBC Television producer and executive who was responsible for pioneering children's programmes in the early 1950s....
to one of his shows he was offered work, operating Spotty Dog in The Woodentops
The Woodentops
The Woodentops are a British rock band that have enjoyed critical acclaim and moderate popularity in the mid-1980s.-History:The band formed in 1983 in South London with an initial line-up of Rolo McGinty , Simon Mawby , Alice Thompson , Frank DeFreitas , and Paul Hookham .After a...
. Murray then became a producer in the BBC children's department, producing Sketch Club and Captain Pugwash
Captain Pugwash
Captain Pugwash is a fictional pirate in a series of British children's comic strips and books created by John Ryan. The character's adventures were adapted into a TV series, using cardboard cut-outs filmed in live-action , also called Captain Pugwash, first shown on the BBC in 1957, a later colour...
. Initially the shows he worked on went out live, but frustrated by the hit and miss approach of live work, developed his own film studio and shot his own films. In 1958 he created the series A Rubovian Legend
A Rubovian Legend
A Rubovian Legend is a British children's television series created by Gordon Murray,-Background:It began as a black and white children's puppet play for the BBC in the mid 1950s, presented by The BBC Puppet Theatre...
, which ran until 1963, with fellow puppeteers John Hardwick and Bob Bura who he would work with over the following twenty years.
The Trumptonshire years
After the Children's Department and Women's Programmes merged in 1964 he left the BBC to form an independent production company, Gordon Murray Puppets Productions, based in a converted church in Crouch EndCrouch End
Crouch End is an area of north London, in the London Borough of Haringey.- Location :Crouch End is in a valley between Harringay to the east, Hornsey, Muswell Hill and Wood Green to the north, Finsbury Park and Archway to the south and Highgate to the west...
in North London
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England. It is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it includes districts located north of the River Thames and is used in comparison with South...
.
Here he made arguably his most enduring and loved programmes, The Trumptonshire Trilogy; Camberwick Green
Camberwick Green
Camberwick Green is a British children's television series, originally seen on BBC One, featuring stop-motion puppets. It was one of the first British television series to be filmed in colour.-Background:...
which aired in 1966, Trumpton
Trumpton
Trumpton is a stop-motion children's television show from the producers of Camberwick Green first shown on the BBC in the 1960s. The third and final series in the sequence was Chigley....
in 1967 and Chigley
Chigley
Chigley is the third and final stop-motion children's television series in Gordon Murray's Trumptonshire sequence. Production details are identical to Camberwick Green....
in 1969. Murray would create the vehicles, puppets and scripts to the studio and Bura and Hardwick would create the animation. Realising that the string based marionettes used previously would look old-fashioned, he looked to Eastern Europe for the stop motion
Stop motion
Stop motion 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...
animation technique he would use.
One far-sighted contribution by Bura and Hardwick was their insistence to record Camberwick Green in both monochrome and colour, at the time colour was not available on British television but the decision to use colour allowed the programmes to broadcast several years after colour was introduced.
Following Chigley, in 1969 it was six years before Murray had a new series on television, a stop-motion remake of The Rubovian Legends called just Rubovia. His next work was Skip and Fuffy which aired within Multi-Coloured Swap Shop
Multi-Coloured Swap Shop
Multi-Coloured Swap Shop, more commonly known simply as Swap Shop, is a UK children's television programme. It was broadcast on Saturday mornings on BBC1 for 146 episodes in six series between 1976 and 1982...
in 1978, his final series The Gublins aired in 1979.
After television
After retiring from animation he produced and self-marketed more than thirty-four different limited-edition miniature books under the Silver Thimble Books imprint. Bound entirely by hand they contained miniature watercolour paintings, special embroidered covers and bindings, and slip cases. A complete set of these books is held in the Charlotte M. Smith Collection of Miniature Books in the library of the University of IowaUniversity of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
.
In the 1980s he burnt all the remaining puppets and sets, except for one soldier which escaped the fire, a soldier from Camberwick Green. It was given by his eldest daughter to a friend who kept it in a shoe box. It was later auctioned by Christie's
Christie's
Christie's is an art business and a fine arts auction house.- History :The official company literature states that founder James Christie conducted the first sale in London, England, on 5 December 1766, and the earliest auction catalogue the company retains is from December 1766...
in May 2003 but failed to meet the reserve price.
In 2001 a poll by Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
television ranked Trumpton as the 22nd most popular children's television show.
His work has been revived recently, in a series of television adverts for Porridge Oats and most recently on the cult BBC drama Life on Mars
Life on Mars (TV series)
Life on Mars is a British television series broadcast on BBC One between January 2006 and April 2007. The series combines elements of science fiction and police procedural....
in a scene where the character Sam Tyler is hallucinating.
Selected filmography
- Captain PugwashCaptain PugwashCaptain Pugwash is a fictional pirate in a series of British children's comic strips and books created by John Ryan. The character's adventures were adapted into a TV series, using cardboard cut-outs filmed in live-action , also called Captain Pugwash, first shown on the BBC in 1957, a later colour...
- 1957 - A Rubovian LegendA Rubovian LegendA Rubovian Legend is a British children's television series created by Gordon Murray,-Background:It began as a black and white children's puppet play for the BBC in the mid 1950s, presented by The BBC Puppet Theatre...
- 1958 - Sketch Club - 1958
- Camberwick GreenCamberwick GreenCamberwick Green is a British children's television series, originally seen on BBC One, featuring stop-motion puppets. It was one of the first British television series to be filmed in colour.-Background:...
- 1966 - TrumptonTrumptonTrumpton is a stop-motion children's television show from the producers of Camberwick Green first shown on the BBC in the 1960s. The third and final series in the sequence was Chigley....
- 1967 - ChigleyChigleyChigley is the third and final stop-motion children's television series in Gordon Murray's Trumptonshire sequence. Production details are identical to Camberwick Green....
- 1969 - Rubovia - 1976
- The Gublins - 1979