First episode of Camberwick Green

On 3 January 1966 Camberwick Green became the latest addition to Watch with Mother, the strand of children's programmes. Viewers met Peter the Postman, who was introduced rising from a revolving musical box. The other villagers included Micky Murphy the baker, Dr Mopp, Mr Carraway the fishmonger, Mrs Dingle the postmistress, salesman Mr Dagenham, Roger Varley the chimney sweep and Windy Miller, who ran the windmill.

Quite often a small crisis befell the villagers – such as there being no wind to power the sails on Windy's windmill – and it was up to Captain Snort, Sgt Major Grout and the soldiers at Pippin Fort to sort it out. As an evocation of village life Camberwick Green was already dated in 1966, but that added to its charm.

Brian Cant narrated Camberwick Green, and sang Freddie Phillips' songs. It was created by Gordon Murray, who honed his craft in the BBC Puppet Theatre but risked his own money on the success of the programme. The stop motion animation was done by Bob Bura and John Hardwick on sets by Margaret and Andrew Brownfoot.

The success of Camberwick Green led to an expansion of Trumptonshire, with first Trumpton and then Chigley. Only 13 episodes of each series were made - partly because stop-motion animation is so laborious to make - but filming in colour ensured the programmes had long lives. The BBC's commitment to beautifully crafted children’s programmes continues today with shows such as Shaun the Sheep.