Trouble At Trumpton Fair

Trouble At Trumpton Fair

When Virgin Publishing launched their New Adventures range of 'Doctor Who' books, there was much discussion in fanzines as to whether these were 'real' or not. Were they the official continuing adventures of the Doctor and Ace after the events of 'Survival' Part Three? In short, were they (here comes that word) canon?

I forget the majority of the arguments on both sides, but it's amusing how much time people invested in this mass debate as it never really worried me when I read the various 'Tell Me A Story Books' based on the works of Gordon Murray.

Emerging from the lower layers of my drawers recently, I've been flipping through three such slim volumes and amazing myself as to how well I could remember some of the illustrations, if not the finer details of the plots.

'Packet's Day Of Trouble' (written by Shirley Morrison, illustrated by Colin Frooms) sees Mrs Dingle's post-office cum village shop full to capacity with even PC McGarry after a new red pencil for his notebook. Flustered, Mrs Dingle trips over her dog, Packet, knocking a rack of greetings cards flying, but gives him a bone to say sorry for getting cross with him.

He buries his prize in a field, hiding it under the coat worn by Farmer Bell's scarecrow, working at such a pace that the farmer and the local bobby become concerned at to what's going on.

This tale is paired with 'A Foggy Adventure' in which Paddy and Mary Murphy pick blackberries and stalk a mysterious figure (who turns out to be Roger Varley the sweep) in the fog.

'The Mayor Of Trumpton's Day Out' (written by Muriel Gray, illustrated by Johni Cumming) is a bit odder in that we get an insight into the thoughts of the Mayor's car (GM102), which is fed up with doing the same old thing every week. Instead, it takes control of the situation and drives itself to the seaside, much to the surprise of Philby the chauffeur. Once they've arrived, the car natters to a passing seagull, as its passengers go for a paddle while eating candyfloss.

 This whole thing of making the car come alive does seem rather at odds with the usual more realistic mode of storytelling in the Trumptonshire universe, but I never lost much sleep over it at the time, I must admit.

The back-up tale in this one is 'The Little Fire Engine' in which Peter Platt takes a fancy to a miniature version of the familiar vehicle that he spots in the toyshop of one Mrs Jolly. In fact, so taken is Peter with this model that he gets himself locked in the toyshop. Thankfully he alerts the passing policeman to his predicament when he releases a balloon out of the window, on which he has painted the word HELP, which is succint, but a bit vague.

'Trouble At Trumpton Fair' (written by Shirley Morrison again, but this time illustrated by H McGregor) sees Trumpton Park play host to a fair, which attracts the whole of the local fire service at once. It's the full works, with goldfish to be won at the hoopla stall, coconuts and another showing for the dreaded candyfloss. Barney McGrew rams the Mayor's dodgem car, which doesn't amuse his worship, but they regain their reputation by rescuing an acrobat who has been stranded up his tightrope pole when his ladder gets broken. They get tea and cakes as a reward, though Miss Lovelace and those damn dogs somehow gatecrash the celebrations at the end, for no adequately explained reason.

Finally, we have 'The Weather House', which strays into previously unexplored territory for the series. Mrs Cobbit's clock has stopped, so her Uncle Arnold takes it for Mr Platt to have a look at. At the clock shop, Uncle Arnold spots one of those weather houses which have a lady holding a parasol (who comes out when it's sunny) along with a geezer and an umbrella (who, of course, shows his face when it's raining). Uncle Arnold takes a fancy to this item and buys it on the spot, intending to give it to Mrs Cobbit as a gift.

So far, this doesn't sound too out of the ordinary, as I've skipped over a couple of details. Uncle Arnold carries a small black wand in his pocket, a secret known only to himself and Mrs Cobbit's cat, Charles.

Also, Charles can talk, it seems, suggesting that it would be fun if the lady and the gentleman from the weather house could actually meet each other. Cue Uncle Arnold getting his wand out...

The two wooden figures are surprised, but delighted to finally be able to come face to face, but Uncle Arnold has meddled in things he does not understand as the weather takes a sudden turn for the worse. The sun shines, but it rains like mad. There's a rainbow, wind, thunder, the whole business. Charles hides under the table, which seems an eminently sensible move.

Thankfully, the wand has still got some charge left, as we're getting close to the final page, and the umbrella man pops back inside. Weather conditions improve straight away and Mrs Cobbit is pleased with her new present, commenting that it'll be handy if it can warn her about freaks storms like they one she's jsut encountered.

Charles keeps schtum about the whole affair, proving that he's got considerably more sense than Uncle Arnold.

It's a weird one this, and fans of Gordon Murray's work might like to consider how some of the plots of televised episodes might have been very different if Uncle Arnold had been on hand to whip out his wand without warning...

(Written by Andrew Trowbridge)