This year we go back in time to the late sixties (for some of the Partners to reconnect with their childhood) as we get the opportunity to take part in a memorable episode of Trumpton….
Please take a few moments to watch our annual video message below, and may we take this opportunity to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year.
Nick Forsyth takes you back in time….
As you know, every year come Christmas time, we like to amuse you with some lighthearted mocking of ourselves and this year is no different. After last year’s more poignant effort to reflect the 100th anniversary of World War One, we’ve reverted back to treading the boards with a visit to the office of Lambert Chapman LLP during an episode of Trumpton.
Many of you will recall this 1960’s classic from the stable of Gordon Murray ably assisted by Freddie Phillips’ music and the narration of Brian Cant as a part of the Watch with Mother series that featured each weekday on BBC 1 after the lunchtime news and often before the programme in Welsh. Trumpton was the middle series sandwiched between the original Camberwick Green and Chigley. Explaining it to my sister, who didn’t remember it as well as I, she asked is that the one with Windy Miller, No that was Camberwick Green, oh so it had the train, no that was Chigley. What did they do as a finale? The dancing – no again that was Chigley, Trumpton was the fire brigade doing the band concert…
If you have never seen an episode then a lot of this will be lost on you, in fact it will go straight over your head. What you might need to do is what Nigel thought would be good to get us in the mood and watch an episode. And so it came to pass on the day of filming that the 7 Partners sat down to a full episode of Trumpton whilst the camera team discussed shots and assembled equipment. It was a good idea too as neither Paul or Chris had ever seen an episode as they were too old to enjoy it being stuck behind a desk at their respective Primary Schools.
Whilst making the story about ourselves we’ve tried to retain some of the more important features. The opening clock scene appears and Sean and Lisa put in tremendous performances – if you don’t believe me take a look at the original footage. We’ve also kept the fireman’s music and rhyme although adjusted it to fit purpose and precised a song about Chippy Minton the carpenter.
I do hope you enjoy the Oscar winning performances of Paul and John who despite raising eyebrows when discovering the topic throw themselves into the production each year to get the ordeal over with, oh and I do apologise for my singing!
So how do we come up with these pieces of nonsense that many of you start asking about from the last week of November. Well it’s not that easy as you need something that can include us all in some way, allow a few jokes or a little light humour in an accountancy sort of way and provide some advertising scope.
Having run out of the more traditional Christmas ideas – I think if there is anything I’ve forgotten please let me know – I’m left with things I can remember. When I sent the script over to Blue Cube, Richard wasn’t particularly familiar so he needed to do some YouTube revision. His colleagues asked what he was doing, gathered round and then suggested kids programmes they remembered well from their own youth. And so goes another afternoon to a mix of trivia and warm memories….. And we can all do it – if you don’t believe me try YouTube, they are all there!
I’ve got to thank Richard who does a great job behind the camera and to Lisa who throws herself into the production helping pick camera angles and deciding if performances are good enough. Duncan did a great job recording guitar parts to lay over the film though we must admit we pinched the opening section as it was so perfect that anything we could have done would have been a backward step. The staff should also be applauded for throwing themselves into their respective roles.
All that is left is to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and if you haven’t yet got your tax return information in, now is the time to get stuck in and gather it together. If our efforts raise a smile please share them with family, friends and colleagues steadily, sensibly, never too quickly never too slowly calling us Lambert Chapman.