Trumpton fire brigade reunion

TRUMPTON'S Pugh, Pugh, Barney, McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble and Grubb are to star in a new BBC promotion, conceived as the successor to last year's highly-acclaimed "Perfect Day" record.

The promotion will be launched this Friday during the corporation's Children- in-Need charity appeal, and is billed as "the biggest reunion in television history", bringing together decades of characters from children's programmes. Instead of being built around a single song, its core is the interaction of characters from different shows, from Andy Pandy and Postman Pat to Noddy.

In a historical television moment, the Trumpton firemen appear on the same set with Dougal and Ermintrude from the Magic Roundabout and several inhabitants of The Herb Garden - a feat made possible through extensive reanimation.

The video is anchored by five-year old Scott Chisholm, the star of a butter commercial..

Entitled "Future Generations", the promotion was made by the editorial team responsible for "Perfect Day", which was based on the Lou Reed song, and included contributions from stars such as Elton John,Tammy Wynette and David Bowie. "Perfect Day" had required skilled handling of a number of delicate egos but, said the BBC, there were "fewer sensitivities" involved in bringing together the Woodentops, Pingu and Zebedee.

However, some childhood favourites missed out on a place in the film, with Ivor the Engine and Noggin the Nog both failing to win enough approval. Controversially, the Clangers were also excluded.

The promotion has been tested on focus groups of all ages. Strangely, young people claimed to be well-acquainted with Andy Pandy and Bill and Ben, even though they were not old enough to have seen them on television.