Truckers (1992 TV series)

Truckers is a British stop motion animated series, an adaptation of the first book of Terry Pratchett's The Nome Trilogy, produced in the United Kingdom by Cosgrove Hall Productions for TV, then released on VHS, though edited together into a feature-length film. The series consisted of 13 ten-minute episodes.

Plot
Masklin the Nome and his companions flee their unsustainable motorway-verge home and discover an alien race of tiny Humans known as Nomes living in a department store scheduled for demolition. Things are complicated by the store Nomes' religion, which states 'The Store' consists of the entire universe, and denies the existence of the 'outside'.

Masklin discovers from a mysterious object simply called 'The Thing' that all Nomes are descended from extraterrestrial explorers who crashed on Earth thousands of years ago. The Thing, actually a sentient computer from the original Nome starship, helps Masklin plan the escape from the doomed store. Through skill, courage and sheer good luck, Masklin and his friends manage to successfully evacuate the store Nomes before their home is destroyed.

Production and notes
The puppets were built by Mackinnon & Saunders, created from foam latex.

Some of the interior shots of Arnold Bros was filmed in Lewis's Department Store in Manchester.

Some of the surviving puppets are on public display at the Cosgrove Hall Exhibition in Manchester.

Cast

 * Masklin — Joe McGann
 * Grimma — Debra Gillett
 * Granny Morkie, Baroness Del Icatessen — Rosalie Williams
 * Torrit, Count De Ironmongri – John Jardine
 * The Thing — Edward Kelsey
 * Angalo De Haberdasheri – Nigel Carrington
 * Duke De Haberdasheri – David Scase
 * Dorcas — Brian Trueman
 * The Abbot — Sir Michael Hordern
 * Gurder — Brian Southwood
 * Mr. Mert, Vinto Pimmie — Jimmy Hibbert
 * Dave the Policeman — Rob Rackstraw

Crew

 * Directed by Jackie Cockle, Francis Vose, Chris Taylor (each episode had one director)
 * Produced by Jackie Cockle
 * Executive producer: John Hamberly
 * Adapted by Brian Trueman
 * Edited by Zyggy Markiewicz
 * Music: Colin Towns
 * Film editor: Zyggy Markiewicz
 * Assistant film editors: Stephen Perry, Jane Hicks
 * Music editor: Garry Hardman

Novelization
The series was made into a short hardcover book published by Ladybird Press in 1992. The book included colour photos from the series.