Ol' Worzel

I never really liked Jon Pertwee's Doctor. He didn't grab me the way he has lots of other people... maybe because I didn't get hooked on his Doctor when I was 8 and could fly round the playground with only the top buttons of my jacket done up like a cloak. The man himself upset me once too, by refusing to sign an autograph for me, but there was one thing he did that makes up for all that disappointment, the one role that for me defines him... Worzel Gummidge.

I have many happy memories of Ol' Worzel from my childhood. I certainly watched most of the TV series as a kid and was entranced by the scarecrow who could change his heads and was as childish and silly as he wanted to be. There was the Crowman who was slightly sinister and magical all at once and of course the ever so wonderful Aunt Sally who was spiteful, mean and horrid to Worzel, along with the kids John and Sue and all the other characters too like the Braithwaites who owned the farm, the cantankerous Mr Shepherd and the lady of the Hall, Mrs Bloomsbury-Barton. Its also important to me because the first ever long book I read by myself was "The New Television Adventures of Worzel Gummidge" which I'd saved up for at the school book club when I was in the top year at Infant school. Happy days!

After a gap of many many years, since the repeats on Channel 4 in the late 80s finished, I recently reacquainted myself with the show. I had a few pounds to spare and a free weekend and treated myself to one of the very cheap DVDs. Series 3 in fact. I expected to enjoy it and not think much more than that, but what I found was a fantastic show. There was a lot more to it than I expected. Of course it worls perfectly as a children's show with the comic antics of Worzel being as entertaining as ever they were when I was young, but there was something more to it. People often say that Doctor Who has an "indefinable magic" and there is certainly that same kind of feeling to this show.

Like Doctor Who it attracted some great guest stars, Beryl Reid, Barbara Windsor, Mike Reid, Joan Simms, John Le Mesurier amongst others took their turn to play against Pertwee and Una Stubbs. Jon Pertwee is the undoubted star of the show. He's simply fantastic as Worzel and his talent at voices does a great deal to help the fantastic and at the same time really silly idea, of a scarecrow who can change his heads, come to life. He's by turns, sulky, superior, funny, pathetic and wonderfully inspiring. His devotion to Aunt Sally despite the abuse he gets from her is the stuff of real love, or at least the stuff of unrequited love, something I think we all know about. There's a great bit at the end of my favourite episode "The Return of Dolly Clothes Peg" where Worzel can't make up his mind about whether he wants to be with Dolly who offers him love and happiness or with Aunt Sally who offers his misery and abuse, and he looks for a moment, starts to follow Dolly down the road, and then turns away and follows Aunt Sally. Its almost heartbreaking. Pertwee plays it really well.

The other actor who really stands out is Geoffrey Bayldon who plays the Crowman. He's a slightly sinister figure, and commands great respect, yet at the same time he always has a twinkle in his eye. You can really see why everyone always said he'd make a great Doctor. He displays all the right qualities for that in this show.

The scripts are superb, as you'd expect from a top playwright like Keith Waterhouse. Throughout there are surprisingly adult themes dealt with. The episode "The Return of Dafthead" deals with a scarecrow Worzel made to take his place on a bonfire a few episodes back. After a very funny vying for the position of scarecrow in Ten Acre Field, the Crowmen sets up a duel between them to sort out the situation. Before they start they have the following exchange:

Worzel: And if he knocks my 'ead off, what would i be?

The Crowman: Well you wouldn't be anything Worzel, or else the duel would be a waste of time.

Worzel: Mr Crowman Sir, what's it like not being a scarecrow any more?

The Crowman: What was it like before you were a scarecrow?

Worzel: I don't know Sir, I can't remember.

The Crowman: That's it what its like, not remembering...

And if that isn't a surprisingly good and adult way of looking at death, I'll eat my hat. Not the kind of issue you expect to find in a kids show.

Worzel Gummidge was one of those great family shows that appeals to viewers of all ages and that i think is why I'm enjoying it all over again. Its nothing too groundbreaking but it damn fine entertainment and I'd recommend it highly to anyone!

Oh and I was never scared by the head changing scenes! They were the best bits!