''Worzel Gummidge'' is a

British television Regular television broadcasts in the United Kingdom started in 1936 as a public service which was free of advertising, which followed the first demonstration of a transmitted moving image in 1926. Currently, the United Kingdom has a collection ...

fantasy comedy series, produced by

Southern Television Southern Television was the ITV broadcasting licence holder for the South and South-East of England from 30 August 1958 to 31 December 1981. The company was launched as 'Southern Television Limited' and the title 'Southern Television' was co ...

for ITV, based on the '' Worzel Gummidge'' books by English author Barbara Euphan Todd."Worzel Gummidge (1979–81)"
''ScreenOnline.org.uk'' The programme starred

Jon Pertwee John Devon Roland "Jon" Pertwee (; 7 July 1919 – 20 May 1996) was an English actor, comedian, entertainer, cabaret performer and TV presenter. Born into a theatrical family, he served in the Royal Navy and the Naval Intelligence Division during ...

as the titular

scarecrow A scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin, often in the shape of a human. Humanoid scarecrows are usually dressed in old clothes and placed in open fields to discourage birds from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops.Lesle ...

and Una Stubbs as Aunt Sally. It ran for four series in the UK from 1979 to 1981. On a countdown of the greatest British children's programmes, this series was number 50 in the ''50 Greatest Kids TV Shows'' on Channel 5 on 8 November 2013.

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

reprised the show in 1987 as '' Worzel Gummidge Down Under'', which was set in New Zealand.

Outline

Day 139 - Worzel Gummage at Birmingham airport - 1982 (14515725233)

In 1979, a television adaptation of ''Worzel Gummidge'' was produced by ITV station

for transmission on the ITV network. It was written by

Keith Waterhouse Keith Spencer Waterhouse (6 February 1929 – 4 September 2009) was a British novelist and newspaper columnist and the writer of many television series. Biography Keith Waterhouse was born in Hunslet, Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. H ...

and

Willis Hall Willis Edward Hall (6 April 1929 – 7 March 2005) was an English playwright and radio, television and film writer who drew on his working-class roots in Leeds for much of his writing. Willis formed an extremely prolific partnership with h ...

, and starred former ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the ...

'' actor

as Worzel and Una Stubbs as Aunt Sally, a life-size fairground doll and Worzel's

femme fatale A ''femme fatale'' ( or ; ), sometimes called a maneater or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype o ...

."I Love 1979: Worzel Gummidge"
''BBC.co.uk'' This was a significant change from the original books, where Aunt Sally is Worzel's aunt, and Worzel is married to Earthy Mangold, a character who does not appear in the series. The Crowman, who made Worzel and some of his other scarecrow friends, is played by

Geoffrey Bayldon Albert Geoffrey Bayldon (7 January 1924 – 10 May 2017) was an English actor. After playing roles in many stage productions, including the works of William Shakespeare, he became known for portraying the title role of the children's series '' ...

, who had played the title role in ''

Catweazle ''Catweazle'' is a British children's fantasy television series, starring Geoffrey Bayldon in the title role, and created by Richard Carpenter for London Weekend Television. The first series, produced and directed in 1969 by Quentin Lawren ...

''. Regular and occasional guest appearances were made by well-known TV actors of the time, including

Barbara Windsor Dame Barbara Windsor (born Barbara Ann Deeks; 6 August 193710 December 2020) was an English actress, known for her roles in the Carry On (franchise), ''Carry On'' films and for playing Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera, ''EastEnders''.

Billy Connolly Sir William Connolly (born 24 November 1942) is a Scottish actor, retired comedian, artist, writer, musician, and presenter. He is sometimes known, especially in his homeland, by the Scots nickname the Big Yin ("the Big One"). Known for his ...

Bill Maynard Walter Frederick George Williams (8 October 1928 – 30 March 2018), better known by his stage name Bill Maynard, was an English comedian and actor. He began working in television in the 1950s, notably starring alongside Terry Scott in '' G ...

, Joan Sims,

Lorraine Chase Lorraine Chase (born 16 July 1951) is an English actress and former model. She became well known for her strong south east London accent and frequent use of cockney slang, and found fame through a series of television adverts for Campari be ...

Bernard Cribbins Bernard Joseph Cribbins (29 December 1928 – 27 July 2022) was an English actor and singer whose career spanned over seven decades. During the 1960s, Cribbins became known in the UK for his successful novelty records " The Hole in the Groun ...

Connie Booth Connie Booth (born 2 December 1940) is an American-born actress and writer. She has appeared in several British television programmes and films, including her role as Polly Sherman on BBC Two's ''Fawlty Towers'', which she co-wrote with her the ...

, David Lodge and Mike Reid. According to Jon Pertwee's memoirs, the idea for the series began as a proposed film about the Worzel Gummidge character by Waterhouse and Hall which would have been "about the scarecrow equivalent" of the

Peasants' Revolt The Peasants' Revolt, also named Wat Tyler's Rebellion or the Great Rising, was a major uprising across large parts of England in 1381. The revolt had various causes, including the socio-economic and political tensions generated by the Blac ...

, with the scarecrows rising up against farmers who were going to burn them when the farming season had finished. Pertwee was approached to play the lead character by producer

Gareth Wigan Gareth Wigan (December 2, 1931 – February 13, 2010) was a British agent, producer and studio executive known for working on such films as George Lucas's '' Star Wars''. His early recognition of the power of the global entertainment market allow ...

. When this project was unable to secure the funds it needed for a distribution deal, Pertwee encouraged the writers to create a

television pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other dis ...

instead, and via his

agent Agent may refer to: Espionage, investigation, and law *, spies or intelligence officers * Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another ** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuranc ...

pitched the idea to

Shaun Sutton Shaun Alfred Graham Sutton (14 October 1919 in Hammersmith, London – 14 May 2004 in Norfolk) was an English television writer, director, producer and executive, who worked in the medium for nearly forty years from the 1950s to the 1990s. His m ...

, then Head of Drama at the BBC. Sutton turned down the project, which he felt was "too way out", as did Philip Jones at

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

. Pertwee later recalled that at this point he "began to lose faith in the project", but Southern Television's Lewis Rudd heard about it and enthusiastically agreed that his company would make the series. A total of four series with 30 episodes and an extended Christmas special were made between 1979 and 1981. When Southern lost its contract to broadcast on ITV, the new contract-holder, TVS, did not renew the show, despite a press campaign led by the '' Daily Star''. Attempts were made to continue the series: for it to be produced independently by Southern for the BBC and then for it to be produced in Ireland, but these failed. HTV continued with their plans to produce the show in Ireland but these fell through because of trade union problems, as did attempts by the same company to make further episodes in England; the scripts that Waterhouse & Hall had written for the Irish episodes were, however, published in book form. Pertwee and Stubbs starred in the musical ''Worzel Gummidge'' in 1981 at the

Birmingham Repertory Theatre Birmingham Repertory Theatre, commonly called Birmingham Rep or just The Rep, is a producing theatre based on Centenary Square in Birmingham, England. Founded by Barry Jackson, it is the longest-established of Britain's building-based theatre ...

which also starred

Lucy Benjamin Lucy Benjamin (born Lucy Jane Baker; 25 June 1970) is an English actress. After appearing in various television series including '' Close to Home'' (1989–1990), ''Press Gang'' (1989–1993) and '' Jupiter Moon'' (1990, 1996), she was cast in ...

(then Lucy Jane Baker) as Sue. Jon Pertwee's final TV appearance as Worzel was in 1995, to celebrate 40 years of ITV. "Worzel's Song", sung by Jon Pertwee, was released in 1980, reaching number 33 in the UK charts.

Filming locations

The main locations for filming were the villages of Stockbridge,

King's Somborne King's Somborne is a village in Hampshire, England. The village lies on the edge of the valley of the River Test. Location King's Somborne is a large parish covers , of which are covered by water. Most of the ground is low-lying, with a high poi ...

and Braishfield, along with Broughton for the fourth series, all of which are near

Romsey Romsey ( ) is a historic market town in the county of Hampshire, England. Romsey was home to the 17th-century philosopher and economist William Petty and the 19th-century British prime minister, Lord Palmerston, whose statue has stood in the ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

. The Scatterbrook Farm scenes were filmed at Pucknall in Braishfield;

Michelmersh Michelmersh is a small, scattered village in Hampshire, England some three miles () north of Romsey. It forms a civil parish with Timsbury, Hampshire, Timsbury that forms part of the Test Valley district. The Monarch's Way long-distance footpath ...

was used for the scenes in the Scatterbrook barn. Worzel's scarecrow stand was filmed near Fishpond's Farm between Braishfield and King's Somborne at OS grid location SU378274.

New Zealand

The programme remained in limbo until

, along with

Television New Zealand , type = Crown entity , industry = Broadcast television , num_locations = New Zealand , location = Auckland, New Zealand , area_served = Nationally (New Zealand) and some Pacific Island nations such as the Cook Islands, Fiji, and the Solo ...

commissioned '' Worzel Gummidge Down Under'' in 1986, which was shot on location in New Zealand; It ran for two series totaling 22 episodes. Only Pertwee and Stubbs remained from the original cast, with Bruce Phillips joining the cast as the Crowman (Geoffrey Bayldon declined to reprise the role) and Olivia Ihimaera-Smiler, daughter of prominent

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

author

Witi Ihimaera Witi Tame Ihimaera-Smiler (; born 7 February 1944) is a New Zealand author. Raised in the small town of Waituhi, he decided to become a writer as a teenager after being convinced that Māori people were ignored or mischaracterised in litera ...

joining as one of the children. ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's bo ...

'' director

Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy ( ...

received an early credit for his work providing special effects for the series.

Michael Grade Michael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth, (born 8 March 1943) is an English television executive and businessman. He has held a number of senior roles in television, including controller of BBC1 (1984–1986), chief executive of Channel 4 (1 ...

, the newly appointed head of Channel 4, cancelled the series when the New Zealand version drew low audience figures.

Storyline

In the series, Worzel Gummidge was a scarecrow that could come to life. Living in Ten Acre Field, he would often visit the nearby village of Scatterbrook. He befriended two children, brother and sister John and Sue Peters, who often tried to clear up the messes he created. Worzel had a collection of interchangeable

turnip The turnip or white turnip ('' Brassica rapa'' subsp. ''rapa'') is a root vegetable commonly grown in temperate climates worldwide for its white, fleshy taproot. The word ''turnip'' is a compound of ''turn'' as in turned/rounded on a lathe and ...

, mangelwurzel, and swede heads; each suiting a particular occasion or allowing him to perform a certain task. He also had his own language, Worzelese. Worzel's catchphrases were: "A cup o' tea an' a slice o' cake", "I'll be bum-swizzled" and "Bozzy MCoo". He was madly in love with Aunt Sally, a vain, cruel-hearted fairground coconut-shy doll who considered herself a lady and far too good for a common scarecrow such as Worzel. Aunt Sally often exploits Worzel for her own ends (in one episode, she promises to marry him if he frees her from a junkshop washing machine, but she never has any intention of going through with it). The Crowman says there are good and bad Aunt Sallys (S04E05). The one Worzel likes has delusions of grandeur and is evil, in her constant nastiness to him. The rationale for the move to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

in ''Down Under'' was that Aunt Sally is purchased by a visiting

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make th ...

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

from New Zealand, and Worzel follows her into the luggage chute.

Worzelese

Worzel and the other scarecrows sometimes spoke in their own "language", which was simply English spelled out letter-by-letter with "wor" appended to each. Words with three letters or less had "dip" appended, while longer words ended with "zel". Children who spoke Worzelese as a

language game A language game (also called a cant, secret language, ludling, or argot) is a system of manipulating spoken words to render them incomprehensible to an untrained listener. Language games are used primarily by groups attempting to conceal their c ...

therefore gained practice with their spelling. However, Worzelese is far harder to speak than other play languages like

Pig Latin Pig Latin is a language game or argot in which words in English are altered, usually by adding a fabricated suffix or by moving the onset or initial consonant or consonant cluster of a word to the end of the word and adding a vocalic syllable ...

and never really caught on.

UK cast

Episode list

Series 1

#"Worzel's Washing Day" (25 February 1979) The Peters family moves into a caravan on Scatterbrook Farm, and John and Sue Peters meet Worzel Gummidge, a scarecrow who can come to life. #"A Home Fit for Scarecrows" (4 March 1979) John and Sue offer Worzel a proper chair for his home in the barn if he will teach them Worzelese; the scarecrow also gets the idea to steal a full set of furniture from the villagers. #"Aunt Sally" (11 March 1979) Worzel takes the afternoon off to go to the village fête to see his intended, Aunt Sally, even though she considers herself to be too good for him. Aunt Sally takes advantage of his feelings for her and persuades him to exchange places with her so she can escape being sold to a museum. # "The Crowman" (18 March 1979) Worzel begs his creator, the Crowman, to make him a handsome head so he can get a wife. After a disastrous visit to the home of Mrs. Bloomsbury-Barton, the scarecrow learns that it is more important to be handsome inside than out. #"A Little Learning" (25 March 1979) Worzel turns the farm upside down looking for his Clever Head. When he finds it at the nearby school and puts it on, he encounters a teacher who takes him for a genius. #"Worzel Pays a Visit" (1 April 1979) When Worzel is told that the runaway Aunt Sally is working as a housemaid at Mrs. Bloomsbury-Barton's home, he decides to pay her a call. But the mistress is away, and Sally pretends to be the lady of the house and invites Worzel in for tea, resulting in chaos. #"The Scarecrow Hop" (8 April 1979) Aunt Sally is in a despondent mood after being sacked from her position as lady's maid to Mrs. Bloomsbury-Barton. To cheer her up, Worzel asks her to the charity ball.

Series 2

#"Worzel and the Saucy Nancy" (6 January 1980) #"Worzel's Nephew" (13 January 1980) #"A Fishy Tale" (20 January 1980) #"The Trial of Worzel Gummidge" (27 January 1980) #"Very Good, Worzel" (3 February 1980) #"Worzel in the Limelight" (10 February 1980) #"Fire Drill" (17 February 1980) #"The Scarecrow Wedding" (24 February 1980)

Series 3

#"Moving On" (1 November 1980) #"Dolly Clothes Peg" (8 November 1980) #"A Fair Old Pullover" (15 November 1980) #"Worzel the Brave" (22 November 1980) #"Worzel's Wager" (29 November 1980) #"The Return of Dafthead" (6 December 1980) #"Captain Worzel" (13 December 1980) #"Choir Practice" (20 December 1980)

Christmas special

#"A Cup o' Tea and a Slice o' Cake" (27 December 1980)Unusually this double-length musical special did not have the Worzel Gummidge title sequence, "A Cup o' Tea and a Slice o' Cake" being its only on-screen title followed by "Starring Jon Pertwee" as per the standard titles.

Series 4

#"Muvver's Day" (31 October 1981) #"The Return of Dolly Clothes-Peg" (7 November 1981) #"The Jumbly Sale" (14 November 1981) #"Worzel in Revolt" (21 November 1981) #"Will the Real Aunt Sally...?" (28 November 1981) #"The Golden Hind" (5 December 1981) #"Worzel's Birthday" (12 December 1981)

New Zealand series

Series 5

#"As The Scarecrow Flies" (4 October 1987) #"The Sleeping Beauty" (11 October 1987) #"Full Employment" (18 October 1987) #"Worzel's Handicap" (25 October 1987) #"King of the Scarecrows" (1 November 1987) #"Ten Heads Are Better Than One" (8 November 1987) #"Worzel to the Rescue" (15 November 1987) #"Slave Scarecrow" (22 November 1987) #"The Traveller Unmasked" (29 November 1987) #"A Friend in Need" (6 December 1987)

Series 6

#"Stage Struck" (29 January 1989) #"A Red Sky in T'Morning"(5 February 1989) #"Them Thar Hills" (12 February 1989) #"The Beauty Contest" (19 February 1989) #"Bulbous Cauliflower" (26 February 1989) #"Weevily Swede" (5 March 1989) #"Elementary My Dear Worty" (12 March 1989) #"Dreams of Avarish" (19 March 1989) #"Runaway Train" (26 March 1989) #"Aunt Sally, R.A." (2 April 1989) #"Wattle Hearthbrush" (9 April 1989) #"The Bestest Scarecrow" (16 April 1989)

Stage musical

A stage musical adaptation, titled ''Worzel Gummidge - The Musical,'' was created by the TV series creators

and

with music by

Denis King Denis Andrew King (born 25 July 1939) is an English composer and singer. He is best remembered as a member of a family ensemble, The King Brothers. Early career: the King Brothers King was born in Hornchurch, Essex, England. He began his mus ...

and featuring the original TV principal cast

, Una Stubbs and

. The musical first premiered at the

for the 1980 Christmas season before receiving rave reviews and transferring to the

Cambridge Theatre The Cambridge Theatre is a West End theatre, on a corner site in Earlham Street facing Seven Dials, in the London Borough of Camden, built in 1929–30 for Bertie Meyer on an "irregular triangular site". Design and construction It was de ...

in London's West End from 22 December 1981 and extending to 27 February 1982. The Original London 1981 Cast Album was recorded at

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music ...

; It featured 15 songs and 4 bonus tracks titled ''The Worzel Gummidge Christmas Maxi Single''.

Legacy

* In the early 1980s, British Labour Party leader

Michael Foot Michael Mackintosh Foot (23 July 19133 March 2010) was a British Labour Party politician who served as Labour Leader from 1980 to 1983. Foot began his career as a journalist on ''Tribune'' and the ''Evening Standard''. He co-wrote the 1940 p ...

was satirically compared to Worzel Gummidge as a criticism of his allegedly unkempt appearance. * A Worzel Gummidge figurine was fixed to

's coffin for his funeral at

Putney Vale Cemetery Putney Vale Cemetery and Crematorium in southwest London is located in Putney Vale, surrounded by Putney Heath and Wimbledon Common and Richmond Park. It is located within of parkland. The cemetery was opened in 1891 and the crematorium in 1938 ...

. * In 2016, Miwk Publishing released ''The Worzel Book'', the first complete history of the series, written by Stuart Manning. The book gathered more than 40 interviews with surviving cast and crew, plus hundreds of rare and unseen photographs. ''

The League of Gentlemen ''The League of Gentlemen'' is a surreal British comedy horror sitcom that premiered on BBC Two in 1999. The programme is set in Royston Vasey, a fictional town in northern England, originally based on Alston, Cumbria, and follows the live ...

'''s

Mark Gatiss Mark Gatiss (; born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. His work includes writing for and acting in the television series '' Doctor Who'', '' Sherlock'', and '' Dracula''. Together with ...

contributed a foreword. * Popular professional wrestling review podcast OSW Review frequently refers to wrestler and former WWE road agent Rene Goulet as Worzel due to his similar appearance and hairstyle to the character.

Home media releases

* Worzel Gummidge Box SetSeries 1–4 and Christmas SpecialRegion 4 (Australia and New Zealand) * Worzel Gummidge UltimateSeries 1–4, Christmas Special, and Down UnderRegion 2 (UK) * Worzel Gummidge The complete collection Series 1–4, Down Under Series 1–2 and Christmas Special Region 2 (UK) * In 2018, the original film negatives for Worzel Gummidge were located and catalogued by researchers Richard Latto and Stuart Manning, having been thought lost for many years. The Christmas Special episode "A Cup o' Tea and a Slice o' Cake" was restored from the film negatives and released on DVD. * Worzel Gummidge: The Complete Series 1–4 Blu-ray was released 26th December 2022. The release is fully restored from the original camera negatives and includes extensive bonus material.

References and notes

External links

Screenonline: Worzel Gummidge
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Worzel Gummidge (Tv Series) 1979 British television series debuts 1989 British television series endings 1970s British children's television series 1980s British children's television series British children's comedy television series British children's fantasy television series New Zealand children's television series ITV children's television shows British television shows based on children's books 1980s New Zealand television series Television shows produced by Southern Television English-language television shows zh:華澤爾·古米治