Today is Guest Blogger day. I met David McDonald in one of my writing groups. We’ve had some lovely conversations and when he floated the idea of where he should publish his article about Worzel Gummidge I was very quick to put my hand up. I’ve enjoyed reading his take on Worzel Gummidge and hope he’ll have time to take on other TV shows from my childhood.
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Jon Pertwee may be best known for his portrayal of that most dashing of Time Lords, the Third Doctor, but he went on to charm another generation of children when he switched roles, and heads, to become Worzel Gummidge.
For most people, the first thing that comes to mind when they think of Jon Pertwee is his role as the Third Doctor. But, for me, he will always be associated with a very different character, the ragtag scarecrow Worzel Gummidge. Growing up in a small country town in the middle of Australia, we only had two television stations, one being the ABC – our equivalent of the BBC. Because the ABC had a habit of broadcasting huge slabs of British programming that they had purchased on the cheap from the BBC, it resulted in a whole generation of Aussies steeped in British pop culture. I like to think that was preferable to the US influence of today!
There is no doubt this is what led to my lifelong obsession with Doctor Who, and I have fond memories of a slew of British children’s programs. Amongst all these programs, there was something about Worzel Gummidge that made it stick out in my mind. Perhaps it was the genius of Jon Pertwee, who seemed to relish the chance to give full expression to the comedic talents he had deliberately down played in his role as our favourite Time Lord. It is easy to forget that he was already an established comedic actor before he took on Doctor Who, and as the title character of Worzel Gummidge we get to see the full extent of his talent for physical comedy and the rubbery flexibility of his face.
For those of you not familiar with Worzel Gummidge, here is a quick synopsis. Based on the popular series of children’s books by Barbara Euphan Todd, the series tells the story of Worzel Gummidge, an extremely uncouth scarecrow brought to life by the mysterious Crowman. Worzel has the odd ability to swap heads, different ones imbuing him with all sorts of abilities, such as courage when he dons the head of a mad Prussian uhlan. While throughout the series we encounter other scarecrows that show the hand of the Crowman, and see Worzel’s interactions with the children of Scatterbrook farm, the real story is Worzel’s constant efforts to court Aunt Sally, a living doll whom he finds irresistible.
While doing my research I was struck by how popular the show was in its day, and just like shows such as Entourage today, it featured many of the celebrities of the day. Names as varied as Billy Connolly, Barbara Windsor and Lorraine Chase made cameo appearances. When ITV made the mistake of cancelling the show there was a concerted press campaign to get them to change their mind, and while it was ultimately unsuccessful it did illustrate the place the show had in the public consciousness. While it only ran for two years from 1979 to 1981, it made enough of an impression to be revived in in 1989 as Worzel Gummidge Down Under, set in New Zealand. Speaking to friends about it, I was surprised to hear how many people had vivid memories of the show, and that I was not alone in my fond recollections.
Revisiting one’s much loved books and television shows as an adult is always fraught with peril, and far too often the Suck Fairy has visited in the intervening years. So, it was a touch of trepidation that I started rewatching Worzel Gummidge, not sure what I would find. While there is no doubt that it has dated to a degree, I still quite enjoyed it. Alongside other TV of that era, you wonder whether there were any actors between the ages of about 14 and 40 available, most of the cast seem to much older than you would see in a show made today. While some of the production values are not of the highest quality, the make up is exceptional and still holds its own (apparently Jon Pertwee spent hours in the chair before each episode). And, watching it as an adult I picked up many things that I was oblivious to at the time.
The first thing that I noticed was that there is a real element of darkness to the show. Like clowns, I have always found that scarecrows have a creepy element to them. And, while most of the scarecrows are relatively benign, there is something about watching things that should be mindless and inanimate walking and talking that is disconcerting. It doesn’t help that the scarecrows would only move around when no adults are watching, and when noticed would revert to immobile statues that are just human enough to trigger the uncanny valley effect. At times the atmosphere is brooding, and there is often an undercurrent of menace in many of the interactions between humans and scarecrows, with the human perception of the scarecrows merely as objects often leading to unpleasant experiences for the poor creatures.
There is an air of childlike simplicity to most of the scarecrows, and in none is this more apparent than Worzel and Aunt Sally. But, it is not simply the sweet innocence that some people think is all there is to children, there is a degree of petulance and desire to have their own way. Worzel will quite often throw a tantrum or sulk when thwarted, behaviour that will be familiar to anyone who has to deal with toddlers. Despite this, there is no real malice to Worzel and it is hard not to feel sorry for him as he tries to make sense of concepts like mathematics or fashion. Aunt Sally, however, is actually quite a terrible person, shallow and vain and incredibly greedy. She is obsessed with class, decrying those around her as common while behaving in the most uncouth manner imaginable. She is constantly using Worzel’s devotion to her to manipulate him, but every so often we will see that he does actually matter to her, just often enough to make us have hope for them both.
If Worzel and Aunt Sally are children, then the shadowy Crowman fills the role of their father. As their creator, he is the closest thing to a parent they have, and Worzel in particular regards him with a mixture of fear of punishment and a longing for his approval. While Worzel’s sometimes cringing manner might lead us to think that the Crowman is someone to be feared, it becomes clear that he is actually a far more benign character, and while the Crowman often seems exasperated by the simplicity of his creations and their often mendacious behaviour, he truly wants what is best for them. He is constantly trying to improve Worzel and teach him how to be better, though Worzel doesn’t really appreciate his efforts! The Crowman may be a shabby and rumpled God, but he is what the scarecrows have and he does his best to be a worthy deity. In an interesting coincidence the actor who plays the Crowman, Geoffrey Bayldon, was in contention for roles of both the First and Second Doctors. However, I remembered him more for his role as Catweazle, another wonderful children’s show.
Something that went right over my head as a child was the delightfully subversive nature of the show. Many of the episodes play with concepts of class, and Aunt Sally’s constant attempts to demonstrate her superiority to the common herd and climb up the social ladder provide a great deal of fodder for jokes that expose some of the hypocrisy that still existed at the time (and perhaps still do so today). His deep rooted distrust of authority and complete ignorance of social mores mean that Worzel never misses an opportunity to poke fun at stuffed shirts and establishment figures, and these encounters provide some of the funniest moments of the series. Watching it now provided me with an illuminating glimpse into the England of the time and some of the tensions it was dealing with.
Even now, over a quarter of a century later, Worzel Gummidge is well worth another look. The quirky characters give the stellar cast a chance to show off the full range of their talents, and the oddball storylines will provide most viewers with plenty of entertainment. As an adult viewer, you may find that there were layers that you may have missed as a child and that will add to your enjoyment, but above all Worzel Gummidge is a show that you can have fun with and, if you are anything like me, will make you feel like a child again. I can give no higher praise than that.
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David McDonald is a mild-mannered editor by night, and a wild-eyed writer by day. In 2013 he won the Ditmar Award for Best New Talent, and in 2014 won the William J. Atheling Jr. Award for Criticism or Review and was shortlisted for the WSFA Small Press Award. His short fiction has appeared in anthologies from publishers such as Moonstone Books, Crazy 8 Press, and Fablecroft Publishing. In 2015, his first movie novelisation, Backcountry, was released by Harper Collins, and his first Marvel novel—Guardians of the Galaxy: Castaways—was published in August 2016. David is a member of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, the Horror Writers Association, and the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers.