Worzel Gummidge

Worzel Gummidge is a British children's character, a walking, talking scarecrow, who originally appeared in a series of books by Barbara Euphan Todd[?] in the 1930s.

more information about the books would be useful

A television adaptation of Worzel Gummidge was produced by Southern Television for ITV, written by Keith Waterhouse[?] and Willis Hall[?], and starring Jon Pertwee as Worzel and Una Stubbs as Aunt Sally, a life-size fairground doll. The Crowman, who made Worzel and some of his other scarecrow friends, is played by Geoffrey Bayldon[?] (better known for his starring role as the title character of Catweazle[?]). Four series totalling 30 episodes and one extended Christmas special, were made between 1979 and 1981, when Southern lost its franchise. The new franchise-holder, TVS[?], was not interested in renewing the show, and a deal with HTV fell through.

The programme remained in limbo until TV New Zealand[?] commissioned Worzel Gummidge Down Under in 1987, which was shot in New Zealand and ran for two series totalling a further 22 episodes. Only Pertwee and Stubbs remained from the original cast, with Bruce Phillips joining the cast as a new Crowman.

Worzel is a scarecrow who gets bored standing around in his field all day and often wanders into town to see what's going on. In the first episode he befriends a pair of children who spend most of the series trying to clear up the messes he creates. He is not very bright because his head is a turnip (or rather, a set of interchangeable turnips for different occasions). He is madly in love with the Aunt Sally doll, but she considers herself a lady and far too good for a common scarecrow. A good deal of the show's entertainment value comes from the interaction between Worzel and Sally, played with relish by Pertwee and Stubbs.