Worzel Gummidge (1979–1981) User Reviews

A Living Breathing Talking Scarecrow...What More Could You Want?

[Big Movie Fan · 26 October 2002]

As a child, I found scarecrows a little bit too creepy but by the time I was an adult and watched this show, I soon forgot about the creepy scarecrows you see in fields and enjoyed this show.

The late Jon Pertwee played scarecrow Worzel Gummidge who lived on Scatterbrook Farm (I think that was the name of the farm). Joining him were the likes of Una Stubbs as his girlfriend and Carry On... favourite Barbara Windsor.

The show itself was fun as Worzel got up to all sorts of adventures, scrapes and the like. Jon Pertwee did a great job with Worzel who is probably one of the funniest characters ever.

This is the perfect show for kids today. You can put on a video of this show for your kids and let them watch safe in the knowledge there will be no sex, bad language or violence. Worzel Gummidge didn't need to do it's best to be entertaining-it was just entertaining, period.

Worzel Rules!

[broken-10 · 10/10 · 19 May 2006]

in 1980 I was 8 years old and Worzel Gummidge was my favorite show... to this day i can still picture the scarecrow losing his head!

this show was classic!

I moved from England in 1983 and have not been back, However worzel is burned in my brain's hard drive. The thing that was so great about this show is the actor who played worzel was excellent. I remember at the time thinking how cool it was to see Dr. Who playing a scarecrow... The fact that the scarecrow would come to life gave it that slight creepy factor, balanced out by the hilarious situations the bumbling worzel would find himself in...

Timeless?

[lin-black · 10/10 · 23 January 2010]

No, its not, and it does seem quite old fashioned compared to todays television.

What it hasn't lost though is its very genuine innocent and gentle charm and humour. Worzel Gummidge was hugely popular with all ages, and Worzel's (Jon Pertwee) naive innocence was quite touching. Aunt Sally (Una Stubbs) was excellent, and so was Barbara Windsor in the episodes that she appeared in.

I don't know what Pertwee was like to work with in the series, as apparently when he was Dr Who he was allegedly very difficult. Ah well, its nice to see a perfectionist in whatever role he is playing.

When the series moved to New Zealand I personally felt that was not a good step as it became more darker - I believe a couple of episodes had zombies in them. Oh dear.

The Unspoiled, Natural Beauty of Childhood At The Turn Of The 70s

[alleywayambush · 10/10 · 12 February 2018]

As a child I only vaguely remember this show (I was born in '82). About 6 years ago I found a charity shop bundle of VHS videos of this franchise, bought the lot and instantly fell in love with what became a new favourite !

Essentially it's quite a basic plot. 2 kids their single father go to live in a caravan on a farm. The field's scarecrow comes to life in the form of an illiterate but lovable and hilarious character 'Worzel Gummidge'. He is constantly amorously pursuing the local antique 'Aunt Sally', also a living being, alongside his other chief passion of 'A Cup O' Tea And A slice O' Cake' ! Always up to mischief, the kids and Worzel's creator 'The Crowman' have to guide him through his adventures, making sure he doesn't get into trouble !

As well as highly comical, the show is also highly aesthetically beautiful and culturally idyllic. Set in rural Kent, the intimacy of tender fields and garden-like countryside, alongside a score of gentle, easy instrumental music gives the show a natural, traditional, serene and idyllic cultural bliss - there's next to no reference to contemporary popular culture.

The cast are quite notable too. The late Jon Pertwee plays the clumsy scatterbrained Worzel, Una Stubbs as the arrogant, deluded, greedy but charming Aunt Sally, the late Charlotte Coleman (an unrecognisable, dark featured 'Scarlet' from 4 weddings...) as young Sue, and Jeremy Austen as her brother John (otherwise only known for a brief role in Red Dwarf !) Guest appearances include Barbara Windsor, Anthony Sharpe + Connie Booth.

Overall, this show, both entertaining and cultural, is an often overlooked gem that should be seen by today's kids amidst a sea of internet degeneracy and apologies for shows. Not to forget the late-80s spin-off series, 'Worzel Gummidge Down Under', which I think I remember vaguely seeing back in the day !

heart of darkness

[gilleliath · 10/10 · 17 January 2020]

Far from being a cosy 'kids in the country' piece, this is a show with a dark heart; not evil, but dark like the stress and strangeness of childhood. As a kid I found it a little bit scary; I'm not sure that was the intention, but it's the result of the intense performances. Worzel is no Stan Laurel type, accident-prone but basically benign; he's a demon of chaos like Harpo Marx, intent on his own desires and not caring about anything else. He's like a young child, not understanding the world, inside a big, unwieldy and weird-looking adult's body, His terror of the shamanic Crow Man makes the latter seem frightening; his emotional torture at the hands of Aunt Sally makes her seem positively malevolent. But really she doesn't need any help; Una Stubbs makes her the most witheringly, ferociously scornful character ever to appear on screen. If the Crow Man is a shaman, she's an evil witch - and yet she, too, is simply someone who has never had bounds set to her selfishness.

It's a sad symptom of the times that the new Mackenzie Crook version has taken all these darker elements out. Increasingly we live in a Dorian Gray world, getting nastier and nastier - but we can't face the nastiness, which is kept anonymous and out of sight, while the more visible aspects of popular culture become completely sanitised.

As a grown-up, though, I can better appreciate the fun support playing by an excellent cast including the likes of Mike Berry, Bill Maynard and Joan Sims, and the comic mayhem which is like those classic pre-war comedies. And in the middle of all that there's also the sense that the scarecrows are of the soil, Green Men, representatives of an England that is now gone.

As for the kids: once the set-up is over, they're hardly in it!

Terrifing

[leehussain · 3/10 · 26 December 2019]

I just remember having nightmares it's a kids show about a monstrous zombie scarecrow thing . Lots of positive reviews here - did bo one else find this character freaky and disturbing?

I Loved IT!!

[Gmarkjames · 11 August 2002]

This is a fantastic children's TV programme. It's about the title character; a walking, talking, messy, clumsy scarecrow called Worzel who comes to life in Scatterbrook Farm. This programme includes a fine cast including Geoffrey Bayldon, Charlotte Coleman, Mike Berry and Una Stubbs as the ONE AND ONLY Aunt Sally (Worzel's INTENDED!) Fantastic show and a 10/10 job no question!!

Best show of my childhood,

[marlieH · 9/10 · 9 May 2019]

What else can you want other than a talking scarcrow that can change heads, who befriends two kids and a walking talking doll!

John Pertwee's best show of the 80s

[mervclan · 9/10 · 31 May 2011]

I am such a big fan of John Pertwee he was just amazing the Doctor who series after he left I thought he would not be in any other show or film that was until I saw this show Worzel Gummidge what I a great show that people that are really forgetting I mean its such a great show. Worzel Gummidge is a talking scarecrow who always seems to get into trouble for something but always finds away out of it this show is funny fresh and nice I mean what ever happen to old comedies like this show even Thoe its not the greatest show ever made its still great fun for kids and the family its seems to be a very underrated show I would say this 80s underrated gem I give this show a 9.5 out of 10 at its best.

Worzel Gummidge

[jboothmillard · 10/10 · 13 June 2005]

When I was child this used to be one of my most favourite children's television programmes, and I still watch it even now because it is great fun for all the family, whatever age you are, based on the popular books. Basically the series brings us the adventures of a walking talking scarecrow, Worzel Hedgerow Gummidge (Jon Pertwee), who is supposed to scare crows on Scatterbrook Farm in Ten Acre Field, but he instead roams the countryside and villages having adventures. The humans who know of his existence are the Peters children living on the farm, John (Jeremy Austin) and Sue (Charlotte Coleman), and of course the man who brought him to life, his creator The Crowman (Geoffrey Bayldon) who commands all the scarecrows he makes. The humans that don't know he comes to life, but very often come into contact with him, living and not, are the children's' father Mr. Peters (Mike Berry), the farm owners Mr. Jack Braithwaite (Norman Bird) and Mrs. Betty Braithwaite (Megs Jenkins), easily angered P.C. Parsons (Norman Mitchell) and the seemingly wealthy but tight with money Mrs. Bloomsbury-Barton (Carry On's Joan Sims). Many of the adventures Worzel has involve him pursuing large wooden doll Aunt Sally (Una Stubbs), who is always getting away from her easily stressed owner Mr. Shepherd (Michael Ripper) and used in fairs to have wooden balls thrown at her for prizes, and even though she is greedy and cruel-hearted to him, Worzel continues trying to make her happy in his own poor meaningful ways. Also many of the adventures he have involve him using his many interchangeable heads, made of turnips, mangel wurzel or swedes, all with particular traits and uses, e.g. Reading Head, Thinking Head, Wangling (fishing) Head, Singing Head, Posh Head, Jolly Uncle Head and many more. In the series Worzel has his own language, "Worzelese" - where you will put a "wor" after each short word with "dip" and each long word with "Worzel", and his catchphrases were "Bozzy McCoo", "Well I'll be bum-swizzled", and of course, his favourite food and drink, "A cup o' tea an' a slice o' cake". Also starring, throughout the four series, Denis Gilmore as Harry, Sarah Thomas as Enid Simmons, Thorley Walters as Colonel Bloodstock, Carry On's Barbara Windsor as Saucy Nancy, Heartbeat's Bill Maynard as Sergeant Beetroot, Wayne Norman as Pickles Bramble, Lorraine Chase as Dolly Clothes-Peg, Mike Reid as Fairground Owner, A Clockwork Orange's Anthony Sharp as Mr. Stanley, Billy Connolly as Bogle McNeep, Bernard Cribbins as Jolly Jack and Fawlty Towers' Connie Booth as Aunt Sally II. Pertwee, who was Doctor Who a few years before, is wonderful as the lovable scarecrow with his tragic go nowhere love and his hilarious antics, Stubbs gives a good performance where you both love and hate her, Bayldon is a wonderful supporting character with his wise nature, the children do their parts nicely, and the other characters that occasionally pop up are good fun too. It is a simple format, it will make you laugh, it will make you cry, the music is great, the special effects make up is marvellous, and the overall feel of it is sweet and fun, you will probably say to yourself that they don't make children's television like this anymore, a wonderful family comedy series. It was nominated the BAFTAs for the 'Harlequin' (Drama/Light Entertainment) (twice), Best Make Up (twice), Best Costume Design and Best Film Cameraman. It was number 20 on The 100 Greatest Kids' TV Shows. Outstanding!

Wonderful Vintage Romp!

[heratyplant · 9/10 · 10 June 2022]

Watching this again recently, having been there for the original broadcasts, I was delighted to be reminded how truly wonderful this show is. Story, crew, actors, all come together to create a real gem that can be enjoyed again & again. Pertwee gives a tour de force performance, but my personal favourite is the fiendishly delicious malevolence of Una Stubbs' Aunt Sally, I always hope she's in every episode, not quite the same when she isn't, Stubbs should be regarded far higher than she is.

I did recently see 1 or 2 episodes of the new version with Macenzie Thorpe & my oh my how far we have fallen. It was a totally forgettable, unfunny exercise of how not to resurrect a great show. I genuinely felt sorry for children today, if this is what they're given as entertainment, do them a favour & buy them this instead.

Lovable Scarecrow

[wozzasfc · 10 June 2005]

If you're children haven't seen this, ensure that they do. And if you watched this as a child, secretly join them for a nostalgic journey which you will enjoy even more now.

This children's favourite revolves around a scarecrow that comes to life on the fictional Scatterbrook Farm. Yes, you may sit back thinking this could only be scary, but Jon Pertwee's delivery of the character makes him lovable, and someone you can only pity. The adults never see the grumpy frustrated scarecrow come to life, but the kids are there to join his ever-lasting quest to attract the girl of his dreams, Aunt Sally. Aunt Sally (Una Stubbs) is a classy doll who could never be with a revolting scarecrow, though inside, she really does want to be with him but can never admit it to herself.

The surrounding cast are somewhat less memorable, but do help keep the momentum going. Jon and Una are faultless in their acting, and will make you laugh, sad and angry throughout each episode. Harmless children's fun to be enjoyed by all the family. Excellent.

Wurzel..the original series

[gorytus-20672 · 9/10 · 19 January 2022]

Jan 2022

The original Wurzel Gummidge ran for 4 series in the early 80s and i remember liking them back then, i recently saw them again and wow, they have stood up brilliantly, very funny, laugh out loud funny at times, and suitable for the whole family.

I then discovered they had comeback a few years later with a new series called Worzel Gummidge down under and of course there has been a much newer remake, i will review these on their respective pages.

Anyway the original gets 9 out of 10.