Originally the script written by Waterhouse and Hall for their revival of Worzel Gummidge took the form of a screenplay for a film about the scarecrow equivalent to the Watt Tyler rebellion, the idea being that the scarecrows, threatened with the prospect of being burnt at the end of the farming season, rose up against the farmers and overthrew them. Unfortunately due to a lack of finance the film was never made but, due to the tenacity and faith of the film’s proposed star, Jon Pertwee, a deal was eventually struck with ITV franchisee’s Southern to produce seven half hour episodes which would go out in the traditional Sunday afternoon children’s drama slot.

There are quite a few differences between the original novels and the Television series not least of which is the character of Worzel himself. In the books Worzel is portrayed as a dim, well meaning bumpkin but in the series Worzel is much more aggressive and can sometimes be quite conniving. Other elements were also added to the series the most ingenious of which, the heads, was actually dreamt up by Jon Pertwee himself whilst the scriptwriters introduced the Crowman, a kind of deus ex machina who is not only responsible for building Worzel but also for breathing life into him. Of all differences perhaps the most obvious is the identity of Worzel’s sweetheart, Waterhouse and Hall discarded the character of Earthy Mangold and replaced her with Aunt Sally who, in the books, was actually Worzel’s Aunt.

After only a few episodes Worzel Gummidge was a roaring success it was a series which, it seemed, everyone loved and another three, plus a Christmas special soon followed. Aside from the series a single by Jon Pertwee, Worzel’s song, was a chart hit, a musical based on the show was produced and a whole range of merchandise from dolls to view-master reels was produced as were books based on the series. The books, titled The Television Adventures of Worzel Gummidge, marked the distinction between new Worzel and old, Jon Pertwee’s was the face on the cover, the character had come full circle and, even if a few changes were made along the way, Worzel had never been so popular, unfortunately it was all about to end.

On New Years Eve 1981, after 23 years Southern Television lost their ITV franchise and their successors, TVS chose to drop many of Southern’s programs, including Worzel Gummidge. There was a public outcry and even the Daily Star ran a ‘Bring Back our Worzel’ campaign complete with car stickers unfortunately though all was to no avail and the series was shelved. It is at this point in the story that Jon Pertwee must again be applauded for his faith in the series as he tried again and again to find a new producer. Eventually Pertwee met a man called James Mitchell who wished to revive the series and base it in Ireland. The scripts were written by Willis and Hall, shoots were planned and everything was going fine until Mitchell’s American partner in the venture insulted the show’s financial backer, Lord Harlech, very publicly on American Television. This was just a few days before shooting was to begin and so, although a book of the stories, The Irish Adventures of Worzel Gummidge, was produced they were never filmed.

The series was then rested until 1986 when a producer called Grahame McLean approached Pertwee with the idea of doing the series in his home country New Zealand. The series Worzel Gummidge Down Under was made by Channel Four who, prior to it’s transmission also led up to it with a full run of repeats of the original four series. However the series failed to make a hit and so after two seasons the show was cancelled. Another irony is that even though the show was the largest television project ever made in New Zealand it was never shown there. However it appears that Jon Pertwee never gave up on the show. In the book I am the Doctor which he co-wrote with David J Howe just prior to his death Jon Pertwee indicated that he was still attempting to get a new ‘animated’ series of the show off the ground, indeed the plasticine model for Worzel Gummidge was shown on the facing page giving us all a glimpse of Pertwee’s final involvement with the character.