Shropshire Star

Children’s favourite Worzel Gummidge heading back to the screen

The Detectorists star Mackenzie Crook has been writing a new adaptation, which has been picked up by the BBC.

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Mackenzie Crook (Ian West/PA)

Worzel Gummidge could be returning to the small screen, with Mackenzie Crook starring in the lead role.

The Detectorists star, 46, has been writing a new adaptation, which is in its early stages and has been picked up by the BBC.

The show is not a reboot of the original TV series, but a contemporary adaptation of the books by English novelist Barbara Euphan Todd.

Jon Pertwee as Worzel Gummidge (PA)
Jon Pertwee as Worzel Gummidge (PA)

Crook’s spokesman confirmed to the Press Association: “Mackenzie Crook is currently in the very early stages of developing a contemporary adaptation of Barbara Euphan Todd’s original Worzel Gummidge books as a new TV series for the BBC.”

A source told the Sun: “Mackenzie has been working on this for some time.”

The scarecrow character famously had interchangeable heads, including a turnip and swede.

Pertwee once said of his alter-ego: “He says and does the things that all of us would like to do, but are too shy, self-conscious and respectful to.

“Being rude to those in authority, being selfish … there is something of Worzel in all of us.”

Pertwee played the role from 1979 to 1981 on ITV.

The show returned six years later in a New Zealand co-production, also starring Pertwee, with Channel 4.

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