Worzel Gummidge is back with Saucy Nancy

When the BBC released the first-look photo of Mackenzie Crook as talking scarecrow Worzel Gummidge back in 2019, some viewers were a little unnerved, wondering if his new take on the classic books by Barbara Euphan Todd was going to be more creepy than charming.

(Although anyone with memories of watching Jon Pertwee’s earlier version of Worzel Gummidge as a child and being scared when he switched heads would probably say that was nothing new.)

Luckily, it turns out we needn’t have worried. When audiences got the chance to see Mackenzie in action, rather than just in a photo, it turned out to be a delight. In fact, the two Worzel Gummidge comedy dramas were among the biggest critical hits of the 2019 festive season.

This will have come as less of a surprise to fans of the acclaimed sitcom Dectorists, which Mackenzie wrote, directed and starred in. As well as showing his knack for poignant humour, the scenes of his character Andy tramping across fields with Lance (Toby Jones) proved he also had an eye for a landscape and a feel for the countryside.

Or, as Shane Allen, Controller Comedy Commissioning for the BBC, put it when he announced Worzel was coming back this Christmas: “What is it with Mackenzie and shows set in a field? Following on from last year’s bucolic eco-fables we find Worzel in mischievous form dispensing his sun-baked wit and wisdom in another heart-warming tale.”

And as Mackenzie himself points out, many people will also be grateful to have a glimpse of the great outdoors. He says: “I’m excited and grateful to be making a new episode of Worzel Gummidge after a difficult year for everyone. We’re heading out of Scatterbrook for this story on a day trip to the seaside, some fresh air and some wide-open space.”

This time, Worzel, Susan (India Brown) and John (Thierry Wickens) visit a junk yard, where the scarecrow overhears the grumblings of his foul-mouthed – or at least foul-mouthed by the standards of tea time on Christmas Eve – old friend Saucy Nancy. And no wonder he recognises her mutterings as she’s played by Shirley Henderson, aka Harry Potter’s Moaning Myrtle, whose voice is very distinctive.

Nancy is a ship’s figurehead, who is sick of languishing on land and wants to get back to sea. The kids promise to help her return, but Worzel worries that her ship will not be waiting for her. And then there’s the logistics of how they are going to get there… The strange foursome find themselves navigating their way to the coast on foot, by bus, wheelbarrow, motorbike and sidecar. But for Worzel, it’s a rare chance to experience the world outside Scatterbrook Farm, as he sees a wild moorland and the spectacular white cliffs of Seashell. And this show features two veteran acting legends in the form of Vanessa Redgrave and Brian Blessed.

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