A scarecrow duel and a child actor's memories of making the Worzel Gummidge television series

I've not finished with Worzel Gummidge yet, because I've discovered that The Laughing Stock YouTube channel has most of the episodes from the four series that Southern made between 1979 and 1981. There are lots of other good things on there too, so I have subscribed to it.

This extract comes from The Return of Dafthead in series 3. It illustrates the folk horror aspect of this version of Worzel that appeals to me.

Don't worry: Worzel doesn't die and does get his head back. The Crow Man is a benign deity, giving life too and overseeing the scarecrows.

I've also come across an episode of the Distinct Nostalgia podcast that interviews Jeremy Austin, who played the boy John in Worzel Gummidge. His sister Sue was played by Charlotte Coleman, who died aged only 33 having enjoyed great success as both a child and an adult acting in television and films.

Austin talks about his fortuitous casting, the fun of making the programmes and his eventual admission that he was not going to sustain an acting career as an adult.

Listening between the lines, Jon Pertwee was a perfectionist and could be hard to work with. But he never lost his temper with the children and made a point of introducing them to any guest stars himself to emphasise their importance to the show.

And it has to be said that Pertwee is superlatively good in Worzel Gummidge.

I'm also intrigued by when the series is set. It's clear from the cars and the children's clothes that it's not 1979 - and when Worzel tries to do away with Dafthead in another episode by dropping him off a bridge in front of a train, it is a steam train.

But nor is there anything to anchor the series in a precise decade. I like my nostalgia precise, but this diffuse approach may be more emotionally appealing.