We all have that show that even tho not alot of people care about it or even know about it we still look forward to watching it and maybe even talking about it in some way shape or form. Well for me Worzel Gummidge is one of those shows as I actively get excited a day or two before I sit down to watch the episode that i'm about to review and it was no different with this episode either and so then join me as I review the episode that sees Worzel go through his worst nightmare with the episode in question being called simply just "Fire Drill" enjoy.
The plot of this episode is when Mrs. Bloomsbury-Barton decides to have a bonfire and Mr. Braithwaite decides that Worzel should be on top of the bonfire it's up to John and Sue to save him before it's far to late. Now then interms of what I personally though / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot thats actually featured presented to us in this very episode was in al honesty really good with the plot being just scary enough to scare little kids but at the same time it's also lighthearted enough that you really do kind of buy into and just go along with it in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this episode is Doctor Who star Jon Pertwee as Worzel Gummidge and Jeremy Austin as John Peters. Also starring in this episode is Charlotte Coleman as Sue Peters , Geoffrey Bayldon as The Crowman , Mike Berry as Mr. Peters , Norman Bird as Mr. Braithwaite , Megs Jenkins as Mrs. Braithwaite , Frank Marlborough as Daft Head , Norman Mitchell as P.C. Parsons , Michael Ripper as Mr. Shepherd , Joan Sims as Mrs. Bloomsbury-Barton and Last Of The Summer Wine star Sarah Thomas as Enid Simmons.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well the in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us this very episode was in all honesty really good.,Which is nothing new for this series as this series always has had some really good acting in it and alot of that is not only due to the fact that the episode ad the show has a bunch of really good actors and actresses in it but it's also due to the fact that the script for not only this episode but the show as a whole is so good that all the cast have to do is just say the words as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally.
What I really expecting this episode to do was for them to reveal some more of the lore behind this show. With it being reveled in this episode in this episode that Worzel was made at the very least one hundred years ago by The Crowman now weather or not it's the same Crowman that appears in this series or is a different Crowman is never mentioned but given the fact that all of the The Crowmen in this show are treated as mystical characters with magical abilities it's not entirely out of the realm of possibility that is The Crowman that we see in this series that made Worzel all those years ago and given that we now know for a fact that Worzel is hundreds of years old it makes you wonder just how he managed to avoid getting destroyed for all these years.
This is the episode that introduces us to the pure nightmare fuel that is Dafthead with the general idea being that he was created by Worzel , John and Sue. Yet for some reason the makers of this show chose to make the character look really terrifying as everything about his design is really of and misshapen and heck even his mouth can't open fully which just adds to the overall creepiness and while this show most certainly has never shied away from showing us scary images heck even the very first episode of the show is pretty has some fairly scary imagery it in they've never had a character deliberately look and act scary and that just takes things to a whole different level of creepiness and it's one that will most likely scare little kids.
There is one thing that I didn't like about this episode and that's the fact that they have Dafthead come alive just because Worzel created him. While I do like the idea of scary looking scarecrows being created as indeed this is something that Worzel Gummidge Down Under would do to great effect what I don't like is the fact that it implies that any scarecrow can create a scarecrow as that is something that should only be done by The Crowman as he would know what kind of magic that that would take in order to pull it off and yet by making Worzel bring Dafthead while it does make sense given the fact that Dafthead was created to replace Worzel on top of the bonfire it's something that shouldn't have been done as The Crowman could have tried to talk the adults in the village out of it and instead not leave Worzel to create a scarecrow which is something that The Crowman knew that he was going to be doing.
For those of you that are wondering this episode is one of the episodes that does hint of and kind of ends with the death of Worzel Gummidge. I say kind of as while his body does indeed get burnt and blown up The Crowman does manage to save his head and so he builds him an entirely new body however just the very idea of Worzel Gummidge actually dying and the makers of the show actually going through does go to the show that this show treats it's kid audience with respective and doesn't dumb things down for them and while yes they do find a rather inventive way out of the corner that they almost wrote themselves into the very fact that they had the guts to kind of kill of the main character of the show really does show you that this show is one of if not the best kids programme ever made.
Now then while I cannot for the absolutely life of me remember whatever this episodes grand total running time even was I do know that this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of roughly twenty five minuets. Which is pretty much close to being the bogstanderd running time for this show and to this episodes credit it really does have more then enough their interms of both plot an story to cover that large amount of running time with no scene in this episode feeling like filler as every single scene in this episode is about either advancing the plot of the episode or about setting up something that will pay off later on in the episode and it really does help that this episode really goes have some really good pacing to it as well.
So now then as this a comedy that means that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. As this episode does have some genuinely funny moments in it however the main focus in this episode isn't the comedy it's the drama and on that regard the episode does have some really good drama in it as well as there's this huge sense of dread all throughout the episode with Jon , Sue and Worzel trying to prevent Worzel being put on the bonfire but when this episode tells a joke it is a genuinely funny joke that will get a laugh out of anyone in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall this was a really good and given it's firework theme it's one that's perfect to watch every November 5th and while this episode might be a bit to scary for kids it's something that most adults should love in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well all of the bad things that are in this very episode in this very review and as such that means that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 9 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review Amazon . Co . Uk , Wikipedia and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from these very episodes that I used in this very review being Google Images simply just due to the fact that alot of the images that are on Google Images are all really fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.