It's not unusual for alot of TV shows to have pilot episodes infact alot of shows do have them however what is most unusual is for that pilot to be based of a pre-existing property be it a book or a TV show. Well in this case it's both as after conquering the world of live action television everybody's favorite walking and talking scarecrow Worzel Gummidge almost had an animated series which was to feature both Jon Pertwee as Worzel Gummidge and Una Stubbs as Aunt Sally however the pilot never led to series due to the death of it's main star and after years of being lost the pilot episode of this show was found a few years ago and has now just been made available as a bonus feature on a Worzel Gummidge so then join me as I review the episode that is technically one om the last times that Jon Pertwee played the role of Worzel Gummidge with the episode in question being called simply just "Aunt Sally's Affair" enjoy.
The plot of this episode is Worzel gets jealous when he finds out that his beloved Aunt Sally is engaged to a store front dummy and sets out to make sure that she marries him. Now then interms of what I personally thought/ 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 that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad as while this episodes isn't as good as some of the shows best episodes there is quite clearly alot of thought and effort put into it with the episodes plot being just as simple and delightfully silly and simple as you'd expect from a episode of Worzel Gummidge with the plot of the episode also being really rather entertaining and really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this episode is Jon Pertwee as Worzel Gummidge and Shop Owner and Una Stubbs as Aunt Sally and A Waitress. It's understandable that they didn't bring in alot more actors from the original series in this episode because they wanted to save money but at the same time there's only so long that you can have a scene with just Jon and Una in it before you start to notice that it's just them doing the voices for alot of the episodes cast of characters and while the two of them do still have some really great chemistry together even all of those years after Worzel Gummidge Down Under had ended it would have made more sense to have more characters be featured as to give potential buyers a better example of just how the show would work with more speaking characters in it instead of just giving us something that we know already works thanks to both the original series and thanks to Worzel Gummidge Down Under.
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 then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. With both Jon and Una really killing it and giving us some good performances which is really nothing new as they always gave us some really good performances in alot of the episodes of the show however what lets the acting down quite alot is the episodes script which is just very bland and boring and predictable with it lacking any of the heart and humor that writers Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall had in all of their scripts for the original series with the script also not really giving the actors really all that much to work with interms of what it is that their respective characters personality is even meant to be.
Try as I might I cannot find out who did the animation for this episode anywhere online as no animation company is listed either in the episodes end and opening credits nor in the various articles about the episode being rediscovered. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in al honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty alot better then what it really had any right to be. As nobody would have blamed them for not having that good animation in this episode as this is episode is just a pilot episode and yet the animation in this episode was really solid with the only real issue being the character designs as Worzel himself looks really off putting and ugly where as Aunt Sally looks great which might be the point as Worzel is meant to look really ugly but at the same time the character still needs to look visually appealing in order to get young kids to watch the show or even this episode in the first place.
For some reason even tho this episode was found in 2019 it wasn't included on the recent restored edition of Worzel Gummidge. With the episode instead popping up as a bonus feature on the recently released restored edition for Worzel Gummidge Down Under which really doesn't make that much sense as this episode has just as much in line with the original series then it does with Worzel Gummidge Down Under with this episode taking place in England as such given that the original series took place in and was made in England it would have made alot more sense for the episode to be featured on that box set then it does this new one but there might have been an issue with the restoration that made it impossible to be included on the original series box set which if that really is the case then fair enough but if not it does really make you wonder why it wasn't included on the original series box set.
This episode was alot more kid friendly then what both the original series and Down Under was which was a bit weird to see. As while both series were made for kids they also had very scary episodes and dealt with some very scary themes and yet here it felt like they were just treating as a TV show for kids and were thus to afraid to include anything that might scare kids with Aunt Sally being the best example of this as while she does act child like in the show as does Worzel Gummidge himself for that matter here it felt like that they just upped that aspect of both of the characters whilst downplaying alot of the other aspects of both of the characters and as a result of that we get the characters acting really childish but not in a way that's funny or charming with it instead being in a way that's just childish and silly something which the original show would never have done.
While this version of the show never made it air that doesn't mean that the pilot was unsuccessful as they did manage to convince a network to pick up the show. On the basis that those involved with making the show secure the funds to actually make it but sadly the show could never come to be thanks due to the death of franchise star Jon Pertwee with the even sadder news being that the show had secured quite alot of the funding needed to complete production on the show before he passed away with this show being the last thing that he worked which is sad as not only was it Jon's idea to do the show in the first place but he also put it quite alot of his own money to help to get the show but he was also a huge champion for Worzel Gummidge even spearheading getting the original show made all the way back in the late nineteen seventies.
Now then I cannot for the absolutely life of me remember whatever thus episodes grad total running time even was but I d know for a fact that this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of roughly sixteen minuets. However as the feature in question also plays a two and half minuet interview prior to the episode playing it's more like fourteen minuets and thirty seconds which either way is a rather solid running time for this episode as it doesn't really have alot their interms of plot to really cover anything longer then that with the episode really just focusing on the characters of Worzel and Aunt Sally and given that the show really doesn't really need to set up there characters thanks to both the original series and Worzel Gummidge Down Under the episode itself really doesn't really need alot of time to tell it's story but I will admit that the episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is 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 really good for the most part. As while we do get some really good jokes in this episode there just not on the same level as the jokes that we would get in the original series as those jokes were timeless where the jokes in this episode whilst still funny felt like a joke that you'd only see in the nineties with the episode really having alot of focus on slapstick comedy for some reason which whilst funny doesn't really work all that well for Worzel Gummidge at all in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall this was a rather fun episode and it was great to see some lost Worzel Gummidge material of a show that sadly will never get to be but at the same time this show doesn't really represent the character at his best in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very episode in this very review and as such that means that this very episode earns itself a grand old score of exactly a 6 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that In 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 from Amazon . Co . Uk and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from these very episode that I used in this very review being Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of the images that are on Google Images are all really fairly high in quality and as well as them all really being really fairly freaking high in definition.