Alot of shows especially kids shows have what is more commonly known as special episodes where the show tries to talk about series topics. Well there's an episode of Worzel Gummidge that really should have been a special episode of the show as it does deal with something that does hurt alot of people and yet for some rather odd reason it just wasn't and so then join me as I review the episode that really should have been a special episode of the show with the episode in question being called simply just "Worzel's Wager" enjoy.
The plot of this episode is when Worzel is thrown out of a booking shop for trying to make a bet he tries to make a bet in a race that involves The Crowman's dog Ratter. 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 the episodes plot was a fun plot which really isn't all that new as this shows plots are for the most part at least really good plots with this episodes plot also being a really fun plot for this show to have with this being helped by the fact that the plot for this episode is also really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this episode is Jon Pertwee as Worzel Gummidge , Jeremy Austin as John Peters and Charlotte Coleman as Sue Peters. Also starring in this film is Geoffrey Bayldon as The Crowman , Mike Berry as Mr. Peters , Norman Bird as Mr. Braithwaite , Myrtle Devenish as Mrs. Liversage , Steve Gardner as Dougie , Denis Gilmore as Harry , Laurence Harrington as Cyril , Megs Jenkins as Mrs. Braithwaite , Jimmy Jewel as The Betting Office Manager , Frank Marlborough as Atkins , Norman Mitchell as P.C. Parsons and Thorley Walters as Colonel Bloodstock.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that'd 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 really good. Which is really nothing new for this show as this show has always had some really good acting in it with all of the actors in this episode really giving us some truly wonderful performances which is really nothing new given just how good alot of this episodes cast members really are with this really being helped that the episodes script is just so good that all the episodes cast have to do is just simply says the lines as they are written and a really good performance will come out all of them really naturally.
The show usually only shows Worzel getting for lack of a better destroyed once in a given episode and yet in this episode we get it twice. While Worzel being destroyed would usually be the end of the episode or the moment that makes Worzel learn whatever lesson that he's trying to learn that week here the episode continues which does kind of cheapen the impact of having Worzel destroyed as that is a big moment and it should be treated as such with the episode and yet due to the fact that the episode continues on after Worzel gets run over by a combine harvester it kind of felt like that the makers of the show really had no idea how to end the episode as they continue the episode way past when it should have ended with Worzel not really learning anything from his experiences in this episode which does also make this episode feel like it's a pointless episode.
Much like the episode "The Golden Hind" where everybody in the village was suddenly hooked on Fish & Chips. Here they all seemed to hooked on gambling which would lead you to believe that this episode is going to teach kids that gambling is bad and yet for some strange reason the episode doesn't do that and instead it makes gambling seem like a fun pass time for adults to do and while that can indeed be the case it can also be a really dangerous thing to do as people can get very easily hooked on gambling and as a result it can lead people down a dark path and this episode had the chance to do that in it's own way with the end of having Worzel being destroyed being how it could lead you down a dark path and yet because of the fact that the episode doesn't go that route it misses the chance to teach kids a very valuable lesson featuring a character who was at the time very popular and would thus would have had made sense to have Worzel be the one to teach that lesson to kids.
To give this episode credit it does add to the lore of the show by mentioning that there are saint scarecrows in this world. With The Crowman even musing a few times that Worzel himself might very well be one which is something that does track as we do get to see him do nice things not only for The Crowman and his friends but also for the little robin redbreast that leaves in his stomach and also for Aunt Sally someone whom really doesn't like him and yet he does it because it's the right thing to do even tho it might drive The Crowman crazy at times it's still the right thing to do and those are the actions but Worzel being Worzel he does also act really selfish as well which does dispel any notion of Worzel being a saint scarecrow and it does really give us a truly funny scene at the end of this episode as well.
While the episode is to focused on showing us just how good gambling is and could be it's alot of those scenes especially with Worzel at the end. That are some of the must fun part of the episodes as we get to see alot of the shows regular cast just bounce of off each other and because of that we do get alot of really good scenes near the end of the episode with alot of the Whippet Racers and Worzel just trying to place a bet and while those scenes are indeed really fun scenes that are key to the plot of the episode they also hit home the episodes problem of showing us just how good gambling could be instead of showing us the downside of gambling which is something that an episode that's based heavily around gambling should have done and heck you could even have The Betting Office Manage also get his comeuppance as well as he doesn't tell people to stop gambling but rather he just takes there money and that's it all of which combine to make a great "villain" for this episode to have in it.
Now then while I cannot for the absolutely life of me remember whatever this episodes running time even was I do know that for a fact that this episode has / had an exact grand total running tie of roughly twenty six minuets. Which is pretty much the bogstanderd running time for this show and to this episodes credit that this episode really does make the most of it's really simple plot with the episode developing it's plot as much as it could have been and while this episode really does have more then enough plot to cover that large amount of running time it would have been just as good if the episode was a bit longer just so we could get more scenes of The Crowman but that would mean stretching the episodes plot even thinner then what it currently is doing but I will admit that this 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 abut 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 really good. With this episode having alot of really funny moments be it from what it is that the characters say or due to the many funny faces that star Jon Pertwee pulls all throughout the episode this episode is a really good example of just how funny this show can be as this is a really funny episode with Jon Pertwee himself oddly getting alot of the episodes jokes just due to how funny he is in not only this episode but in the episode itself in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall this episode is on the few episodes of this show that i'd strongly say is a must watch episode as it gives you everything that's great about this show with alot of really great laughs as well 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 really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly an 8 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 a well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Amazon . Co . Uk , Wikipedia 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 the great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really quite alot or really of if not all of the images that are really from this episode and are of course really on the great Google Images are all really fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.