As the old saying goes all great things must come to an end with this being especially true when it comes to our favorite movies and TV shows. With the episode that i'm going to be talking to you all today officially marking the end of the British Worzel Gummidge series as while the series would get another two series years later those series were filmed in New Zealand and only have two actors from the British series back as there characters and so then join me as I review the episode that sees Worzel celebrating his bestest birthday with the episode in question being called simply just "Worzel's Birthday" enjoy.
The plot of this episode is on the day of Worzel's bestest birthday which is the birthday for his head he goes missing after Aunt Sally refuses to come to his party therefor it's up to John and Sue to not only find him but throw a part of there own for 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 really good. With the thing that makes the episodes plot be as good as it is being the fact that it is delightfully simple and while that is something that might be seen as being a bad thing by today's standards by the standards of the olden days it is something that does work really well as this show was afterall made or the whole family to sit down and enjoy and a apart of that does entail having these more simple and easy to follow plots which is something that this episode does have in spades. While yes it would have helped the episode out quite a bit if the episode did have a more stronger plot as even for this show the plot does feel a bit to simple by making the plot more complex it would take away from the more carming and easy going nature of the show as this is a show that people can sit down and just relax to and to be fair this episodes plot does give you exactly that and while it would have been better if the plot did feel more like the final episode of a TV show as the makers of the show would have known that the station they were airing on was closing down and therefor would have had the time to give the show a more proper finale this episodes plot does give you all of the greatest hits from a show with the plot itself being a really fun plot with the episodes plot being 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 ax Sue Peters. Also starring in this episode is Norman Bird as Mr. Braithwaite , Mike Berry as Mr. Peters , Michael Ripper as Mr. Shepherd , Sarah Thomas as Miss Maple , Una Stubbs as Aunt Sally , Laurence Harrington as The Landlord , Geoffrey Bayldon as The Crowman , Wally Thomas as An Elderly Gentleman and Frank Marlborough as Saggy Tatersack.
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 really good. With all of the episodes actors being just as good as they are in the rest of the show which is something by this point in the shows run was to be completely expected due to the fact that all of this episodes shows even the more weaker episodes did always have some really good acting in them with this being down to two things the first of which being the fact that they got a feature film director in James Hill to direct the series and the second of which is the fact that they surrounded the kid actors with these more established character actors and comedy legends. With the best actor in this whole entire episode being Una Stubbs as Aunt Sally as while she is always deliciously evil as the character here it feels like that she takes it not quite one step above what she normally would do as the character but up enough to the point where you both laugh at her antics and yet at the same time boo her due to how badly that she's treating Worzel himself with Una being the right person to play this version of the character as anyone else would either play her to far evil to be likable or to likable to be evil and yet Una even in this episode does manage to find the perfect sweet spot that a character like Aunt Sally should always have with the acting that's in this very episode really being helped by the fact that this episodes script is just so good that all this episodes actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very episode.
If there is one word to describe this episode it would be magical as that's exactly what this episode is in every single sense of the word. This is also something that could be said for alot of the episodes in this show but here for whatever reason it feels more true as we do get a scene where both John and Sue find out when Worzel's bestest birthday is when they come to his pole one day and find it surrounded by flowers with the whole thing just being filled to the brim with both magic and whimsy and while yes that is only scene it is one scene that does make the whole episode feel magical as it does give us some insight into how this world work from the point of view of a scarecrow. This is was something that other episodes of both this show and it's sequel show didn't do and yet it is something that they did in the more recent adaptation of the books and while that more recent version over did it here in this episode it was done in the right way as it is something that the episode doesn't spend that much time on with the episode really only giving it two scenes with the first one being set up and the other being the pay off but that's all it needed as the show is at it's best when it does focus on the characters and not the magic that is quite clearly in this world and yet even with that in mind, it is something that does also work in this episode due the fact that it is part of the episodes main plot and isn't just a quick throwaway scene like it very easily could have been with the scene in question being so beautifully shot that you'd be mistaken for thinking that it's a scene from feature length film due to the fact that everything about that scene from the writing to the directing does scream feature length film.
While this version of Aunt Sally is always really cruel to everyone who isn't her here it feels like that she's even more cruel and selfish then usual. Which is something that is fairly common place for the final episodes of this show as that's where they just let Aunt Sally be as cruel as she can be and while she doesn't make Worzel cry and break his heart like she has done in the past as here she not only refuses to go to his party when she thinks that it'll just be the two of them there when she finds out that John and Sue are buying Worzel this really big cake for there party she then follows them back to the barn and even tries to eat the cake herself when she thinks that Worzel is running late. Yet when the kids go looking for Worzel and take Aunt Sally with them the first thing she does is run away back to the barn and do exactly that as she eats his while birthday cake herself which even for her is a bit low as she knew full well that Worzel was excited about the idea of having a party and yet she goes and ruins it for him, this is something that is also fairly in character for her with her being the kind of character that always wants to be the centre of attention and can't handle it when someone else has more attention then her therefor it does make sense that she would try and ruin Worzel's birthday party for him weather or not she wanted to ruin his birthday is something that is up for debate as while she did know that his birthday was coming up and the kids to tell her plenty of times that it's for his birthday she doesn't seem like the kind of character that would go out of their way to ruin someone else's birthday, due to the fact that she might not even know what a birthday is to begin with and yet the saddest thing about this is the fact that even tho Worzel catches her after eating his cake deep down down he does still love her and would do anything for her.
As was stated earlier on in this review this episode doesn't feel like a finale episode even tho the makers of the show knew full well that the TV station that the were airing on was closing down. The reason for this being the fact that Southern which was the station that aired and made this show had lost it's broadcasting rights and was forced to close down yet even so this episode does feel loke a typical episode of the show with there being nothing about this episode that makes it feel special or like a finale episode this is something that could be because of the fact that the episode was written to be apart of the third series but was held off until this series with the only major difference being the fact that Mrs. Braithwaite was in the original version of the episode and yet alot of her lines where given to Mr. Peters with the character not even appearing in this final series at all. This is something that would explain why the series felt like a typical episode of the show but something that could help with that is the fact that maybe Jon Pertwee was hoping to sell the show to another network which would have been a very easy thing to do as the show was a massive hit yet for one reason or another it took them several years to get Worzel Gummidge Down Under made with even the final episode of that show not feeling like a finale episode but back to this episode there could be any number of reasons as to why this episode feels more like a typical episode of the show and not like a finale episode and they all would be completely valid and while the episode isn't harmed by this at all with the added benefit of hindsight it would have made the episode be alot more better if the episode was treated loke a proper finale due to the fact that this is the last time that we see all of the characters apart from Worzel and Aunt Sally as those are the only two characters that get brought over for Worzel Gummidge Down Under.
This episode does give us all of the greatest hits for Worzel as not only do we have a really big cake but we also have alot of the side characters coming back for a few scenes ad we also have Worzel getting some lessons from The Crowman and the episode even ends with big dance number with alot of the main characters. These are all things that do help to make this episode feel like a series final episode but not the show's final episode as alot of those characters would also appear in the other final episodes of the show and not just this one and while it is helped by the fact that we do have both Sarah Thomas and Frank Marlborough back as different characters it would have meant more if they were reprising there original characters of Dafthead and Enid respectively. Where this episode does shine the best is when we do get to see them play the greatest hits if you will as that's when we get to be reminded of just how this special that this show not only was but still is to a degree as we do get to the characters be there lovable but also goofy and charming selves which is something that they always where when this show was at it's best and while it is possible that they would have to ended the show after the fifth series as you can tell that the kids are growing up and are no longer ten years old the fact that we managed to get an episode with them and the side characters as well we do get to say goodbye to them on our own terms and not have it be something that was forced upon us is something that does work with this episode. This show was never one for saying goodbye to it's characters and the few times that they did it was mostly played for laughs and therefor to expect them to do the same here wouldn't be wise and it is something that would get in the way of them reminding us of why this show not only was but to a much more lesser extent still is loved by people young and old to this very day.
Now then this episode really has / had an exact grand total running time of really exactly twenty six minuets. With this being the bogstandard running time for the other episodes as well and to be fair t this episode this episode again much like the rest of the show really doesn't need to be that long as it is telling a simple story and it does do it really efficiently with alot of the episodes scenes being about advancing the plot of the episode, with the episode even having the right amount of plot there to cover that amount of running time in the first place as it does feel like that there isn't a single scene wasted in this episode due to the fact that alot of the scenes in this episodes are either cute comedy moments with the characters or are moments that remind you of why we loved these characters so much in the first place. Heck this episode even does use its running time very wisely as the plot of the episode is as well developed as its ever going to be due to the fact that the episode does have all of its scenes be about advancing its plot forward and it does take the time to add things to it's plot be it Aunt Sally first refusing to go to and then demanding that she come to Worzels birthday or the fact that we get to both John and Sue organizing a surprise party for Worzel they are all things that do play apart in the episodes plot in major ways. Even the episodes characters do feel as well developed as they are even going to be for a kids TV show as while they don't get any of that development in this episode you could make the argument that that's the point as both John and Sue are kids and therefor there not going to be that well developed anyway and Worzel is just a big kid at heart and is very forgetful yet we do find out more not only about him but about scarecrow kind as a whole which is something that the makers of this episode really didn't have to do but I really will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this a comedy that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented t 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 there being alot of painfully moments in this episode all of which do feel true to who these characters are as a people as while it would be hard to say that this episodes jokes are character driven due to the fact that there s a fair amount of slapstick jokes as well when this episode does tell a joke that feels true to whom these characters are that is when we do get some really good jokes in this episode. Yet none of those types of jokes are the best jokes in the episode as the best joke of the whole entire being when Aunt Sally eats Worzels entire cake as she acts like she's drunk which is something that little kids won't understand but it is something that once you notice it you can't unsee it and yet at the same time it is something that does work as of course Aunt Sally would have an entire cake to herself with the fact that she acts drunk being something that does make this cruel moment seem funny as it does give us a chance to see a side to her character that we've never been given the chance o see before now, this episode doesn't force Aunt Sally into it like alot of the other series four episodes did as here she is there to be the episodes main villain and to get some laughs out of us the audience and she does both of those things beautifully with Una Stubbs even acting like she's drunk as skunk on cake which is just a good idea in its own right and it is something that does tell you just how clever the writing on this show really was as yes there jokes in this episode that little kids will find funny but then there are jokes that you will get on two different levels as when your kid you'll see them for that you think they are and it'll be funny and then again as an adult when you see them as they truly are and it's still funny with the rest of the episodes jokes being just as funny in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall whilst this version of Worzel Gummidge would continue on in Worzel Gummidge Down Under it was sad to this classic British series come to an end as it is something that does make you think of similar times in the UK with the episode on the whole being one of the more better episodes of this final series but is still a fairly weaker episode when compared to the shows other episodes 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 really does mean that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7.5 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all o the images that I personally used in his 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 this very episode that I used in this very post being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them really being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images really are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.