We haven’t seen Geoffrey Bayldon’s character of the Crowman since episode one. I really, really like him. That’s in part because it’s impossible to dislike Bayldon, period, sure, but I like the quiet, simple magic that surrounds him. There’s a lovely moment where the children quiz him about whether he made Worzel Gummidge, and whether scarecrows can walk and talk, and the Crowman replies with an absolutely perfect and gentle explanation about how scarecrows do come to life, but only after the world is asleep, and by the light of the moon.
When the Crowman later does a patch job on Worzel’s left arm, which has become infested with field mice, he gently but firmly chastises his creation for being seen walking and talking, and listens to him blubber about wanting a wife so that somebody will bring him a cup o’ tea and a slice o’ cake. There’s so much life in the Crowman that you can easily imagine an episode that follows him around repairing all his other creations and listening to all their tales of woe. We actually meet the first of these other scarecrows this time, although the character is not named and the actress is not credited. This female scarecrow is really, really uninterested in Worzel’s proposal, and when he presses her, she responds with violence and a manic, shrieking laugh. “She’s a witch!” our son shouted in alarm. Well, that would have been a plot twist!
Fortunately for our kid, the rest of the episode was far less alarming. That snob, Mrs. Bloomsbury-Barton, insists that the Crowman make a “decorative” scarecrow for her front lawn, and Worzel meets him there to swap one of his heads for a new, allegedly handsome head. A few misunderstandings later and Worzel enters for tea, wearing this utterly ghoulish head with a pencil mustache, waxed-down hair and oversized teeth, and things explode and furniture gets kicked over, and while it was all very funny, it was probably the sight of that hideous head that brought the biggest laugh. I thought about giving you a capture of it, but I’d rather not spoil the gag.
Fire Breathing Dimetrodon Time 
One thought on “Worzel Gummidge 1.4 – The Crowman”