There are some shows that you just excited about when you think about talking more about them with that love and ion coming throw every single time you do talk about them. With one of those shows being the original 1979 version of Worzel Gummidge as that show was so full of charm and whimsy that it could be aired today and kids today really would still love it and while there alot of really good episodes in this show the show does also have some really average episodes much like the episode that i'm going to be reviewing for you all today but even this shows average episodes really are still better then alot of bad episodes from other TV shows and so then me as I review the episode that sees a new face buy the big manor house with the episode in question being called simply just "Worzel The Brave" enjoy.
The plot of this episode is when Colonel Bloodstock moves into the manor house formerly owned by Mrs. Bloomsbury-Barton he finds himself having to deal with Worzel Gummidge who is trying to convince Aunt Sally that he can be brave. Now then in 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 the best of plot that this show has every had but in saying that it is still a good and goofy plot it's just that this show has had much more better plots and is quite clearly starting to show signs of running out of steam as this episodes plot just feels like that it's going through the motions with there being nothing to this plot and while that is fine as this show in particular the third and fourth series of the show did have alot of goofy plots to there episodes and indeed the episode before this one "A Fair Pull Over" was a goofy plot but at the same time tho the show always knew to balance out the more goofier plots with the plots that really had heart and emotion to them and that's something that's lost with this episodes plot as it tries to do both without realizing that both of those aspects just don't work with each other but when this episodes plot is fun to watch it can be a really fun filled plot it's just one that might be considered a tad bit to goofy even for this show with this episodes plot also 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 Doctor Who star Jon Pertwee as Worzel Gummidge and Michael Ripper as Mr. Shepherd. Also starring in this episode is Mike Berry as Mr. Peters , Charlotte Coleman as Sue Peters , Jeremy Austin as John Peters , Una Stubbs as Aunt Sally , Denis Gilmore as Harry , Geoffrey Bayldon as The Crowman and The Pure Hell Of St. Trinian's star Thorley Walters as Colonel Bloodstock.
Now then in 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. As all of this episodes are a bunch of really good actors in their own right and while Thorley Walters won't ever match up to just how wonderfully snobbish Jan Simms was in the role of Mrs. Bloomsbury-Barton he does still manage to make the character appear to be somewhat of a snob only this time it's not because of wealth rather it's because of the fact that he was in the army with his performance in this episode being perfectly suited for that kind of character with all of the episodes actors turning in some really good performances as well which is something that does make alot of sense as all f them had been playing there respective characters for three years up until this point and therefor they would of course know how best to perform there respective characters and that is something that does shine through in there respective performances as all of the actors turn in performances that feel just right for there respective characters with the acting that's in this very episode also being helped by the fact that thus 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 s something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very episode.
As was just mentioned at the start of this review this episode sees the introduction of Colonel Bloodstock. With the episode explaining that he's the new owner of the manor house and while his character could be seen as being entertaining as he's an military man who believes that discipline is what everybody needs he's also not that fun of a character t watch in screen either Mrs. Bloomsbury-Barton for all of her snobbery was still a fun character to watch be it due to her facial expressions whenever a room in her house got destroyed or her trying to scam the villagers into giving her free things there was always something fun going on with that character and yet with this Colonel Bloodstock character none of that is present with the character being very by the book and being the kind of the character that has to do things a certain way which is fine for his character as it ties back into his military background but at the same time tho it doesn't make him a fu character to watch as there should be somethin about this character that still makes him a fun filled character be it him thinking that he's still in a war or him just refusing to give away even the smallest amount of his money as either one of those things would made him a more fun filled character to watch and while the makers of this show more then likely could have added in those aspects t his character if he returned for the fourth series they don't get the chance do as the character only appears in a few series three episodes and the christmas special before being removed entirely from the show without any sort of given reason as to why he's no longer in the show.
This episode does introduce to the brave head a head that is designed to make it's wearer incredibly brave. Which is a good idea and having Worzel wear it thinking that it will also win him the heart of Aunt Sally but when it doesn't The Crowman does give him a good speech how being brave isn't enough to make someone truly happy as all being brave does is end up with tears in a woman's eye which is a good message to send to kids as while being brave can be a good thing like conquering your fears or standing up to bullies it is something that can cause people deep upset like going head first into a war which yes is a brave thing to do but it will also mean that people will get upset by it as well with this episode teach kids to pick and choose when to be brave and when not to be brave as sometimes the bravest thing that you can do is say no to people and while having Worzel learn this lesson is typical for this show to do as they often had Worzel learn these tough life lessons it is something that does work as he is a scarecrow with very little brain and therefor having him learn when to be brave and when not to be brave does make sense from a character standpoint the issue is tho is that it does come out of nowhere as at no time in the episode do we get to see Worzel cause pain to those around him due to him being brave something that would have made the message hit home all the more harder and yet by having it appear in the last few minuets of the episode does make it feel like the message was more of an afterthought and forced because of it.
Speaking of Aunt Sally she gets shockingly very little to do in this episode which is both refreshing and yet at the same time not something that works for this episode. It's refreshing in that pretty much from this series onwards the character would feature in alot of the episodes plots more often then not being the main character of the plot and yet here she's more of a side character in the plot then a straight up main character but at the same time tho given that the plot of the episode does actively revolve around her it would have made more sense for the character to take more of an active role in the episodes plot rather then just appearing in a very small handful of scenes here and there and that's really it as all that does is lessen the characters impact on the plot where as if she chose not to go to the manor house and return to her owners house as was originally intended then Worzel wouldn't have gone after her at the manor house and there wouldn't have run into Colonel Bloodstock but because she did go the manor house and even got back her old job as parlor maid as well that mean that the plot of this episode then ended up taking place thus making the character a key plot point and yet she does very little in the actual episode when it would have made more sense for her to try and get Colonel Bloodstock to actually harm Worzel which is something that would be in her character to do only for her to be won over by the fact that Worzel isn't backing down to him as that would give the Aunt Sally character alot more to do in the episode but she gets the gold star treatment when compared to The Crowman as he only gets three scenes in the whole episode and that's it even tho he's meant to be Worzel conscience and has a big speech at the end of the episode.
While having Worzel cry when Aunt Sally leaves him broken hearted does usually work well as it's something that's been earned. Here it's not something that worked all that well as for the vast majority of the episode Aunt Sally wasn't leading Worzel on at all with her straight up telling him that she didn't want to be with him and therefor having him upset when she does get made at him at the end episode isn't something that works as it's Worzel that was in the wrong all throughout this episode even tho he didn't know it with this being a good example of this show slowly starting to run out of steam as having Worzel cry when it's one right be a really effective thing to do but it's something that does have to work and can't be something that's thrown in at the last minuet just to get people on Worzel's side as all that does is make it less effective when he does cry again as it makes it a cheap way to get emotion out of people when this kind of storytelling should only be saved for when it's earned as there was no need to have Worzel be crying at the end of the episode as The Crowman even warned him not to use the brave head and yet he did it anyway knowing full well that it could cause him some form of pain and yet he still did anyway with the only way that having Worzel crying be something that actually works in this episode was if we saw Aunt Sally actually lead Worzel on all throughout the episode by saying that she will marry him if he did show her that he can be brave only to then change her mind at the end of the episode as that is something that would justify him being upset at the end of the episode as we would have seen her lead him on all throughout the episode.
Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly twenty six minuets and nine seconds. Which is pretty much the bogstanderd running time for this shoe to have in the first place with this episode really having the right amount of plot there to cover that amount of running time but at the same time this episode really doesn't use it's running time all that wisely as the episodes plot isn't as developed as it could have been and the we don't really get a reason as to why Mrs. Bloomsbury-Barton would even want to sell her house in the first place as it's not something that she'd want to do in the first place and yet this is something that this episode doesn't take the time to explain away as she had become an entertaining character and yet she's not given a proper goodbye with the episodes plot not being that well developed as it seems like things are just happening for the same of happening which to be fair is pretty typical for alot of this shows more goofier plots but at the same time tho this show does have a habit of developing it's plots to the point where they feel well rounded where as here with this episode we don't get any of that of that as the episode has to not only establish why Aunt Sally is back in the village but also set up this new character and that's something that it could in short running time with that meaning that things like the episodes plot can't be that developed and while yes granted this episodes plot is alot more better then what it really could have been t's s still a plot that could have been alot more better then what it is if it was a more well developed plot but I really will it that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is comedy that really does mean 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. With there being some cute and funny moments all throughout this episode and while yes granted there alot more better jokes in other and better episodes of this show there are still some decent jokes to be found in this episode as well with the idea of Worzel being forced to speak in what might be a German accent when he's wearing the brave head is a funny idea in it's own right and yet it's one that's totally in keeping with the shows lore as the show would have Worzel change his personality when he wears a different head but very rarely if ever would it force him into changing his accent and yet here with this head that's exactly what it does and it's joke that does work well enough for this episode and yet that's not the best joke of this episode as that doesn't come from anything that the characters say rather it comes from a cut in the episode as near the end of the episode Worzel in his brave head defeat Colonel Bloodstock and gets Aunt Sally on his horse and they ride away with some romantic music swelling only to then cut to Worzel in his barn with Aunt Sally crying with her realizing that this is her happy ending in a way which is such a good joke and one that is quite frankly the best joke in this whole episode as it's one that's just that funny of a joke in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall this was a decent episode but it's still not this show back from when it was at it's best as it does feel like that this show was staring to run of steam but at the same time given just how good this shows writers where even this show on it's bad day is still better then alot of shows on there best day in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all the good and ass 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 review well doe 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 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 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 review 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 really alot of them being really better quality then what you'd really think of and really all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.
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