Raping my childhood one more time: Rentaghost and Worzel Gummage to be remade!

[WhiteCrow]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7604192.stm

Well loved childhood series to be remade. Any thoughts? Any ideas for casting (who you'd like to see)?

Classic children's shows Rentaghost and Worzel Gummidge could be returning to TV after rights to the programmes were obtained by a UK production company.

RDF, best known for making Channel 4 show Wife Swap, will develop, produce and distribute both shows.

Nigel Pickard, from RDF, said: "We feel there is real potential for these classic brands to be reworked for a modern day audience."

Rentaghost, starring Sue Nicholls, was broadcast on the BBC from 1975.

It ran for nine years, but since then it has been periodically shown on CBBC by BBC Worldwide.

The show, which was written by Bob Block, was about an employment agency staffed by ghosts.

Among the team of phantoms were the medieval court jester Timothy Claypole, Miss Popov, a sneezy ghost and a pantomime horse called Dobbin.

Worzel Gummidge began in 1936 as a series of children's books.

It was eventually adapted by ITV into a TV series from 1979 to 1981.

The show starred Dr Who actor Jon Pertwee as a scarecrow with interchangeable heads for thinking, dancing and working.

The series also featured actress Una Stubbs as Aunt Sally, a doll with bright, rouged cheeks and a tendency to move like a robot.

[Lord President]

Nooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!

What are they thinking?

Rupert Penry-Jones as Worzel and Jonas Armstrong as Timothy Claypole????

[Pip Madeley]

Sean Pertwee as Wurzel. MAKE IT HAPPEN!

[Andrew Curnow]

I'm not sure what to think - Worzel could be a good idea, but Rentaghost was really a product of its time wasn't it? Part of its charm was its cheapness and the rather camp nature of its later episodes, I'm not sure they could successfully duplicate that.

HST, I haven't watched Rentaghost since whenever it finished (82?83?) so I may be totally wrong in my memory of it. Gadzooks!!

[Si Hunt]

Interestingly, I thought the opposite. Surely Jon Pertwee WAS Worzel Gummidge, so trying to do it without him would be a bit pointless. Rentaghost was a full-cast ensemble, and I believe went on for years and years first time round with different cast members, so you could easily create new characters and do it again.

Si.

[Antony Cox]

On the face of it, I think they're both best left alone now, bit Pip's suggestion of Sean Pertwee as Worzel sounds rather good! And Jane Horrocks could be Aunt Sally!

And perhaps Geoffrey Bayldon could reprse his role as The Crowman?

[Dirk Gently]

I'm with Si on this. Worzel was Jon Pertwee's idea & it took him years to get TV companies interested in it & he was Worzel.
But Rentaghost could work. I think it could be modernised really well but as for Worzel, do the kids of central London/Manchester/Birmingham of today know what a scarecrow is?

[WhiteCrow]

Boris Johnson as the next Worzel Gummage I say!

[Antony Cox]

Boris Johnson as the next Worzel Gummage I say!

No acting required...

[Lord President]

Boris Johnson as the next Worzel Gummage I say!

Stunning idea!

[SiHart]

No to Old Worzel, but yes to Rentaghost. There's no reason why we couldn't have a whole new set of undead characters, as the line up changed several times aside from Mr Claypole during the shows original run.
Worzel Gummidge though was Pertwee's show- I think it's the best acting he ever did personally, and I don't think, unless they do it in a totally different way (and adapting the books would be a very different way to do it as they are entiely different to the TV show) so I'm less enamoured of this revival.

Si xx

[cullsoft]

I vote that the TV networks get some writers and directors who can come up with their own completely novel and original ideas rather than seem to constantly trudge through "childhood classics" and attempt to reuse those...