![]() ![]() It's important to children, and rightly so." "It wouldn't even cross her mind to use a takeaway cup. "I brought my daughter into the edit, and we walked past Starbucks on the way in, and I said, 'Do you want to get a drink?' And she said, 'We can't, I haven't got my cup'. "Kids are so on board with this message," he says. Crook is hopeful things can change when it comes to awareness around protecting the environment. There is an important conservation message weaved throughout both stories for example, the issue of plastic pollution features. The second film is perhaps even more exciting, with Michael Palin starring as The Green Man, the creator of scarecrows and keeper of scarecrow lore (and let's just say he isn't at all happy that Worzel is consorting with humans). It's not long before the siblings encounter Worzel Gummidge, the Scarecrow of Ten Acre Field – and they realise he comes to life. In the first episode, two young strangers, Susan and John, arrive in the village of Scatterbrook. He has created scenes which really tug on the heartstrings too, while giving us a warming look back at summers in the countryside. "Such a relief to hear people laughing," says Crook, following a press screening of the episodes. The new adaptation is ideal family entertainment this festive season, with jokes for adults and children. Viewers of a certain age will remember kind-hearted Worzel Gummidge being on TV before it ran for four series on ITV from 1979, with Jon Pertwee in the lead role. "It's funny, improvising is not my thing, but when we were filming, one day a bunch of primary school kids came in to watch and I went over, and I was able to interact and talk to them as Worzel, and I've never been able to do that before. "We went through various different tests and the first time I tried it all on, I found his voice straight away. "He's got to be likeable," the creator of hit TV comedy series Detectorists continues. But at the same time, he's a scarecrow – he's meant to be scary, to crows." "I was worried get it slightly wrong and he looks creepy. Getting Worzel's look right was a long process, as he knew it was "crucial" to the piece. The 48-year-old has written and directed the two one-hour films about the walking, talking scarecrow – who originally appeared in a series of books written between the 19s by Barbara Euphan Todd – for BBC One, as well as taking on the titular character. But the Kent-born actor – known for The Office, Pirates Of The Caribbean and The Detectorists – found the time spent in make-up "as good as a warm up. MACKENZIE Crook's transformation into Worzel Gummidge took three hours each day. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |