Worzel earns a million

Press, 25 July 1986, Page 15

Worzel earns a million

PA ' Wellington Worzel Gummidge, television’s long-nosed scarecrow, will give Britons a taste of life Down Under when he reappears on British television screens.

Britain’s Channel 4 has agreed to pay more than SNZI million for the first New Zealand-produced 10-part series of “Worzel Gummidge Down Under,” says its producer, Grahame McLean.

The sale, believed to be the biggest in dollar terms of any New Zealand film or television series, depends on the delivery of a product meeting British standards.

The New Zealand series is the first of three planned by McLean. Filming for the second begins in February and a feature film will be made from footage already shot

McLean says that British television executives assured him the series

will be a "huge success” after seeing only three episodes.

He believes the series will be successful overseas and he plans to promote it at television world fairs later this year.

“The way we look at it, Worzel is good for us, good for its investors, good for New Zealand’s film industry and good public relations for the whole country,” he says.

McLean’s Wellingtonbased company earlier bought the rights to “Worzel Gummidge” from a British television firm which had made 30 episodes.

The character was taken from a series of books published in the 19305.

The New Zealand series features the original Worzel, Jon Pertwee, with Una Stubbs as his reluctant girlfriend. The rest of the cast and technical crew comprise New Zealanders.