Taking The Field

MACKENZIE CROOK’S NEW VERSION OF WORZEL GUMMIDGE IS AS MUCH A SPIRITUAL SEQUEL TO DETECTORISTS AS A REMAKE OF THE ’70S SERIES

- Dave Golder

WILLOWY FIGURE IN A military long coat and a massively wide-brimmed hat wanders from a sun-dappled country lane into a golden field of gently rippling wheat. The figure bends to peer at a poppy, staring at it wistfully.

It’s a moment of bucolic serenity entirely at odds with the modern madness just a few feet away. Next to a gate, a huge bustling team of filmmakers armed with cameras and audio gear are beavering away among a nest of cables. Beyond the acres of beautiful fields, out of sight over a ridge on this blustery early summer day, is the M25.

Surprisingly, the shot being prepped won’t feature the willowy figure: the cameras are pointing the other way, at a muddy jeep containing two children and a farmer. When everyone’s ready, the willowy figure abandons its poppy watch and gamely saunters back to the monitors.

Because while the fellow in the hat and the prosthetic mask is indeed the star of this new version of Worzel Gummidge, he’s also its director and writer. This means that Mackenzie Crook, of The Office and Pirates Of The Caribbean fame, often finds himself calling the shots in full costume and make-up. “It’s more surreal for everyone else – this strange creature directing them,” he admits. “I sorta forget after a while, then I’ll walk past a mirror and surprise myself.”