Worzel Gummidge to return for 1-hour special

\'Worzel Gummidge\' is to return for a one-hour special.

Mackenzie Crook has put pen to paper on a new film, which will air on BBC One later this year, after he rebooted the show in 2019 with two one-hour episodes over the festive period, in which he played the titular, talking scarecrow.

The new episode is titled \'Saucy Nancy\' and is once again inspired by the classic books by Barbara Euphan Todd.

Mackenzie said: "I\'m excited and grateful to be making a new episode of \'Worzel Gummidge\' after a difficult year for everyone.

"We\'re heading out of Scatterbrook for this story on a day trip to the seaside, some fresh air and some wide open space."

The film will see Worzel, and his young pals Susan (India Brown) and John (Thierry Wickens) visit a scrapyard, where the scarecrow hears a foul-mouthed old friend, a carved ship\'s figurehead Saucy Nancy, who will be played by \'Harry Potter\' actress Shirley Henderson.

She longs to escape the scrapyard and return to sea, so Worzel and the kids promise to take her back.

Shane Allen, Controller Comedy Commissioning for the BBC, said: "What is it with Mackenzie and shows set in a field?

"Following on from last year\'s bucolic eco-fables we find Worzel in mischievous form dispensing his sun-baked wit and wisdom in another heart-warming tale.

"This cements BBC One\'s unique reputation as the home of UK family comedy drama."

As well as writing and starring in the episode - which will see Vanessa Redgrave appear as Peg - Mackenzie will also direct.