Worzel Gummidge could be returning to the small screen, with Mackenzie Crook starring in the lead role.
The Detectorists star, 46, has been writing a new adaptation, which is in its early stages and has been picked up by the BBC.
The show is not a reboot of the original TV series, but a contemporary adaptation of the books by English novelist Barbara Euphan Todd.
The character, a talking scarecrow, was famously played by Doctor Who actor Jon Pertwee in the 1980s.
Crook’s spokesman confirmed to the Press Association: “Mackenzie Crook is currently in the very early stages of developing a contemporary adaptation of Barbara Euphan Todd’s original Worzel Gummidge books as a new TV series for the BBC.”
A source told the Sun: “Mackenzie has been working on this for some time.”
The scarecrow character famously had interchangeable heads, including a turnip and swede.
Pertwee once said of his alter-ego: “He says and does the things that all of us would like to do, but are too shy, self-conscious and respectful to.
“Being rude to those in authority, being selfish … there is something of Worzel in all of us.”
Pertwee played the role from 1979 to 1981 on ITV.
The show returned six years later in a New Zealand co-production, also starring Pertwee, with Channel 4.
