Editing Jon Pertwee (section)

===''Worzel Gummidge''===
{{main|Worzel Gummidge (TV series)}}
[[File:Day 139 - Worzel Gummage at Birmingham airport - 1982 (14515725233).jpg|thumb|Pertwee as Worzel Gummidge in 1982]]
After a stint between 1974 and 1978 as the host of the Thames Television murder-mystery game show ''[[Whodunnit? (U.K. TV series)|Whodunnit?]]'', Pertwee took the [[Worzel Gummidge|starring role]] in ''[[Worzel Gummidge (TV series)|Worzel Gummidge]]'', based on the books written by [[Barbara Euphan Todd]]. Produced by [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] franchise contractor [[Southern Television]] in the initial run, it was first transmitted on ITV from 1979. Pertwee had first been approached to play the part of  Worzel Gummidge in a film to be written by [[Keith Waterhouse]] and [[Willis Hall]]. When this project fell through, Pertwee encouraged the writers to create a television pilot instead, and via his [[Talent agent|agent]] pitched the idea to the [[BBC]], which turned it down, and then Thames Television, which likewise rejected the project. Pertwee later admitted that he "began to lose faith in the project", until Southern Television's Lewis Rudd heard about it and enthusiastically agreed that the company would make the series.<ref name="Memoir114">{{cite book |last1=Pertwee |first1=Jon |last2=Howe |first2=David J. |title=I am the Doctor: Jon Pertwee's Final Memoir |date=1996 |publisher=Virgin Publishing |location=London |isbn=1-85227-621-5 |page=114}}</ref>

The series saw Pertwee as a [[scarecrow]], as well as using several comedic voices. The show was an immediate hit, with Pertwee describing it as "becoming something of a cult" after only four episodes had been broadcast.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}} Press interest in the series was high, and it ran on the channel until 1981. Keen to continue beyond this, Pertwee campaigned for the series and it was picked up by a New Zealand network, [[TVNZ]], in 1987.<ref name="Memoir114"/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-jon-pertwee-1348779.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220614/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-jon-pertwee-1348779.html |archive-date=14 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Obituary: Jon Pertwee|date=23 May 1996|website=The Independent|access-date=22 June 2019}}</ref> ''Worzel Gummidge Down Under'' aired for the next two years and was screened in the UK on [[Channel 4]]. In 1995, Pertwee played the role one last time in a one-off special for ITV, which celebrated 40 years of the channel. Pertwee played the title character in ''Worzel Gummidge, the Musical'', book and lyrics by [[Keith Waterhouse]] and [[Willis Hall]], music by [[Denis King]], which opened at London's [[Cambridge Theatre]] in December 1981, co-starring [[Una Stubbs]] and [[Geoffrey Bayldon]]. Pertwee also recorded an album, ''Worzel Gummidge Sings'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/Jon-Pertwee-Featuring-Una-Stubbs-Geofrey-Bayldon-Worzel-Gummidge-Sings/release/2512483| title=Jon Pertwee Featuring Una Stubbs & Geofrey Bayldon – Worzel Gummidge Sings| website=Discogs.com| year=1980}}</ref> as well as a Christmas single.