PICK OF THE DAY

Worzel Gummidge: Saucy Nancy

BBC1, 5.55pm Today’s programme-makers dabble with much-loved children’s stories at their peril, and there may have been apprehension last Christmas before we saw the new adaptation of the stories by Barbara Euphan Todd: could anything displace the cherished ITV version starring Jon Pertwee as the mischievous talking scarecrow?

But Mackenzie Crook brought Worzel Gummidge back to life with invention and affection for the original material. Now Crook’s Worzel is back for more adventures with Susan and John (India Brown and Thierry Wickens, right with Crook). And, as is so often the case with sequels, the story opens up to take the characters out on the road, now joined by an old friend of Worzel, carved ship’s prow Saucy Nancy (Shirley Henderson). Look out, too, for Vanessa Redgrave, 83, in a haunting performance as mysterious beach-dweller Peg.