Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Mackenzie Crook, Shirley Henderson, Vanessa Redgrave, Rosie Cavaliero, Steve Pemberton, India Brown, Warrick Brownlow-Pike, Thierry Wickens, Spencer Jones, Brian Blessed, The Unthanks, Daniel Copeland, Youssef Kerkour, Denise Mack, Francesca Mills, Christopher Patrick Nolan, Daniel Page, Jason Pennycooke, Tim Plester.
What was once lost, can often be returned to where it is needed, as long as people are willing enough to care about history and nature.
One of the smash hits of Christmas television in 2019 returned with a fanfare, albeit truncated due to the ongoing situation in the country, and with it the exceptional Mackenzie Crook, as he delightfully recreates the adventures of the popular scarecrow, Worzel Gummidge, and his young human friends from Scatterbrook Farm.
In the third story to be brought to life under Mr. Mackenzie’s direction, Saucy Nancy, the scene is set for treasure to be restored to its rightful place, for the soul created to be restored to its rightful place and for the realisation that what one person perceives as junk, as firewood, another sees the beauty, the discarded and unkempt as being a reminder of the glory of art and the symbol of human endurance and adventure.
In all the parts the magnificent Shirley Henderson has played, in all the films and television shows the actor has been involved in, it arguably falls to the direction of her co-star Mackenzie Crook to bring out the most beautifully pronounced and tear-jerking scenes of her life as the forgotten figurehead of a ship long since lost to the sea.
As the titular character of the drama, Saucy Nancy, the free range given in the art of expression is not lost upon the viewer, and the Ms. Henderson embraces it for all her might, pushing the levels of what may have been expected when she signed on for the static wooden emblem of the navy.
The sense of gravitas in the role is one that wishes to show that beneath the adornment there is a soul, the craftsperson who created the figurehead having put their own personality and effort into creation, brings the emblem to life, and as with all artistic pursuits, we should see the designer, the author of the piece for their own place in history.
What was once lost can always be restored to its rightful place, such is the power of the narrative that it applies to all things that were misappropriated or which languish in forgotten cellars or barns, all with their own story to tell. A heart-warming story, the delight of Worzel Gummidge continues to evolve.
Ian D. Hall