Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
    • Television
      • TV by Decade
        • TV – 1950s
        • TV – 1960s
        • TV – 1970s
        • TV – 1980s
        • TV – 1990s
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Kids TV
      • Variety
      • News & Sport
      • Advertisements
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • Music – 1950s
        • Music – 1960s
        • Music – 1970s
        • Music – 1980s
        • Music – 1990s
      • Artists – A to K
        • Artists – A
        • Artists – B
        • Artists – C
        • Artists – D
        • Artists – E
        • Artists – F
        • Artists – G
        • Artists – H
        • Artists – I
        • Artists – J
        • Artists – K
      • Artists – L to Z
        • Artists – L
        • Artists – M
        • Artists – N
        • Artists – O
        • Artists – P
        • Artists – Q
        • Artists – R
        • Artists – S
        • Artists – T
        • Artists – U
        • Artists – V
        • Artists – W
        • Artists – X
        • Artists – Y
        • Artists – Z
      • Artists – 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Playlists
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • Movies – 1950s
        • Movies – 1960s
        • Movies – 1970s
        • Movies – 1980s
        • Movies – 1990s
      • Movies – 0 to 9
      • Movies – A to K
        • Movies – A
        • Movies – B
        • Movies – C
        • Movies – D
        • Movies – E
        • Movies – F
        • Movies – G
        • Movies – H
        • Movies – I
        • Movies – J
        • Movies – K
      • Movies – L to Z
        • Movies – L
        • Movies – M
        • Movies – N
        • Movies – O
        • Movies – P
        • Movies – Q
        • Movies – R
        • Movies – S
        • Movies – T
        • Movies – U
        • Movies – V
        • Movies – W
        • Movies – X
        • Movies – Y
        • Movies – Z
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Television»Kids TV
    Kids TV TV Shows - 1970s 4 Mins Read

    Catweazle

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    1 9 7 0 – 1 9 7 1 (UK)
    26 x 30 minute episodes

    In 11th Century England, deep in the heart of the countryside, an eccentric and bumbling Merlin-like alchemist and magician called Catweazle (Geoffrey Bayldon) finds himself cornered by Norman soldiers.

    Relying on the unsure powers of his magic, he leaps into a lake while trying to harness the power of flight to escape his pursuers – taking with him his toad “familiar” Touchwood, his thumb-ring and his sacred magic knife, Adamcos.

    catweazle_041

    Unfortunately, he flees further than he had hoped – travelling 900 years through time into the 1970s.

    In unfamiliar surroundings, Catweazle is soon discovered by Edward “Carrot” Bennett (Robin Davies), the 14-year-old son of a farmer who lives on Hexwood Farm near the magician’s water tower hiding spot, which he calls ‘Castle Saburac’.

    Through him, Catweazle discovers that things have changed beyond his imagination. Being a magician, everything he experiences in the twentieth century such as motor cars, telephones (‘telling bone’), and electric light (‘electrickery’), he believes is the result of magic.

    His magic incantations include “Salmay, Dalmay, Adonay” and;

    S A T O R
    A R E P O
    T E N E T
    O P E R A
    R O T A S

    “Nuthing works!” was Catweazle’s favourite saying, usually muttered while blowing on his thumb-ring for luck. And he was usually right.

    Filming of the first series began in the summer of 1969 at Home Farm, East Clandon, near Guildford in Surrey. The series was filmed almost entirely on location, with most of the interiors of the house filmed in the farmhouse itself and not a studio set.

    Only the sequences in the interior of ‘Castle Saburac’ and a few other interiors were shot at Halliford Studios. The tower exterior was made of fibreglass and constructed in the woods near Home Farm.

    Other locations seen in the series included shops and buildings referred to in the episodes as “Westbourne”, which were filmed at East Horsley in Surrey.

    Catweazle finally finds his way back to his own time at the end of the first series and, as the second series begins, Catweazle is imprisoned in Farthing Castle trying to conjure Gold at the behest of the great Norman lord, William de Collynforde.

    Instead, his magic works for once, and he manages to fly from the castle, but once again, it is through time, not space.

    Hurling himself, full of faith, from the battlements, Catweazle lands in the moat . . . but the castle has vanished and in its place is a large white house with a clock tower with a little turret on top, in the village of Kings Farthing (the actual house used for filming was the Brickendonbury Manor estate in Hertfordshire).

    The second series repeated the same formula, but this time Catweazle’s young friend is Cedric (Gary Warren), the son of Lord and Lady Collingford (pictured above). The other regular characters in the new series were Groome, the gardener, handyman and tour guide, superbly played by character actor and Carry On regular Peter Butterworth, and housekeeper Mrs Gowdie (Gwen Nelson).

    Catweazle finds himself a new home – and a rather fetching old tricycle – in an abandoned railway station (“Duck Halt”) and sets about finding the mystic 13th (yes, thirteenth) sign of the zodiac in order to return to his own time, while Cedric hopes to restore his family fortune by finding the lost Collingford treasure.

    The 13 episodes which made up season two were shot (entirely on location on and around Brickendonbury) during the summer of 1970, and as the first series had been, were shot on 16mm film.

    Who can forget that immortal Catweazle zodiac-chasing song;

    Twelve are they that circle round
    If power you seek they must be found
    look for where the thirteenth lies
    mount aloft the one who flies

    The second (and final) series ended with the Collingford treasure being found and Catweazle, after commandeering a hot-air balloon, finally getting to fly.

    Catweazle was created and written by Richard Carpenter. The first series debuted in the UK on Sunday 15 February 1970 at 17.30, with series two transmitted from Sunday 10 January 1971 at 5.35 pm.

    The famous jaunty theme was actually a library piece called Busy Boy by Ted Dicks, who was also responsible for writing popular novelty songs such as Right Said Fred and Windmill in Old Amsterdam.

    Geoffrey Bayldon passed away in May 2017, aged 93.

    Catweazle 
    Geoffrey Bayldon
    Edward “Carrot” Bennett 

    Robin Davies
    Mr Bennett 

    Charles Tingwell
    Sam Woodyard 

    Neil McCarthy
    Cedric Collingford 

    Gary Warren
    Lord Collingford 

    Moray Watson
    Lady Collingford 

    Elspet Gray
    Groome 

    Peter Butterworth
    Mrs Gowdie 

    Gwen Nelson

    Related Posts

    • Casanova
      Casanova
      1 9 7 1 (UK) 6 x 50 minute episodes This six-part study of the famous womaniser Giacomo Girolamo Casanova was…
    • Tabitha
      Tabitha
      1 9 7 7 - 1 9 7 8 (USA) 12 x 30 minute episodes A belated sequel to Bewitched with Samantha and…
    • Magic Fountain, The
      Magic Fountain, The
      1 9 7 3 (UK) 6 x 15 minute episodes Young Timothy is spending a seaside holiday with his parents when,…
    • Magic Boomerang, The
      Magic Boomerang, The
      1 9 6 5 - 1 9 6 6 (Australia) 45 x 25 minute episodes This black and white children's TV…
    • Mr Merlin
      Mr Merlin
      1 9 8 1 (USA) 22 x 25 minute episodes Max Merlin (Barnard Hughes) was the ancient magician, who by the…
    • Strange Concealments
      Strange Concealments
      1 9 6 2 (UK) 7 x 30 minute episodes When wealthy stage manager Edmund Blundell died in 1811 he set…
    • Captain Planet
      Captain Planet
      1 9 9 0 - 1 9 9 6 (USA) 112 x 30 minute episodes Seeing the Earth in profound environmental…
    • Wizbit
      Wizbit
      1 9 8 5 (UK) This BBC children's television show featured an alien magician called Wizbit and a large rabbit called…

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticlePee-Wee’s Playhouse
    Next Article All Your Own

    Comments are closed.

    Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    You May Also Like
    • Johnny Sandon
      Johnny Sandon was born William Francis Beck on 27 May 1941 ın […]
    • Where Do I Sit?
      1 9 7 1 (UK) 3 x 30 minute episodes One of the great clanging […]
    • Hathaways, The
      1 9 6 1 – 1 9 6 2 (USA) 26 x 30 minute episodes The […]
    • Tutti Frutti
      1 9 8 7 (UK) 6 x 60 minute episodes Tutti Frutti was John […]
    • Untouchables, The (1987)
      One of the hits of 1987, The Untouchables took the true story of […]
    • Bar 6
      Similar to Kit-Kats. Rather dull. The kind of confectionery […]
    Twitter Feed
    Please note


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Popular Tags
    1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1975 1976 Action Figures Amicus Arcade games Australia Beach movies Beatles Blaxploitation Board games Britpop Canada Crime Disco Disney Doo-Wop Elvis Presley Girl groups Glam Goth Hammer Heavy Metal Irwin Allen Labels Merseybeat Mod revival Motown New Romantic New Wave NWOBHM Oi! One-hit wonders Power Pop Pub rock Punk Radio Scotland Ska Soul music Surf music
    Search Nostalgia Central
    Copyright © 1998, 2022 Nostalgia Central
    • About
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.