CATWEAZLE - "The Sun In A Bottle" (1970)

Tonight's Weird Wednesday Celebration is the introductory episode of the UK kid's show from 1970 titled "Catweazle." This program was so popular in England that it was featured on the cover of the children's magazine "Look-In" in 1972. Other entertainers to grace the cover of "Look-In" ran the gamut from Madonna and Blondie to James Bond and The Million Dollar Man, so Catweazle was in some pretty good company, but to my knowledge, this show never aired in America.

Geoffrey Bayldon is Catweazle, the man of the hour!

Geoffrey had 225 acting credits, was a staple on British TV for years, and has been in everything from "Casino Royale" to "Dr. Who."

 

Before he became a writer, Richard Carpenter was an actor and had 57 credits that included "The Terrornauts." Besides writing Catweazle, he also wrote other kid's stuff like "Stanley's Dragon."

Catweazle is a strange but lovable olde fart!

Catweazle is a wizard, but his skills seem questionable at best!

The authorities are after him because he's a weirdo! This soldier looks like a rocketship!

The soldiers are in hot pursuit so Catweazle casts a flying spell, and jumps into a body of water. When he emerges, he's in a pond in what appears to be a different location, but what really happened, is he has gone 900 years into the future!

Frantic, he heads to the first dwelling he sees, but what he also sees is something he has never seen before in his life!

The sight of this tractor totally freaks him out because he has no idea what it is!

He does the only thing he can, he takes refuge in a barn!

Catweazle is not good at adjusting to change!

You start to wonder if this is going anywhere!

Catweazle is discovered by a boy named Carrot, and now we have a story as Carrot tries to help Catweazle adjust to his new environment!

Robin (The Blood On Satan's Claw) Davies had the role of Carrot, and dyed his hair red for the part. A victim of lung cancer, Robin left us in 2010 at the age of 56.

The story of "Catweazle" is popular enough that it was made into a feature length film in 2021, and stars German actor/comedian Otto Waalkes in the title role. Otto has an interesting story too. He has 31 credits in film and TV to his name, and in most of them he plays a character named Otto!

Kudos and gracias to my good friend and editor, the German Perry White, aka Lord Litter for informing me about the existence of "Catweazle," otherwise I would have probably never known.