Review DISCUSSION -CATWEAZLE: THE MAGIC RIDDLE - Episode 14

[Doctor Omega]

Your thoughts on this episode....

For a second time Catweazle escapes the dreaded Normans and ends up in 1971 England, this time in the grounds of King's Farthing, a stately home occupied by Lord and Lady Collingford , their retainers Groome the handyman and Mrs Gowdie the cook.
Cedric, their son returns from a term at boarding school, and is very different from Carrot.
Cedric, a studious clever boy who spent last term composing an opera!
Catweazle follows Cedric into the large stately home and into the boy's bedroom.
Cedric unknown by the family has access to a priest hole via a hidden compartment in his room and is stunned when Catweazle follows him in.
Cedric's great grandfather was a occult follower and Cedric is trying to decipher a riddle written in hieroglyphs on a blackboard that his great grandfather wrote.
Catweazle can read it;
" twelve are they that circle round,
if power you seek they must be found,
look for where the thirteenth lies,
mount aloft the one that flies"
Catweazle states that in order to fly like a bird, you must seek out the twelve zodiac signs gather them and find the thirteenth, and he wants Cedric to help him.
Cedric thinks he is potty and bundle him out of the mansion, but turns a blind eye to Catweazle stealing an ornamental rams head( Aries) on his way out.
The quest begins.

On to the next episode....

DUCK HALT

https://www.imdforums.com/threads/catweazle-duck-halt-episode-15.4629/


Back to the previous episode....

THE TRICKERY LANTERN

https://www.imdforums.com/threads/catweazle-the-trickery-lantern-episode-13.4627/

 

[Doctor Omega]

Season Two, Episode One.:

Part One:

Halfway through the first episode and I am really not sure what to make of this yet. I really thought we would be staying in the farm setting.

I knew that Carrot was going to be replaced by Gary Moore's character, but I had assumed that the programme makers would have cooked up some lame excuse as to where Carrot had gone and meanwhile his cousin was staying. Problem lamely solved.

This huge change is admittedly bold and we are in a totally different setting. I have already decided that this is a sequel to BLACK ORCHID and the owner of the manor is a descendent of the toff in that story.

It was a little sad to see in that reunion documentary that Gary Moore/Cedric was not even mentioned, let alone making an appearance at the reunion. It seemed to be a celebration of series one and series two was erased from history. It intrigues me as to why. Is the season I am about to watch really going to be that bad? Is Gary Moore really going to be a dreadful failed replacement for Robin Davies? Is the chemistry between him and Catweazle really going to be that bad?

I can only press on to find out.....

P.S.: That Peter Butterworth doesn't half keep popping up in this series!

PART TWO:

I think I see the problem.

When it was an ordinary farm, with Carrot very much an ordinary lad, then the kids at home could fairly identify with the setting and the audience identification figure of Carrot. But here they are being asked to identify with a lad who has "written half an opera" and whose parents look like they have just got back from afternoon tea with the Queen. This is not the fault of the performers, but the fault of the set up. It is too removed from the everyday reality of most of the audience.

So we have twelve more weeks of shenanigans in and around a stately home.

It is also sad to see the loss of Neil McCarthy's Sam and Carrot's dad. And that whole lovely countryside, rural ambience of season one, with all those local eccentric figures.

I assume Peter Butterworth is going to be a regular.

This is CATWEAZLE then, but not as I know it.

It could surprise me, but based on just this first episode I cannot say I am surprised that ratings probably slumped, nor that it got cancelled after this run.

They could still have invited Gary Warren to the reunion though - or at least mentioned his character.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Since compiling the above, I read your informative posts going into detail about the background of these changes, Michael.

Thanks for the info. and it explains a lot!


https://www.imdforums.com/threads/catweazle-the-trickery-lantern-episode-13.4627/#post-44956

 

[michaellevenson]

I believe that Gary Warren made a career for himself outside of showbiz in Australia, so that may explain his non appearance. He resurfaced for a Railway Children reunion.
On the DVDs Carpenter and Bayldon both agree that Warren really became a " Catweazle" boy and understood the role after a charming scene at the end of episode 5, Bayldon said the magic between their characters clicked at that point.

 

[michaellevenson]

Season Two, Episode One....

Spoiler

Part One:

Halfway through the first episode and I am really not sure what to make of this yet. I really thought we would be staying in the farm setting.

I knew that Carrot was going to be replaced by Gary Moore's character, but I had assumed that the programme makers would have cooked up some lame excuse as to where Carrot had gone and meanwhile his cousin was staying. Problem lamely solved.

This huge change is admittedly bold and we are in a totally different setting. I have already decided that this is a sequel to BLACK ORCHID and the owner of the manor is a descendent of the toff in that story.

It was a little sad to see in that reunion documentary that Gary Moore/Cedric was not even mentioned, let alone making an appearance at the reunion. It seemed to be a celebration of series one and series two was erased from history. It intrigues me as to why. Is the season I am about to watch really going to be that bad? Is Gary Moore really going to be a dreadful failed replacement for Robin Davies? Is the chemistry between him and Catweazle really going to be that bad?

I can only press on to find out.....

P.S.: That Peter Butterworth doesn't half keep popping up in this series!

PART TWO:

I think I see the problem.

When it was an ordinary farm, with Carrot very much an ordinary lad, then the kids at home could fairly identify with the setting and the audience identification figure of Carrot. But here they are being asked to identify with a lad who has "written half an opera" and whose parents look like they have just got back from afternoon tea with the Queen. This is not the fault of the performers, but the fault of the set up. It is too removed from the everyday reality of most of the audience.

So we have twelve more weeks of shenanigans in and around a stately home.

It is also sad to see the loss of Neil McCarthy's Sam and Carrot's dad. And that whole lovely countryside, rural ambience of season one, with all those local eccentric figures.

I assume Peter Butterworth is going to be a regular.

This is CATWEAZLE then, but not as I know it.

It could surprise me, but based on just this first episode I cannot say I am surprised that ratings probably slumped, nor that it got cancelled after this run.

They could still have invited Gary Warren to the reunion though - or at least mentioned his character.

Actually the second series did very well ratings wise, and America bought into the magic. Overseas sales were good, but Bayldon himself was adamant that two series was enough. Catweazle by episode 26 knew too much according to Bayldon. The magic depended on Catweazle being awed by what he saw, but that couldn't realistically go on forever. Also politics at London Weekend Television played a part, and of course we know Carpenter had other projects i.e. Motley Hall. There is a nice resolution to Catweazle's adventures, just as poignant as the end of series 1, which will be revealed in 12 episodes time.

 

[michaellevenson]

This second series is a re-set for the show. In fact you could watch this series first, and my own nephews did just that, for some unknown reason.
The two series are totally independent of each other. I like both, and sad as I was to see the excellent first series cast go, I think the denouement of that series was so superb that it would be a shame to follow it up, it might have undermined that brilliant ending.
So, all change- Garry Warren's Cedric is not as outward a character as Carrot, so it's a bit unfair comparing the two, and as Doc said Cedric is not so easy to identify with.
Lord and Lady Collingford are typical upper class characters and are personable if a bit dotty. Peter Butterworth is going to be a good addition to the regulars. Cedric's hidden dabbling in magic spells which he discovered in the secret cellar means he and Catweazle have a mutual interest. I think cellar that Cedric has found is supposed to be the same as the dungeon Catweazle got locked in at the start .Lord Collingford is a descendant of the Norman nobleman, both played by Moray Watson, seen at the start. So it all fits together well, and Catweazle has a series long task ahead of him which will take him into plenty of scrapes.
We also have a good number of guest appearances from.British tv well-knowns of the day, including Tony Selby, Kenneth Cope, Paul Eddington and others. So lots to look forward to.
8/10

 

[Cloister56]

I was wondering when the episode started, if this was going back to show how Catweazle ended up on the run from the Normans.
Turns out we are with post time travel Catweazle, he's got himself locked up and an aspiring Midas has him trying to create the Philosopher's Stone.

We get the meddling monk himself Peter Butterworth as the guard but I was glad to see him turn up in the later parts as the handyman about the house. He's always great value in shows so I hope he becomes a recurring character.

So with a bit of trickery Catweazle escapes and attempts to fly from the ramparts to escape. Fortunately he has the moat as a safety net as once again his attempt to fly ends in time travel. I am beginning to think he should be suspicious of any spells for flight and relabel them as time travel. Perhaps if he looked for time travel spells he might end up flying.

So he's back in the present and it looks like at a old stately home.
When the visitors arrived I kept expecting to see Carrot stepping off the bus but no we are in completely new Catweazle territory.
I am a little conflicted on this. I would have liked to have seen more of Carrot and how his family might have changed over the time since Catweazle was there (if any time has passed). It also would have given some progression as Carrot would know Catweazle was genuinely from the past giving it a new twist.
It looks like we have a new boy, Cedric to take over the Carrot role. I guess we will skip the future shock from Catweazle so things may play out differently this time.

Wisely the show has given us a nice plot to start off with. The ancestors who owned the dungeon had dabbled in magic and especially in flight. I assume this Lord Alfred was the same lord that Catweazle escaped from. Perhaps Catweazle's escape ignited his interest in flight.
This would mean Catweazle is trying to recreate a spell from someone who was following Catweazle's beginnings. It seems destined this will end in time flight again, and no one wants time flight.

But we will get I guess 12 episodes of discovering different objects which represent the 12 zodiac symbols. I remember hearing there was now a 13 sign of the zodiac. Apparently the 13th is Ophiuchus as is from Nov 29 - Dec 17. It is the Serpent Bearer. Pronounced oaf-ih-you-kus.

https://www.cosmopolitan.com/lifest...bout-13th-zodiac-sign-constellation-ophiucus/

Or you could go and watch the surprisingly good show Zodiac.

(Can't find episode 1)

Anyway I think it will take a bit of time to warm to Cedric but I appreciate the fact the series has been completely rejuvenated and given a clear quest so should be good fun to watch.

7 hundred pounds in water damage done by Catweazle because he can turn a tap on, but not off, out of 10

 

[michaellevenson]

I was wondering when the episode started, if this was going back to show how Catweazle ended up on the run from the Normans.
Turns out we are with post time travel Catweazle, he's got himself locked up and an aspiring Midas has him trying to create the Philosopher's Stone.

We get the meddling monk himself Peter Butterworth as the guard but I was glad to see him turn up in the later parts as the handyman about the house. He's always great value in shows so I hope he becomes a recurring character.

So with a bit of trickery Catweazle escapes and attempts to fly from the ramparts to escape. Fortunately he has the moat as a safety net as once again his attempt to fly ends in time travel. I am beginning to think he should be suspicious of any spells for flight and relabel them as time travel. Perhaps if he looked for time travel spells he might end up flying.

So he's back in the present and it looks like at a old stately home.
When the visitors arrived I kept expecting to see Carrot stepping off the bus but no we are in completely new Catweazle territory.
I am a little conflicted on this. I would have liked to have seen more of Carrot and how his family might have changed over the time since Catweazle was there (if any time has passed). It also would have given some progression as Carrot would know Catweazle was genuinely from the past giving it a new twist.
It looks like we have a new boy, Cedric to take over the Carrot role. I guess we will skip the future shock from Catweazle so things may play out differently this time.

Wisely the show has given us a nice plot to start off with. The ancestors who owned the dungeon had dabbled in magic and especially in flight. I assume this Lord Alfred was the same lord that Catweazle escaped from. Perhaps Catweazle's escape ignited his interest in flight.
This would mean Catweazle is trying to recreate a spell from someone who was following Catweazle's beginnings. It seems destined this will end in time flight again, and no one wants time flight.

But we will get I guess 12 episodes of discovering different objects which represent the 12 zodiac symbols. I remember hearing there was now a 13 sign of the zodiac. Apparently the 13th is Ophiuchus as is from Nov 29 - Dec 17. It is the Serpent Bearer. Pronounced oaf-ih-you-kus.

https://www.cosmopolitan.com/lifest...bout-13th-zodiac-sign-constellation-ophiucus/

Or you could go and watch the surprisingly good show Zodiac.

(Can't find episode 1)

Anyway I think it will take a bit of time to warm to Cedric but I appreciate the fact the series has been completely rejuvenated and given a clear quest so should be good fun to watch.

7 hundred pounds in water damage done by Catweazle because he can turn a tap on, but not off, out of 10

Glad, like me you feel a new setting will give the show a whole new set of circumstances to explore. Pity we lost the Series 1 cast, but Peter Butterworth is excellent throughout series 2, Gary Warren gradually steps into Robin Davies shoes, but Davies sadly was deeply upset at not doing series 2, thinking he had screwed up on series 1. In the episode 13 thread " Trickery Lantern" I give the reasoning behind these changes.

 

[Doctor Omega]

"Catweazle" The Magic Riddle (TV Episode 1971) ⭐ 7.8 | Adventure, Comedy, Family

24m

www.imdb.com