This was Geoffrey Bayldons finest hour. The premise of a medieval magician with questionable skills accidentally transported forward in time 900 years is a great canvas to write of his exploits dealing with life in the modern world (well, England circa 1970 anyway).
Although the 'fish out of water' scenario has been done in other TV shows and films, this has a certain charm of its own, with some delightful characterisation, amusing dialogue and guest appearances by the likes of Hattie Jacques amongst others to keep the viewer watching. Catweazle's reactions to modern life and its tools (the telephone in particular) is at times hilarious. And although a series now half a century old is bound to show its age, this surprisingly adds to its charm, seeing our nation in a time with no mobile phones, no dvd or VHS players, no video games and every car is british made adds to its appeal.
If you are under ten (or over 40 and remember those simpler times) then you should enjoy the wit and wisdom of our medieval sorcerer hero stranded in time, desperate to get back to his. The first series is definitely superior to the second. It is fresher for a start and had more unpredictable scenarios to enjoy. Despite the more polished look, the second series starts to run out of steam and ideas by the midway point and this is what stopped me giving it ten stars. Bayldon rightly felt the scripts started to run out of ideas after about episode six of series two but the cast (including the underused Peter Butterworth) battle through and end on a high note. In fact series creator Richard Carpenter felt that the change of setting and supporting cast in series two and the relocation to a stately home was a mistake by the producers. But don't let that put you off the whole Catweazle experience and just how creative a writer Richard Carpenter was and how despite a long stage, screen and television career, Geoffrey Bayldon will always be remembered for this iconic character.
