Look, See, Learn
When it comes to longevity, we Brits have broken quite a few records in the entertainment world.
As home to the world's longest running soap opera, radio drama,stage play, and band with the most no. 1 hits of all time*, we really should be gunning for a country version of the much covetedEmmy/Grammy/Oscar/Tony (EGOT) award!
Seriously though, this achievement speaks volumes of the wealth of talent both in front of and behind the curtain, microphone and camera. Our drama may not have the glitzy Hollywood factor, but it is made to last.
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No surprise then that some forty years after a relatively short run of 31 episodes, fantasy children's programme 'Worzel Gummidge'** remains a firm favourite in re-run universe.
Both lead actors were absolutely brilliant, though I think it was Una Stubb's wonderful portrayal of the manic Aunt Sally which is cemented in the public eye.
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A bit like Marmite, the series wasn't to everyone's taste. Which may bebecause the humour behind the humour wasbetter suited to adults than the children it was purportedly aimed at...! Who knows?!
Suffice to say it was a great personality study, with Jon Pertwee’s Worzel as the perfect foil for the ever so slightly deranged Aunt Sally.
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I'm guessing we were supposed to feel sorry for Pertwee's hapless scarecrow, yet my real sympathy lay with Stubbs' wooden doll who couldn't quite escape the strictures she had been painted into. An unfortunate and accurate portrayal of many a person's real-life experiences.
With his head full of hay, we expected a permanently dishevelled Worzel to be scatty. Sally, on the other hand, always looked perfectly perfect. So much so that whenever she began to unravel, it was quite disconcerting. Uber talent on display.
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I saw Ms Stubbs in various other roles over the years and always applauded her ability to make them hers. However, it was reading her life story in various obituaries after her deaththat threw light on the resilience and determination that fuelled her performances.
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Whilst attending a leading dance school would have provided a solid foundation in the performing arts, it could only take one so far. "Catapulted from chorus line to leading lady" is a fantasist's euphemism for beating the odds through sheer talent and grit.
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She herself said: "When I think of what a lightweight girl I was, expecting roses to grow around the door, expecting everyone to be perfect... but of course, it's the layers you grow that make you into a person."
Layers that build on the core of who we all start out as, continuously forming us along the way until we’ve been molded, chiselled, or ruthlessly hacked into shape.
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We are so often our own worst enemies when it comes to our lives and careers. Stepping back because we don't think we have the right qualifications, background or face, when we should be hurtling forward full-throttle.
History reveals that though inadequacy may have held a lot of people back, there are many who have been dogged enough to press on and succeed regardless. The law of averages at work, or something even more arbitrary? We’ll probably never know.
What is certain is that even if just 1% of the population is "guaranteed" privilege, success and comfort, birth and death are the great levellers.
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No need, then, to wait until you bag all the ‘right’ qualifications. Or know it all. That could take a long-and-maybe-never time.
Why not start right now with what you have and learn the rest along the way. It might be a bumpy journey - with quite a few stops and starts – nevertheless each new start adds to an indispensable repository of all the useful stuff learned in the school of life.
Not to talk of all that you, in all your glory, naturally bring to the table: the promise of as many strata as are necessary to mould you into all God desires us be.
Knocks and all, this Look/See/Learn anti-degree might just have your name written on it!
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Una Stubbs 1937-2021
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📖 By your words I can see where I’m going; they throw a beam of light on my dark path.
I concentrate on doing exactly what you say— I always have and always will.
Psalm 119:105 & 112 MSG (YouVersion)
*▪︎ Coronation Street (Granada Studios): 1960 to date
▪︎ The Archers (BBC Radio): 1951 to date
▪︎ The Mousetrap (by Agatha Christie): 1952 to date
▪︎ The Beatles: 20 no. 1 hits
**Worzel Gummidge (Southern Television) 1979-1981
💬 Una Stubbs: Til Death Us Do Part and Sherlock Actress dies aged 84
📷 Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images + Southern Television
Una Stubbs as Aunt Sally and Jon Pertwee in the titular role of Worzel Gummidge.