Willo the Wisp

Original series (1981)

The blue, floating Willo the Wisp first appeared in a prize-winning educational film for British Gas in 1975, created by Nick Spargo. The stories take place in Doyley Woods, a small beech wood in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, close to where Spargo lived. Kenneth Williams voiced every character. Willo himself is a caricature of Williams, a blue, floating narrator whose name comes from the folkloric ghost light, the will-o'-the-wisp.

The main cast includes Arthur the caterpillar, a gruff cockney; Mavis Cruet, a plump, clumsy fairy with an unreliable magic wand; and Evil Edna, a witch who is a walking, talking television set that zaps people with her aerials. Other characters are Carwash, a snooty, bespectacled cat based on Noël Coward who says "My eyes are not first-class, you know"; The Moog, a supposed dog not allowed to think for himself; Twit, a small bird; The Beast, a former prince turned into a hairy, shambling creature by Evil Edna; the Astrognats, bugs who explore space in a toadstool rocket; the Bookworm; gnomes; and a regiment of toy soldiers.

The original 26 episodes each run about five minutes, airing at 5:35pm on BBC1. This followed a tradition of short cartoons and stop-motion series like The Magic Roundabout and The Wombles, shown on weekdays between children's programming and the BBC Early Evening news at 5:40pm. The series was repeated on satellite channel Galaxy in 1989 and on Channel 4 in the early 1990s.

Revival series (2005)

In 2005, Bobbie Spargo produced a 26-episode revival of the series, with each episode running five minutes and featuring the voice of James Dreyfus. While the show kept the original's style, several changes were made. Willo was no longer a caricature of Kenneth Williams but instead modeled after Dreyfus. Mavis became slimmer, though she still could not fly. Evil Edna was redesigned as a widescreen television on a wheeled stand, replacing her original metal legs, and gained many more channels along with additional powers—such as using electricity to grab someone, reminiscent of Emperor Palpatine. The revival aired on Playhouse Disney UK.

Home media

The Kult Kidz Gold DVD included a bonus video titled "Do Not Touch," which contained the closing segment of "Cats and Dogs" where Evil Edna causes the screen to go blank. In January 2008, The Times newspaper gave away a promotional DVD that held all 26 episodes from the first series. The revival series, alongside the original first series, was released on home media in the UK for the first time in August 2024. This two-disc set came in both DVD and Blu-ray formats. A special feature on the first series disc presented the complete 1975 original appearance of Willo the Wisp from the award-winning animation Super Natural Gas.