Welcome to Doyley Woods, a strange place where overweight fairies, obstreperous
    caterpillars and spectacled cats rub shoulders with a maleficent walking, talking
    television set.

    That's right, a television.

    Doyley Woods is presided over by the gregarious blue spirit Willo the Wisp.
    It's Willo who introduces each short tale and ushers on stage Mavis Cruet the
    fairy, Arthur the caterpillar, a dog-cow type of jolly critter called the Moog, Car
    Wash the "Noel Coward" cat, the Astrognats who dwell in a magic toadstool,
    Twit the twitterpated birdie, and The Beast - who isn't actually a real beast at
    all, but Prince Hubert The Handsome transformed by Evil Edna's most wicked
    spell. Which leaves you wondering who Evil Edna is. Well, she's the television.
    And you'd better watch out for her spell-casting antennae!

    When ever those superflouos lists of "cult" tv shows are put together, you'll
    find "Willo the Wisp" lurking somewhere near the top. The show is fondly
    remembered for its eccentric characters, esoteric humour, and above all,
    its extravagant voicework by former Carry-on star, the late great Kenneth
    Williams. His versatile vocal chords lift Willo, Mavis, Arthur and the rest
    right off the screen and into our living rooms. Indeed, he is even immortalised
    in the animation...

   

    A supernatural show

    If you watch the series closely you'll unearth the following credit:

       "The Willo the Wisp character appears
        by permission of The British Gas Corporation..."

    That's because our waspish hero was actually born out of a Supernatural Gas
    advertsing campaign, produced for British Gas in the early 1970s. The campaign
    featured a flaming blue characture of Kenneth Williams, extolling the virtues
    of gas, and it was conceived by animator Nick Spargo. Nick's career began with
    Halas & Batchelor's groundbreaking version of Animal Farm. He set up his own
    company, Nicholas Cartoons in 1954 with his wife Mary, and their work centered
    upon advertising and information films.

    Nick found the germ of a series idea in that gas campaign, so he put together
    a host of off-kilter characters, and a setting in which they might all live. Williams
    agreed to loan his voice to the show, and so, a pilot was completed in 1978,
    and approved by the BBC. Unfortunately, it took four years of fund-raising efforts
    to eventually bring the series to our teatime TV screens, and in the intervening
    years, Nick was able to direct the Emmy-winning Bill Melendez production 
    of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe".

   "Willo the Wisp" turned out to be a teatime tv smash. At its peak, 8million
    people were tuning into the show!

    

     Willo again

     Sadly, Nick Spargo died in 1997. But Willo lives on. Recently, Nick and
     Mary's daughter Bobbie Spargo has teamed up with Tim Hollier to form
     Spargo Productions and they have re-conceived the series for a new
     generation. They have wisely opted not to tinker too much with the original
     concept and, in keeping with the spirit of the piece have even brought
     "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme" star James Dreyfus in as the new voice of Willo
     and friends. The all-new Willo the Wisp is indexed here!

 

     In the news

     The Hound: September 2003
     New Willo series in development...

 

 
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