HELEN PRIEST meets a man whose brush with death led him to dedicate his life to a cult children's TV series

IT'S not every day that you come within inches of death and, as a result, set up a website to bring a smile to thousands of faces.

But Gary Bowers' website, dedicated to the life and times of 1970s cult series Catweazle, did just that.

Four years ago Gary was in Spain when his life flashed before his eyes. He underwent emergency treatment for a ruptured pancreas and his life hung in the balance.

Luckily for his wife Janet, two sons and thousands of Catweazle fans, Gary pulled through and took an extraordinary step to give something back to the world and, more importantly, its children.

Whalley-born Gary, 46, said: "When I came out of hospital it really gave me a shock and I wanted to do something positive and enjoyable at the same time."

In March 2002, Gary set up a Catweazle website through the Lancashire Evening Telegraph's internet service and seven months later he established his own site with a fan from Sussex.

Gary, of Bolton Road, Blackburn, said: "The site has had 5,000 hits since October. I want to give children something they don't have. They've got their Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings but they're films and they're full of special effects.

"Catweazle has about three seconds of special effects in the entire series but it's hilarious and you can watch it over and over again and never get bored.

"More importantly, there's no swearing and no violence and it's a real family programme. You just don't get that nowadays. My whole family are mad on it."

The ITV series starred a wizard, played by Geoffrey Bayldon, who was transported 900 years into the future and proved a big hit with viewers in 1970. A second series followed a year later.

The show was so popular that videos are now selling at auction for up to £50 each. On top of owning the Catweazle video collection in its entirety, Gary possesses two signed box sets which could, he estimates, sell for £600.

He said: "I have loads of photos of scenes and the actors and I'm actually in touch with some of them as well. I also have an adancos, which is a magic knife he used to wave in front of people to hypnotise them."

Aside from collecting copious amounts of memorabilia, Gary, a former pharmaceutical technician, has set his sights on improving the website, designed by Sussex web designers Red Dragon.

The site features pictures by the dozen, cast biographies, a members' area, the latest news and plenty more to boot.

He said: "We are campaigning to try and get the programme back on television because there are so many people interested in the website. Millions of people watched it and so far we have 150 people in the fan club. We have members from Australia, Sweden, Holland and Germany.

"Now we want the website to be a lot better and it has the potential to have thousands of members.

"We want to get clips from the show, more pictures and eventually people will be able to buy Catweazle stuff on there."

Unlike the wives of many a football fan, Janet, 46, has a passion for the zany wizard too. She said: "I absolutely love it. There are always loads of women ringing Gary to ask him about it but I don't mind one bit."

The website pioneer concluded: "I go onto the site and when I look at the message board and see happy messages from fans it brings a tear to my eye because I know I've done something good."

For anyone interested in climbing aboard the Catweazle frenzy, visit www.catweazlefanclub.co.uk