The Warlock of Wimbledon originally aired as the first of three segments of Scooby's All-Stars, later repackaged as the fifteenth episode of the third season of The Scooby-Doo Show, and the thirty-ninth episode overall in the series.
Premise
While touring England, the gang comes upon tennis star Jimmy Pelton, who's been cursed by Anthos, a warlock, and told to forfeit the Wimbledon tournament.
Synopsis
In England, Jimmy Pelton, a famous tennis star, and his trainer, Nick Thomas, are jogging one night, training for Jimmy's tennis match at Wimbledon the following morning, when they stumble upon the ancient Druid ruins of Rothmore. There they discover some sort of ancient staff and then they encounter a warlock named Anthos, along with his demon hound, who claims to have awoken from his life-long sleep to fulfill the curse upon the Pelton family. The warlock tells Jimmy that as long as he has the cursed staff, he is doomed. Jimmy and Nick flee.
Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby are touring England at the same time, and happen to be driving nearby the ancient ruins of Rothmore. Nick and Jimmy stumble onto the road and are picked up in the Mystery Machine. Nick and Jimmy tell the gang about their attack by the warlock Anthos, and the gang and Jimmy and Nick drive to Jimmy's mansion. Jimmy introduces the gang to the gatekeeper, John, and the housekeeper, Ms. Warren. Ms. Warren, who is very superstitious, warns Jimmy that she sees approaching danger.
All of a sudden, the warlock and the demon dog appear, threatening Jimmy again with the curse of Anthos, leaving behind the cursed staff when they disappear. Fred, the girls, Shaggy, Scooby, Nick, and Jimmy hurry to the gatekeeper's house where they discover John missing and the house ransacked and covered in red pawprints. They find John's boots which are splattered with red mud. They follow the red pawprints until they eventually disappear, and just then, Mr. Burgess, Jimmy's solicitor, arrives and tells the tale of Anthos. He claims Anthos placed a curse on the house and on the Pelton family and there is no escape. He also warns Jimmy that if he doesn't win the match tomorrow, Jimmy won't be able to pay his mortgage on the mansion and he will lose the house.
Knowing the staff is cursed, Fred tells Shaggy and Scooby to get rid of it. Scooby and Shaggy attempt to get rid of the staff, but they are attacked and chased by Anthos. After many attempts to get rid of the staff, eventually the whole gang chases the warlock into the woods to the ruins of Rothmore, and then the warlock and the hound disappear, and Nick also disappears. Jimmy loses his glasses, and finds them later along with the staff, which he promptly snaps in half, hopefully ending the curse. Velma finds more red mud, and Jimmy tells the gang that the ruins are the only place in the country you can find mud that is that special color.
After hearing the demon hound's howls, the gang along with Jimmy, rush back to the mansion and discover the perfectly fixed staff by the front gate, with a note attached that reads: "If you play tomorrow, it will mean your DOOM". Mr. Burgess appears and warns Jimmy to heed the message, but Jimmy refuses to be scared off by the warlock.
The next morning, Fred, Daphne, and Jimmy head to Wimbledon to play in the match, and Velma, Shaggy and Scooby stay behind to investigate the ruins. Shaggy, Scooby and Velma fall into a secret underground chamber, which holds a small workshop filled with sawdust and workbenches. Velma finds a receipt for a special lens. The warlock appears and chases the three all the way to Wimbledon, where Jimmy is playing horribly as he keeps seeing the warlock up in the stands, even though the warlock isn't up there. Shaggy, Scooby and Velma find Fred and Daphne, and while Scooby and Shaggy are at the concessions, the warlock appears and chases them into the locker room. Velma then figures out the mystery and she puts her theory to work, by switching hers and Jimmy's glasses. With Velma's glasses, Jimmy plays wonderfully and wins the match. But the warlock still runs rampant, and ater a chase the warlock is captured.
The warlock is unmasked as Nick, and the demon hound is just a normal dog in a costume. Velma says that when Jimmy lost his glasses in the woods, Nick switched them with a special pair of glasses, that allowed you to see a special kind of invisible make-up. This caused Jimmy to see the warlock up in the stands. A man wearing the invisible make-up would stand up in the stands, and Jimmy would see the make-up, although no one else could, because Jimmy had the special glasses, so Jimmy thought he was seeing Anthos. The man in the stands is revealed to be John, the gatekeeper. They did it because they were brothers in actuality, and they wanted Jimmy to lose the tennis match so they could inherit the mansion when Jimmy couldn't afford to pay the mortgage. Velma also knew John was in on it, because of the red mud on his shoes, and it proved John had been to the ruins lately, because Jimmy said the red mud could only be found at the ruins. And the constant reappearance of the staff worked out because there was more than one staff, and John and Nick would carve the staffs in the secret workshop under the ruins. Nick and John are presumably taken into custody.
Cast and characters
| Actor | Character |
|---|---|
| Don Messick | Scooby-Doo |
| Casey Kasem | Shaggy Rogers |
| Frank Welker | Fred Jones Nick Thomas |
| Heather North | Daphne Blake |
| Patricia Stevens | Velma Dinkley |
| Vic Perrin | John Thomas Anthos |
| Actor | Devil Hound |
| Actor | Jimmy Pelton |
| Actor | Ms. Warren |
| Actor | Mr. Burgess |
| Non-speaking roles | |
| Jimmy's opponent | |
| John Thomas's dog | |
Villains
- Anthos/Nick & John Thomas
- Devil Hound/Thomas' dog
Suspects
| Suspect | Motive/reason |
|---|---|
| John the gatekeeper | Suspicious manner. |
| Ms. Warren | She warns Jimmy that she sees approaching danger. |
| Mr. Burgess | He warns Jimmy to heed the message of Anthos. |
Culprits
| Culprit | Motive/reason |
|---|---|
| Nick & John Thomas as Anthos | To make Jimmy lose the tennis match so they could buy the mansion. |
Locations
- England
- Druid ruins of Rothmore
- Pelton Manor
- John's house
- Tennis court
- Wimbledon
Notes/trivia
- This is the penultimate segment of Scooby-Doo to air under the Scooby's All-Stars block. It is also the penultimate episode of the third season and of The Scooby-Doo Show series.
- "Anthos" is alternate name for rosemary. It means "flower" in Greek.
Animation mistakes and/or technical glitches
- None known.
Inconsistencies/continuity errors and/or goofs/oddities
- Why would the dog need a disguise? Couldn't the warlock find a dog vicious enough?
- The trick with invisible makeup and "special lenses" was extremely implausible.
- Jimmy doesn't realize that he is wearing Velma's glasses meaning their prescriptions are very similar...which is very unlikely.
In other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Greek | Ο Μάγος του Ουίμπλεντον | The Warlock of Wimbledon |
Home media
- Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: The Complete Third Season DVD set released April 10, 2007.
- Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: The Complete Series DVD set released November 9, 2010.
- Scooby-Doo! 13 Spooky Tales: Field of Screams DVD compilation set released May 13, 2013.
Quotes
| Previous episode: | Series: | Next episode: |
| Don't Go Near the Fortress of Fear | {{{series}}} | The Beast Is Awake In Bottomless Lake |