Jeeves and Wooster

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Jeeves and Wooster
Jeeves and Wooster title card.jpg
Based on Jeeves stories
by P. G. Wodehouse
Screenplay by Clive Exton
Starring Hugh Laurie
Stephen Fry
Composer Anne Dudley
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series4
No. of episodes23 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer Sally Head
Producer Brian Eastman
Running time50 minutes [1]
Production companies Picture Partnership
Productions
[1]
Granada Television [1]
Warner Bros. Television
Original release
Network ITV
Release22 April 1990 (1990-04-22) [1]  
20 June 1993 (1993-06-20) [1]
Stephen Fry (left) as Jeeves and Hugh Laurie as Bertie Wooster HughLaurie-BertieWooster.jpg
Stephen Fry (left) as Jeeves and Hugh Laurie as Bertie Wooster

Jeeves and Wooster is a British comedy-drama television series adapted by Clive Exton from P. G. Wodehouse's "Jeeves" stories. It aired on the ITV network from 22 April 1990 to 20 June 1993, with the last series nominated for a British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series. Set in the UK and the US in an unspecified period between the late 1920s and the 1930s, the series starred Hugh Laurie as Bertie Wooster, an affable young gentleman and member of the idle rich, and Stephen Fry as Jeeves, his highly intelligent and competent valet. Bertie and his friends, who are mainly members of the Drones Club, are extricated from all manner of societal misadventures by the indispensable Jeeves.

Contents

When Fry and Laurie began the series, they were already a popular comedic double act for their regular appearances on Channel 4's Saturday Live and their own show A Bit of Fry & Laurie (BBC, 1987–95). [1]

In the television documentary Fry and Laurie Reunited (2010), the actors, reminiscing about their involvement in the series, revealed that they were initially reluctant to play the parts of Jeeves and Wooster, but eventually decided to do so because the series was going to be made with or without them, and they felt no one else would do the parts justice. [2]

The series was a collaboration between Brian Eastman of Picture Partnership Productions and Granada Television.

Theme and opening credits

The theme (called "Jeeves and Wooster") is an original piece of music in the jazz/swing style written by composer Anne Dudley for the programme. [3] Dudley uses variations of the theme as a basis for all of the episodes' scores and was nominated for a British Academy Television Award for her work on the third series. [4]

Characters

Many of the programme's supporting roles – including significant characters such as Aunt Agatha, Madeline Bassett and Gussie Fink-Nottle – were played by more than one actor. One prominent character, Aunt Dahlia, was played by a different actress in each of the four series. Francesca Folan played two very different characters: Madeline Bassett in series one and Lady Florence Craye in series four. The character of Stiffy Byng was played by Charlotte Attenborough in series two and by Amanda Harris in series three and then by Attenborough again in series four. Richard Braine, who took over the role of Gussie Fink-Nottle in series three and four, also appeared as the conniving Rupert Steggles in series one. Aside from Fry and Laurie, the only actors to appear as the same character in all four series are John Woodnutt as Sir Watkyn Bassett and Robert Daws as Tuppy Glossop.

Episodes

SeriesEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
1 522 April 1990 (1990-04-22)20 May 1990 (1990-05-20)
2 614 April 1991 (1991-04-14)19 May 1991 (1991-05-19)
3 629 March 1992 (1992-03-29)3 May 1992 (1992-05-03)
4 616 May 1993 (1993-05-16)20 June 1993 (1993-06-20)

Reception

The third series of Jeeves and Wooster won a British Academy Television Award for Best Design for Eileen Diss. The final series won a British Academy Television Award for Best Graphics for Derek W. Hayes and was nominated for a British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series; it also earned a British Academy Television Award for Best Original Television Music for Anne Dudley and a British Academy Television Award for Best Costume Design for Dany Everett. [4]

In retrospect, Michael Brooke of BFI Screenonline called screenwriter Clive Exton "the series' real star", saying his "adaptations come surprisingly close to capturing the flavour of the originals" by "retaining many of Wodehouse's most inspired literary similes." [1]

Christopher Lee analyzed the costumes of both Jeeves and Wooster for the Gentleman's Gazette, and concludes that "Wooster represents the dandy, willing to experiment with style and change. Jeeves is the voice of tradition and conservative style." [5] [6]

Home releases

Granada Media released all four series on DVD in Region 2 between 2000 and 2002. On 1 September 2008, ITV Studios Home Entertainment released Jeeves and Wooster: The Complete Collection, an eight-disc box set featuring all 23 episodes of the series. [7]

In Region 1, A&E Home Entertainment, under licence from Granada Media Entertainment, released the complete 23-episode collection on DVD in the US and Canada.

In Region 4, Shock Entertainment has released the entire series on DVD in Australia. It was initially released in season sets in 2007/2008, followed by a complete series collection on 4 August 2008.[ citation needed ]

DVD titleDiscsEpisode countRelease dates
Region 1 Region 2 Region 4
Complete Series 1 2527 March 200123 October 20005 September 2007
Complete Series 2 2627 March 200128 May 20012 December 2007
Complete Series 3 262 January 200217 June 200231 January 2008
Complete Series 4 2626 March 200216 September 20025 May 2008
Complete Collection 82326 November 20021 September 20084 August 2008

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bertie Wooster</span> Fictional character in P. G. Wodehouse stories

Bertram Wilberforce Wooster is a fictional character in the comedic Jeeves stories created by British author P. G. Wodehouse. An amiable English gentleman and one of the "idle rich", Bertie appears alongside his valet, Jeeves, whose intelligence manages to save Bertie or one of his friends from numerous awkward situations. Bertie Wooster and Jeeves have been described as "one of the great comic double-acts of all time".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gussie Fink-Nottle</span> Fictional character in P. G. Wodehouse stories

Augustus "Gussie" Fink-Nottle is a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves novels of comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a lifelong friend of Jeeves's master Bertie Wooster and a country member of the Drones Club. He wears horn-rimmed spectacles and studies newts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madeline Bassett</span> Fictional character in P. G. Wodehouse stories

Madeline Bassett is a fictional character in the Jeeves stories by English comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being an excessively sentimental and fanciful young woman to whom Bertie Wooster intermittently, and reluctantly, finds himself engaged.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roderick Spode</span> Fictional character in P. G. Wodehouse stories

Roderick Spode, 7th Earl of Sidcup, often known as Spode or Lord Sidcup, is a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves novels of English comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. In the first novel in which he appears, he is an "amateur dictator" and the leader of a fictional fascist group in London called the Saviours of Britain, also known as the Black Shorts. He leaves the group after he inherits his title.

<i>Right Ho, Jeeves</i> 1934 novel by P. G. Wodehouse

Right Ho, Jeeves is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, the second full-length novel featuring the popular characters Jeeves and Bertie Wooster, after Thank You, Jeeves. It was first published in the United Kingdom on 5 October 1934 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on 15 October 1934 by Little, Brown and Company, Boston, under the title Brinkley Manor. It had also been sold to the Saturday Evening Post, in which it appeared in serial form from 23 December 1933 to 27 January 1934, and in England in the Grand Magazine from April to September 1934. Wodehouse had already started planning this sequel while working on Thank You, Jeeves.

<i>By Jeeves</i> Musical

By Jeeves, originally Jeeves, is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, and lyrics and book by Alan Ayckbourn. It is based on the series of novels and short stories by P. G. Wodehouse that centre around the character of Bertie Wooster and his loyal valet, Jeeves.

<i>My Man Jeeves</i> 1919 short story collection by P. G. Wodehouse

My Man Jeeves is a collection of short stories by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom in May 1919 by George Newnes. Of the eight stories in the collection, half feature the popular characters Jeeves and Bertie Wooster, while the others concern Reggie Pepper, an early prototype for Bertie Wooster.

<i>Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves</i> 1963 novel by P. G. Wodehouse

Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, published in the United States on 22 March 1963 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, and in the United Kingdom on 16 August 1963 by Herbert Jenkins, London. It is the ninth of eleven novels featuring Bertie Wooster and his valet Jeeves.

<i>The Code of the Woosters</i> 1938 novel by P. G. Wodehouse

The Code of the Woosters is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published on 7 October 1938, in the United Kingdom by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States by Doubleday, Doran, New York. It was previously serialised in The Saturday Evening Post (US) from 16 July to 3 September 1938, illustrated by Wallace Morgan, and in the London Daily Mail from 14 September to 6 October 1938.

<i>The Mating Season</i> (novel) 1949 novel by P. G. Wodehouse

The Mating Season is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on 9 September 1949 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on November 29, 1949, by Didier & Co., New York.

<i>The World of Wooster</i> British TV comedy series (1965–1967)

The World of Wooster is a comedy television series, based on the Jeeves stories by author P. G. Wodehouse. The television series starred Ian Carmichael as English gentleman Bertie Wooster and Dennis Price as Bertie's valet Jeeves.

"The Ties That Bind" is the sixth episode of the fourth series of the 1990s British comedy television series Jeeves and Wooster. It is also called "The Ex's Are Nearly Married Off". It first aired in the UK on 20 June 1993 on ITV.

"Jeeves' Arrival" is the first episode of the first series of the 1990s British comedy television series Jeeves and Wooster. It is also called "In Court after the Boat Race" or "Jeeves Takes Charge". It first aired in the UK on 22 April 1990 on ITV. The episode aired in the US on 11 November 1990 on Masterpiece Theatre.

"The Hunger Strike" is the fourth episode of the first series of the 1990s British comedy television series Jeeves and Wooster. It is also called "How Does Gussie Woo Madeline?". It first aired in the UK on 13 May 1990 on ITV. The episode aired in the US on 2 December 1990 on Masterpiece Theatre.

"Will Anatole Return to Brinkley Court?" is the fifth episode of the first series of the 1990s British comedy television series Jeeves and Wooster. It is also called "Brinkley Manor" or "The Matchmaker". It first aired in the UK on 20 May 1990 on ITV. The episode aired in the US on 9 December 1990 on Masterpiece Theatre.

"Jeeves Saves the Cow-Creamer" is the first episode of the second series of the 1990s British comedy television series Jeeves and Wooster. It is also called "The Silver Jug". It first aired in the UK on 14 April 1991 on ITV. Filming took place at Highclere Castle which was the principal location for Totleigh Towers.

"The Bassetts' Fancy Dress Ball" is the second episode of the second series of the 1990s British comedy television series Jeeves and Wooster. It is also called "A Plan for Gussie". It first aired in the UK on 21 April 1991 on ITV.

"Sir Watkyn Bassett's Memoirs" is the fifth episode of the third series of the 1990s British comedy television series Jeeves and Wooster. It is also called "Hot off the Press". It first aired in the UK on 26 April 1992 on ITV.

"Bertie Takes Gussie's Place At Deverill Hall" is the fourth episode of the third series of the 1990s British comedy television series Jeeves and Wooster. It is also called "Right Ho! Jeeves". It first aired in the UK on 26 April 1992 on ITV.

"Trouble at Totleigh Towers" is the fifth episode of the fourth series of the 1990s British comedy television series Jeeves and Wooster. It is also called "Totleigh Towers". It first aired in the UK on 13 June 1993 on ITV. Some of the external scenes were filmed at Highclere Castle.

References

Notes
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Jeeves and Wooster at the BFI's Screenonline
  2. Laurie also addressed that issue in an article he wrote about Wodehouse's impact on his life "Hugh Laurie: Wodehouse Saved my Life". The Daily Telegraph. 25 May 1999. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  3. "The World of Jeeves & Wooster – Original Soundtrack". annedudley.co.uk. Archived from the original on 1 March 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2009.
  4. 1 2 Awards for Jeeves and Wooster (1990) from Internet Movie Database
  5. Lee, Christopher (30 August 2017). "Jeeves & Wooster Analyzed - The Suits & Clothes Of Jeeves". Gentleman's Gazette. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  6. Lee, Christopher (16 August 2017). "The Style & Clothes Of Bertie Wooster - Jeeves & Wooster". Gentleman's Gazette. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  7. "Jeeves and Wooster – Complete Collection [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Robert Daws, Richard Dixon, Mary Wimbush, John Turner, John Woodnutt, Michael Ripper, Francesca Folan, Elizabeth Heery, Richard Braine, Richard Garnett: Film & TV". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
Sources