| The World of Wodehouse | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Scene from "Lord Emsworth and the Girl Friend", with McAllister (Radcliffe), Gladys (Jones), and Lord Emsworth (Richardson) | |
| Genre | Comedy |
| Based on | Blandings Castle andUkridge stories byP. G. Wodehouse |
| Written by | John Chapman (Blandings Castle) Richard Waring (Ukridge) |
| Starring | Ralph Richardson (Blandings Castle) Anton Rodgers (Ukridge) |
| Composers | Ron Grainer (Blandings Castle) Arthur Wilkinson (Ukridge) |
| Country of origin | England |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Producers | Michael Mills andFrank Muir (Blandings Castle) Joan Kemp-Welch (Ukridge) |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC1 |
| Release | 24 February 1967 (1967-02-24) – 26 August 1968 (1968-08-26) |
| Related | |
| The World of Wooster | |
The World of Wodehouse is a comedy television series, based on theBlandings Castle andUkridge stories written byP. G. Wodehouse.[1]
The series, which followed the television seriesThe World of Wooster, was shown onBBC Television. It consisted of two series, the 1967Blandings Castle series (six episodes) and the 1968Ukridge series (seven episodes).
Apart from one or more extracts from one episode ofBlandings Castle ("Lord Emsworth and the Girl Friend"),[2] all episodes of bothBlandings Castle andUkridge arelost.[3]
The World of Wodehouse was created as a result of the success of the BBC television seriesThe World of Wooster, which aired from May 1965 toNovember 1967. The six episodes of theBlandings Castle series, which aired in early 1967, were screened before the third series ofThe World of Wooster, which was broadcast later that year.[8]
Michael Mills andFrank Muir produced the episodes based onP. G. Wodehouse'sBlandings Castle stories, which were adapted byJohn Chapman.Joan Kemp-Welch produced the episodes based on Wodehouse'sUkridge stories, which were adapted byRichard Waring. The episodes for both series were each approximately 30 minutes long.[9]
Exterior shots of Blandings Castle were filmed atPenshurst Place.[10]
The music for theBlandings Castle series was composed byRon Grainer.[11]Arthur Wilkinson composed the music for theUkridge series.[12]
Penguin Books, which had previously publishedJeeves books with covers featuring full-colour promotional images fromThe World of Wooster, published tie-in Blandings books with covers featuring promotional images fromThe World of Wodehouse in December 1966.[13][14]
Derek Nimmo, who played Freddie Threepwood in theBlandings Castle series, also playedBingo Little in several episodes ofThe World of Wooster.[15] BothAnton Rodgers andJulian Holloway, who played Ukridge and Corky respectively in theUkridge series, had previously played other roles in the third series ofThe World of Wooster. Rodgers also portrayedRupert Baxter in the third episode of theBlandings Castle series, "Lord Emsworth and the Crime Wave at Blandings".[16]
| Series | Episodes | Originally released | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | |||
| Blandings Castle | 6 | 24 February 1967 (1967-2-24) | 31 March 1967 (1967-3-31) | |
| Ukridge | 7 | 15 July 1968 (1968-7-15) | 26 August 1968 (1968-8-26) | |
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Adaption of | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Lord Emsworth and the Girl Friend" | "Lord Emsworth and the Girl Friend" | 24 February 1967 (1967-2-24) | |
Guest appearances: Gaynor Jones as Gladys, Freddie Foote as Ern,Cyril Luckham as the vicar | |||||
| 2 | 2 | "The Great Pumpkin Crisis" | "The Custody of the Pumpkin" | 3 March 1967 (1967-3-3) | |
Guest appearances: Derek Nimmo as Freddie Threepwood,Jimmy Edwards as Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe,Alfred Marks as Mr Donaldson,Lynn Rainbow as Aggie | |||||
| 3 | 3 | "Lord Emsworth and the Crime Wave at Blandings" | "The Crime Wave at Blandings" | 10 March 1967 (1967-3-10) | |
Guest appearances: Anton Rodgers as Rupert Baxter,Celia Bannerman as Jane, Peter Jesson as George Abercrombie, Robert Davies as George | |||||
| 4 | 4 | "Lord Emsworth Acts for the Best" | "Lord Emsworth Acts for the Best" | 17 March 1967 (1967-3-17) | |
Guest appearances: Derek Nimmo as Freddie Threepwood, Cyril Luckham as the vicar, Lynn Rainbow as Aggie,Wanda Ventham as Jane | |||||
| 5 | 5 | "Pig Hoo-oo-ey!" | "Pig-hoo-o-o-o-ey" | 24 March 1967 (1967-3-24) | |
| 6 | 6 | "Lord Emsworth and the Company for Gertrude" | "Company for Gertrude" | 31 March 1967 (1967-3-31) | |
Guest appearances: Derek Nimmo as Freddie Threepwood, Jimmy Edwards as Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe, Richard Klee as Cyril Wellbeloved,Leslie Phillips as the Rev. Esmond Gander, Marilyn Taylerson as Gertrude[1][4] | |||||
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Adaption of | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 1 | "The Home from Home" | "Ukridge and the Home from Home" | 15 July 1968 (1968-7-15) | |
Guest appearances: Marian Spencer as Aunt Julia,David Langton as Col. Bagnew,Tim Barrett as Victor Beamish, Hugh Latimer as Barter,Eric Dodson as Mr. Wapshott,Joan Benham as Lady Bastable | |||||
| 8 | 2 | "The Dog College" | "Ukridge's Dog College" | 22 July 1968 (1968-7-22) | |
Guest appearances: Marian Spencer as Aunt Julia, Hugh Latimer as Barter, John Blythe as Joe, Kenneth Thornett as Bowles,Noel Davis as Tupper, Harry Davis as the Barman,Damaris Hayman as Angelica Vining | |||||
| 9 | 3 | "The Debut of Battling Billson" | "The Debut of Battling Billson" | 29 July 1968 (1968-7-29) | |
Guest appearances:Dickie Owen as Battling Billson, Kenneth Thornett as Bowles, Noel Davis as Tuppf, Harry Davis as the Barman,Robin Wentworth as Billson's second,Pamela Cundell as Flossie Burns | |||||
| 10 | 4 | "The Accident Syndicate" | "Ukridge's Accident Syndicate" | 5 August 1968 (1968-8-5) | |
Guest appearances:Tim Barrett as Victor Beamish,John Fraser as Teddy Weeks, Tony Bateman as Gussy,Arthur Cox as Freddie | |||||
| 11 | 5 | "The Comeback of Battling Billson" | "The Come-back of Battling Billson" and "Buttercup Day" | 12 August 1968 (1968-8-12) | |
Guest appearances: Marian Spencer as Aunt Julia, Hugh Latimer as Barter, Dickie Owen as Battling Billson, Harry Davis as the Barman,Brian Oulton as Stuttering Sam, Debbie Bowen as the Buttercup girl | |||||
| 12 | 6 | "The Nasty Corner" | "Ukridge Rounds a Nasty Corner" | 19 August 1968 (1968-8-19) | |
Guest appearances: Marian Spencer as Aunt Julia, Kenneth Thornett as Bowles,Noel Davis as Tupper,Margaretta Scott as Lady Lakenham,Patrick Waddington as Sir Rupert Lakenham, Janie Booth as Millie Lakenham | |||||
| 13 | 7 | "The Wedding Bells" | "No Wedding Bells for Him" | 26 August 1968 (1968-8-26) | |
Guest appearances: Bernadette Milnes as Mabel Price,Julian Orchard as Looney Coote, Fred Hugh as Mr Grindley[1][6] | |||||