#Barmy Fotheringay-Phipps

[bloomfish]

u don't need to know anything about these guys just pick based on silliness of name

[ao3feed-jeevesandwooster]

Jeeves & Woostering in Las Vegas

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/X4EQhdK " by freddie_widgeon Jeeves and Wooster takes us on a sunny sail into the beating heart of the American Dream Words: 415, Chapters: 2/2, Language: English Fandoms: Jeeves & Wooster, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: Gen Characters: Reginald Jeeves, Bertram "Bertie" Wooster, Cyril "Barmy" Fotheringay-Phipps, Dahlia Travers Relationships: Reginald Jeeves & Bertram "Bertie" Wooster, Bertram "Bertie" Wooster / The American Dream Additional Tags: Las Vegas, Drug Use, Recreational Drug Use, Gambling, The-Two-Seater " read it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/57631219

[cuddyclothes]

Drones posing for a portrait but forgetting to put their clothes on. Barmy is taking the photo and he’s completely oblivious.

[pitch-and-moan]

Barmy Fotheringay-Phipps Big Day Out

A sort of riff on Baby’s Big Day Out, in which Bertie Wooster’s friend Barmy Fotheringay-Phipps wanders through the city nearly getting killed and generally being unaware of the danger in which he finds himself.

[wotwotleigh-prime]

The helpless Drone in that video is Barmy Fartheringay-Phipps. It's the joy in his face as he yeets her. It has Barmy vibes.

Yes! I agree 100%. Ahahahaha, he’s so proud of himself. 😆

[come2quarks]

[missanthropicprinciple]

One of the first things I had to look at on Acorn before I canceled my free trial was an episode of Midsomer Murders (“Dark Autumn”) in which Adam Blackwood says “I’m moving to Dorset.” I heard this on the evening broadcast of the episode but the edited daytime syndication cut this part out. That was a decade ago. Folks, this is what I do in my spare time. 

[incorrectwodehousequotes]

Oofy: Barmy, what’s taking so long?

Barmy: Well, I was just thinking...

Oofy: Say no more.

[petork]

Hi my name is Bertram Wilberforce Wooster and I live in a flat in London with my man Jeeves who is a valet NOT a butler (A/N: if u don’t know the difference get da hell out of here!). I’m not related to Jeeves but I wish I was because he’s a major fucking hottie. I’m British but my teeth are straight and white. I’m also a chap about town, and I go to a club called the Drones where I play dinner roll cricket (I’m a fielder). I’m a wastrel (in case you couldn’t tell) and I wear mostly outfits my valet doesn’t like. For example today I was wearing my grey double-breasted suit and a green patterned tie, a boutonniere and a straw hat. I was walking outside the Drones. My Aunt Agatha was not in the metrop. which I was very happy about. Bingo Little and Barmy Fotheringay-Phipps stared at me. I said ‘what ho what ho what ho’ at them.

[tyrannosaurus-trainwreck]

Say what you want about House, but if they’d had Hugh Laurie play House as Bertie Wooster instead of Uncommunicative Asshole Genius Man, it would have been a masterpiece and gotten unlimited seasons immediately.

Like, House could still always be right, but instead of everyone hating him because Uncommunicative Asshole Genius Man, it would drive them up a wall that some cheery, affable nitwit who comes off like a particularly bright jar of preserves was running around the hospital diagnosing people with a one in a million disorder on the basis of excessive sweating and a slightly-atypical BUN test.

Just imagine, if you will, House in an exam room of the walk-in clinic going, “I say, old man!  Jolly bad luck on the Marfan Syndrome, but there’s loads we can do to keep it from ripping apart the old ticker these days!  What’s the sitch vis-a-vis your insurance?” and the patient and his responsible-doctor babysitter are just like “...but the complaint is about a sore throat?” and Laurie just did that little blink-straighten up-recalibrate thing and went “Oh, capital!  Let’s just get a look at the old food-hatch, then.  Say aah!”

House’s friends defending House to the administration as a genius, and then House swanning into the office apologizing for being late but a series of old school chums with increasingly improbable surnames and nonsensical nicknames kept dropping by over the weekend. 

Tuppy and Oofy both had the bad luck to have engagements broken off in the same week that Stinker got tenure at Oxford, which resulted in a deuced strange tone for the whole get-together, and one thing led to another, and now there’s a new species of newt being named after him and did you know it’s illegal to ride a moose in Canada?  Apparently his friend Barmy Fotheringay Phipps is a repeat offender and no longer welcome  in the country, in spite of his connection to the Windsors.

They’re just like “This meeting is about your unorthodox methods of treating patients,” and House squints at them and goes “What-ho, I’m as by the book as they come!  If a patient comes in with a bad case of the old Y. pestis noodling around in their lungs, they’re getting streptomycin toot sweet unless there’s a bally allergy, in which case we’ll trot out the tetracyclines and alert the good old CDC for contact tracing and a round of, as they say, prophylaxis.  Stiffy might be getting on with his research on bacteriophages out there in the Baltic, but you’ve got to get special permission from three different agencies to deploy it on the ground here in the US of A, and besides, insurance won’t cover it.”

Every time it looks like House might actually face consequences for his behavior, it turns out one of his aunts is on the board or one of his uncles has donated so much there’s two and a half wings named after him, and besides, he’s never wrong? 

One of the other doctors finds out how rich the House family is and he’s like “Why do you do this, then?” and House goes “Well, it was this or submit to the expected marriage with Honoria Glossop and spend the rest of my life getting dragged through greenhouses and genetics labs and curtain barns in the ongoing quest to feed the whole planet off one cow.  Sturdy girl, Honoria, but by the time she’s done with it, rice will count as a vegetable and be able to tell you when to take it off the burner.  And then there’s the hunting accident that happened right after the chap from Monsanto tried to patent a person as a seed?  In Honoria’s defense, he really did look tremendously like a quail, but she didn’t seem as sorry as you’d expect?”

It would have had 25 seasons and a movie, I’m telling you.

[nimiumcaelo]

“Indeed, Miss?” -- Chapter 7

Chapter summary: Complications arise. Rosalyn is no longer trusted to chaperone.

Chapter 7: A Bad Day for a Wooster

“Oh, there you are, Bertie!” Miss Fotheringay-Phipps exclaimed, pushing her way through the crowd towards us. “I wondered where you’d got off to.”

“Has Bingo quite finished with that soup-strainer chap, do you think? I still want to go dancing.”

The two ladies glanced at their friend. “I couldn’t say,” said Miss Fotheringay-Phipps. “Maybe she’ll invite him to come with us?”

Miss Wooster fidgeted slightly. “Erm, not exactly the best spot for a chap of that sort, Barmy. I doubt that he’d approve of the whole atmos.”

“Oh?” Miss Fotheringay-Phipps appeared confused. “Why’s that? … – Oh! Oh. Never-mind.” She grinned sheepishly.

“Quite.” Miss Wooster folded her arms. “Well, I think I’ll just biff off over there and tell her the sitch., and then we can go and noodle over to that club.”

“Alright.”

Miss Wooster moved through the crowd, which was slightly lessened now, and leaned against the counter beside Miss Little.

I had shifted myself back a small amount, melting somewhat into the fixtures, as is proper. It appeared that this move was successful; Miss Fotheringay-Phipps seemed to forget my existence in those few moments before Miss Wooster reappeared, sans Miss Little, who, she explained, was intending to spend the remaining afternoon and evening with her newfound beau and wished us have fun whilst dancing. When Miss Wooster asked me whether I wouldn’t mind sticking around a bit longer while they “cut a mean fox-trot,” Miss Fotheringay-Phipps startled and seemed to only just remember that I was there.

“I would not mind, miss,” I said, of course. One cannot give up one’s duties, after all.

“Spiffing! Let’s beetle over there, then.” Miss Wooster smiled quickly then turned away, Miss Fotheringay-Phipps and myself following.

Our voyage was cut short, however, when none other than Mrs. Gregson blocked our path, emerging onto the sidewalk from a dress-maker’s shop.

“Bertie!” she barked, and the addressed blanched quickly.

“Oh, ah, what-ho, Aunt Agatha!”

Mrs. Gregson shot a venomous glare at Miss Fotheringay-Phipps, who was staring wide-eyed at the scene unfolding before her.

“I trust,” Mrs. Gregson spat out, “that you are not planning on participating in any untoward activities, my dear imbecilic neice?”

Miss Wooster cast a helpless look at Miss Fotheringay-Phipps. “No, no, not at all! We were just – just – about to go…uh –” She faltered.

“Miss Wooster,” I supplied, “and Miss Fotheringay-Phipps were intending to purchase hats, madam.”

Miss Wooster seemed to sway where she stood. “Yes! Hats!” she cried, relieved. “I saw the most corking specimen in a shop window the other day and I simply had to show Barmy before it was snatched up.”

Mrs. Gregson’s face remained stony. “Is it customary for you to purchase hats whilst dressed like a member of the chorus-line?”

“Oh, ah, eh? This old thing? I was just – just trying it on, see.”

“Trying it on?”

“They are modeling, madam,” I put in quickly. “For a dress-shop. The owner wished to increase the sales of certain items. Miss Wooster and Miss Fotheringay-Phipps agreed to wear said items in public in return for discounts on their next purchases.”

Mrs. Gregson turned her sharp gaze onto me. “Is that so, Rosalyn?”

“Yes, madam.”

“And you were with them while they conducted this – deal?”

“Yes, madam.”

“Then I am very disappointed in you, Rosalyn. I trusted you to keep my neice from bandying her name and you have allowed her to recklessly display herself about town in such a way. I am afraid,” she added, turning to Miss Wooster, “that you are no longer allowed to be chaperoned by Rosalyn. Now, I want you to head back to your flat and put on something decent. I will be arriving shortly after you, so don’t delay.”

“Yes, Aunt Agatha,” Miss Wooster mumbled, drooping.

Mrs. Gregson then bustled past us down the street.

Miss Fotheringay-Phipps pulled nervously at her fingers. “Terribly sorry about that, old thing. I guess the dancing’ll have to wait, eh?”

Miss Wooster sighed. “Yes, I suppose. Can’t be helped, though – Aunt Agatha’s a tyrant. Sorry you had to witness that.”

“It’s alright. My Aunt gets like that sometimes, too. I say, I should probably push off. I don’t want you to get into more trouble.”

Miss Wooster smiled weakly at her friend. “Thanks ever so much, Barmy. I’ll see you around, sometime?”

“Of course,” Miss Fotheringay-Phipps assured, then struck off down the pavement.

Once we were alone, Miss Wooster turned on me sharply. “Rosalyn you ass!” she hissed. “What did you mean by telling my Aunt we were modeling? Now she thinks I’m some sort of tart who goes around selling herself for ribbons!”

I looked around, making sure our disagreement was not being viewed by all and sundry. “I had intended, miss,” I said icily, “to dissuade Mrs. Gregson from the idea that you actually owned such garments, an idea which she would have found much less favourable than the one she is possessed of now. I apologize if I have done anything to upset you.”

“You bally well have!” Miss Wooster grumbled. She turned then and headed back up the street, her long legs carrying her swiftly. “I can’t believe you sometimes!”

We walked in silence for the remainder of the journey. When we arrived back at the flat, Miss Wooster shut herself in her bedroom and informed me that she had no need of my assistance currently and asked if I would please be so kind as to remain out of her sight for the foreseeable future? I retreated to the kitchen, fuming quietly.

Mrs. Gregson arrived minutes after Miss Wooster and myself. I helped her out of her light summer-coat and hat, then began preparing tea. I heard Mrs. Gregson knocking repeatedly on Miss Wooster’s door.

“Bertie, come out of there! This is no time for sulking. I need to discuss things with you so you know what it is you’re allowed to do.”

Miss Wooster remained silent.

I served Mrs. Gregson her tea, and the action seemed to make her momentarily forget her anger at me. A watery sigh emanating from Miss Wooster’s bedroom, however, made her set her teacup down with a clack and call to me.

“Yes, madam?”

“Rosalyn, I wish to have a word with you.”

I felt my heart sink within my breast. “Indeed, madam? May I be of any assistance?”

“You’ve been of enough assistance recently, Rosalyn. Sit down. I don’t want you looming over me like that. Now, I need you to understand that you have been placed in a position of responsibility regarding Miss Wooster. It is you who are supposed to protect her when she is away from her family and it is you who are supposed to help her to maintain a respectable name for herself so that she does not –“ Mrs. Gregson faltered, voice choking up. “So that she does not ruin her chances at a happy future for herself. I need you to understand this, Rosalyn.”

“Yes, madam.”

Mrs. Gregson sighed and spoke quietly. “I worry about her, constantly. She does not know what is good for her. I know you care for her, as well – you needn’t be ashamed of the fact – so I know you can understand my position. I simply cannot have her destroying her life, especially so unwittingly. You know what is proper for a young lady, Rosalyn. Miss Wooster needs you to be her guide in this. She needs you to help her – I need you to help her. Dahlia and I, we’ve put together a list of suitors for Bertie. She’s not going to like it, but I need you to help her through this. Marriage is a wonderful thing, even if she doesn’t understand that, yet. In the next few days I’m going to start introducing Bertie to these young men, but I need her to act becomingly. I know that you can make her sympathetic to this endeavor. Can I trust you to help us – to help Miss Wooster?”

I looked at Mrs. Gregson. Her face was ever so sincere.

“Yes, madam,” I said. “I will help Miss Wooster.”

[soundtrackphoto]

The Chrysler Building

The Chrysler Building-New York City

Ground Breaking-September 19, 1928

Formally Opened-May 27, 1930

Number Of Floors-77

Officially the World’s Tallest Building for a period of 11 months when surpassed by the Empire State Building.

Currently stands as number 101 in the world

I had an awful realization recently.  I was thinking of subjects I have not written about here yet in the four plus years since I began writing here. For someone who comes from New York City it is a rather shameful realization as well.  Though they have popped up a few times in photos, I have not actually written about my love for skyscrapers which of course dominate the skyline of Manhattan.  From my earliest days coming into the city from the confines of the suburbs where I grew up these towering marvels fascinated me.

I remember a favorite ‘toy’ I had at one point- a building set which allowed one to build their own versions of skyscrapers and bridges, using replicas of steel girders, supports, and facades. It probably goes a long way into understanding why I have always been fascinated by both, and I remember experimenting with varying heights and shapes of the skyscrapers in particular. Last year I even got a Lego set of some of the landmark Manhattan towers and spent a rather enjoyable afternoon ‘building’ them which is something I hadn’t done since childhood.

I also remember a book I checked out from the library several times. A school class  had published a book that gave a child’s perspective on the start to finish of building a skyscraper and all the materials and methods used.  The building they chose was what became the Exxon Building on 6th Avenue in Manhattan. It is now sneeringly referred to as one of the XYZ buildings along with two neighboring buildings due to their rather bland and generic facades. It makes no matter to me however and whenever I walk by it these days, I still nod my head at the building in recognition of that book.

There are a number of beloved skyscrapers in full view practically anywhere you are in New York City- The Woolworth, the Empire State, Citigroup Center, and the Freedom Tower are just a handful of the buildings that continue to amaze people to when they see them for the first time.  And of course we still remember and miss the World Trade Center to this day for its dominating presence it held on the skyline. The one I now call my favorite is as you may have guessed, The Chrysler Building. Manhattan is defined by the skyscrapers, and new ones continue to be built even now. The reason why is fairly obvious but in case you did not know, the following exchange from  the TV adaptation of  P.G. Wodehouse’s wonderful Jeeves and Wooster stories might help.  Upon seeing the tall buildings of Manhattan for the first time (circa late 1920’s- 1930’s) the lovable but dimwitted Bertie Wooster questions Jeeves, his trusty valet/manservant/gentleman’s personal gentleman about them-

Bertie Wooster: Now, Jeeves, why do you think they built all these tall buildings?

Jeeves: Well, sir, it was partly because of the restricted size of Manhattan Island and partly because the island is solid granite and therefore capable of supporting such structures.

Bertie Wooster: Nothing to do with having got the plans sideways, then.

Jeeves: No, sir.

Bertie Wooster: That’s what Barmy told me.

Jeeves: You will pardon me for saying so, sir, but Mr. Fotheringay-Phipps is not noted for his architectural expertise.

When I realized that I wanted to write this post, I knew I wanted to spend some time taking photos of the Chrysler Building. A big part of the reason why I like it so much now is because of those Jeeves and Wooster stories. The books and short stories were driven by a hilarious assortment of characters. The TV series of the 1990’s made great use of vintage paraphernalia for the interior scenes, replete with 1920’s-30’s appropriate fashions, art, furniture, even vintage cocktail shakers. Or to put it more appropriately, they were very much inspired by  art deco. When it comes to art deco and skyscrapers, The Chrysler Building will always remain as the shining example. Thanks to the show, I have come to really appreciate art deco as well.

The Chrysler Building is not dark and foreboding like some medieval  cathedral. Far from it. The automotive touches provide a sense of whimsy-hubcaps and radiator inspired gargoyles.  Eagles soaring high above the street. Down below the lobby and doors have that classic old school New York vibe.   But most impressively in the shining concentric crown, windows and spire at the top which scream art deco.   If you really think about the era it was built, The Chrysler Building represents so much promise and ingenuity. A new way of providing ornamentation and design to a building. It is not garish at all. It shimmers and shines in the sun. Before being somewhat crowded out by neighboring buildings not designed with similar creativity it must have glistened like a diamond ring. Years later it remains dignified, classy and refined.

Though I am not much of a jazz aficionado, one does have to recognize the great practitioners of the form.  I knew I needed music that represented those same feelings of dignity and class The Chrysler Building exudes. I did not have to go too far into my limited jazz catalog to find In A Sentimental Mood by Duke Ellington & John Coltrane. It is a work of singular beauty and elegance. While listening to it again I started inevitably drifting into a sentimental mood of my own life. While looking at the photos I took history also started creeping into my mind in fleeting segments. I recognized that I was fighting a battle between sentimentality and imagination.

You see, all the things I have mentioned here-my own youth, art deco, architecture, and yes, even the Jeeves and Wooster stories all have a passage of time over them,  a faint sentimentality of the past. We recognize that we are in ‘the now’ and cannot set the clock back 80 years. Once we get to that realization, sentimentality goes away and imagination enters instead. We imagine what it was like hearing music by Duke Ellington and others at a  Prohibition era nightclub. We imagine being trapped in an imbroglio of romantic entanglements like the Jeeves and Wooster stories. We imagine seeing The Chrysler Building rising in the skyline while being constructed.

The good thing is that we HAVE these sorts of things still in our life as markers. We can read the old stories, listen to the music. And on the corner of Lexington Avenue and 42nd Street in Manhattan, we can still gaze up at The Chrysler Building, 86 years since it was completed and know that it is still there for all of us to think about however we choose.

Be sure to see a few more photos below

In A Sentimental Mood-Written By Duke Ellington

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All Photographs By Robert P. Doyle

The Chrysler Building

Chrysler Building

Art Deco In The Sky The Chrysler Building-New York City Ground Breaking-September 19, 1928 Formally Opened-May 27, 1930 Number Of Floors-77…

[hegganpl]

Barmy in Wonderland by P. G. Wodehouse

Cyril "Barmy" Fotheringay-Phipps (pronounced "Fungy Fips") has been living in New York for the past few years. Before he left London he visited a fortune teller that told him he would travel, come into money, have trouble with a dark man, and meet a fair girl that would be the love of his life. 

While living in New York he learns that his maternal grandfather has passed away leaving him a sum of money. Barmy's actor friend, Mervin Potter, assumes Barmy has inherited millions and tells Mr. J.G. Anderson, Barmy's boss at the Washinton Hotel, about it. Mr. Anderson sees this as his ticket to retire and offers to sell the hotel to Barmy for a hundred thousand dollars When Barmy tells him he's only got twenty-two thousand and eighteen cents, Anderson takes offense and fires Barmy. Mervin Potter, still thinking that Barmy is loaded, tries talking him into investing in the new play that he's going to be starring in. After being fired, Barmy is out for a walk to clear his head and sees Eileen "Dinty" Moore gazing a hat in a shop window. He's so lovestruck by this "fair girl" that he tosses his cigar away and accidentally sets her hat on fire. Embarrassed, he buys her the one from the window and she leaves before they can exchange names.

Barmy then meets up with the play's producers Mr. Lehman and Mr. McClure and agrees to sign on as a partner for ten thousand dollars. He was reluctant to do so but Dinty happens to be Mr. Lehman's secretary and Barmy think's he'll be able to see her more often if he signs on to the play. 

The play opens in Syracuse and is a disaster. After the show everyone meets up in Barmy’s hotel room to discuss what needs fixing. Barmy has ideas but Lehman won’t let him speak. Barmy tries several times to make him point and Lehman all but tries to throw him out of his own hotel room. Dinty stands up for Barmy and Lehman fires her for it. Barmy says she’s going to work for him instead and offers to buy the show and all the rights to Lehmac Productions from Lehman and McClure for ten thousand dollars (which is the remainder of his inheritance). They agree, and Barmy having bought the play throws everyone out of his room. Dinty and Barmy remain. 

Dinty tells Barmy she loves him and that it was sweet of him to do that, but that the show is likely to lose money without another ten thousand to put into it. Thinking they’re sunk Barmy and Dinty are brooding in the room when assistant hotel manager, Oscar Fritchie, enters and is disappointed to be late to the party. Mr. Fritchie tells the two that he’s always loved the theatre and theatre folks and that it’s always been a dream of his to work in the industry one day. Dinty and Barmy, with the help of Mervin Potter, convince Oscar Fritchie to become a partner in the play.

Through their work the show turns out to be a huge success! Everything is going great until just before the show is set to open on Broadway and an attorney in a dark suit shows up. The play was adapted from a novelette whose rights had been purchased by Lehman and McClure unbeknownst to Barmy, and now the author of the novelette is accusing Barmy and Fritchie of plagiarism unless they give him 66.75% of the profits. Dinty and Barmy ask the man for half an hour to talk it over. While the lawyer is out, Lehman and McClure return, intending to take over the now-successful play again. Barmy sells it to them for a hundred thousand dollars. Barmy cheerfully sets off with Dinty to marry her and buy Anderson's hotel, where Fritchie will be the manager.

[ayliffe]

Is Cyril 'Barmy' Fotheringay-Phipps A Twink: Discuss

[wotwotleigh-prime]

Jeeves and Wooster vs. Plum, Part 2

S1e2: Tuppy and the Terrier

The second episode of Jeeves and Wooster is again based on three of the short stories, all of which were eventually published in Very Good, Jeeves: “Jeeves and the Yule-Tide Spirit,” “Jeeves and the Song of Songs,” and “Episode of the Dog McIntosh.” There are also elements borrowed from “Jeeves and the Kid Clementina,” which was published in the same book.

One general difference I wanted to mention before I go on is that the TV episodes are not arranged in the same order as the stories and novels. For the most part, it doesn’t really matter, but it does lend a slightly different feeling to the development of events and the relationships between the characters. For example, Bertie spent a lot more time early in the stories bouncing around in America, whereas most of that takes place later in the show. These particular stories take place after most of Bertie’s American adventures in the book!timeline.

Anyway, let’s look at how these episodes stack up against their corresponding stories!

There are a few general changes here that make a great deal of sense. For instance, the three main stories involved here seem to take place over a longer period of time in the book (maybe a few months), whereas in the episode they are compressed into a few days, or maybe a couple of weeks at the most. The order of events is somewhat changed to help the stories fit together more seamlessly, too. For instance, McIntosh is with Bertie from the very start of the episode, meaning he’s there through the events of both “Jeeves and the Yule-Tide Spirit” and “Episode of the Dog McIntosh.” Bertie also first meets Cora when he’s at Bobbie Wickham’s country house at the start of the episode.

Also, as the title suggests, “Jeeves and the Yule-Tide Spirit” was originally a Christmas story, not that the Christmas setting really matters that much. The only thing that’s really lost is Jeeves’s brutally chipper “Merry Christmas, sir!” when he greets Bertie in the morning after he’s spent a terrible night sleeping in an armchair post-water bottle incident. Oh Jeeves, you magnificent bastard.

But there are several other big changes to the events of “Jeeves and the Yule-Tide Spirit” that I really don’t get. First of all, Bertie’s rival in the water bottle war was originally Tuppy Glossop, not Barmy Fotheringay-Phipps. Bertie had sworn ~*~*~HIDEOUS REVENGE~*~*~ against Tuppy for betting him he couldn’t swing across the ropes and rings above the Drone’s swimming pool, which ended with Bertie being forced to drop into the pool in full evening attire when he found that Tuppy had looped back the last ring. This was a long-running joke in the short stories and novels, and something for which Bertie never completely forgave Tuppy.

I’m not sure why they chose to change this, because A) it’s hilarious, and B) Tuppy’s right there the whole time in the episode! I guess they just wanted an excuse to feature Barmy? Anyway, this also necessitated giving Bertie a reason to get back at Barmy, hence the extended golf sequence at the beginning where Barmy shows up Bertie in front of Bobbie Wickham.

Also, in the story, Jeeves was particularly salty because they had been planning a Christmas vacation to Monte Carlo, which Bertie canceled in order to visit Bobbie Wickham’s family home. Jeeves’s big goal, other than souring Bertie on Bobbie, was to get the Monte Carlo vacation back on track so he could chill at the casino. Instead, we have a more low-key disagreement over Bertie’s hideous golf trousers, which is an element borrowed from “Jeeves and the Kid Clementina.”

Finally, the original victim of all that water bottle piercing was Sir Roderick Glossop, who was replaced with the new characters Prof. and Madame Cluj. Again, I’m not sure why this was changed. In the short story, the whole incident reinforced Sir Roderick’s notion that Bertie was insane, so Jeeves’s gambit was a double whammy against two marital threats (Honoria and Bobbie).

There are also, as in many of the TV episodes, little touches here and there that seem calculated to make Bertie seem a little dumber. For instance, in “Jeeves and the Yule-Tide Spirit,” Bertie is the one who uses the word espièglerie in reference to Bobbie, not Jeeves (although, as usual, he second-guesses himself about whether it’s the right word).

Otherwise, the events of the episode are fairly similar to those of the stories in question. One difference is that Bertie had already met Blumenfield and son in the short stories, in the early story “Jeeves and the Chump Cyril.” (This story is adapted in the season 3 episode “Introduction on Broadway.”) Bertie is alarmed at the prospect of meeting Blumenfield Jr. again. He’s afraid the kid will tell him he has a face like a fish just like he did to Cyril, in which case Bertie fears he will not be able to resist “doing his upper maxillary a bit of no good.” (“Perhaps the young gentleman will not notice that you have a face like a fish, sir,” says Jeeves. Harsh, bro.) It is for this reason that Bertie takes off during the lunch and isn’t around to stop Bobbie from giving away McIntosh.

The sequence where Bertie witnesses Jeeves giving Blumenfield Sr. the McIntosh clone and freaks out is also a change from the story. Originally, Jeeves explains what he has done after the fact. It’s a solid change, IMO, because that scene is hilarious.

It’s also worth noting that Bobbie comes off more sympathetic in the original story than she does in the TV episode. She actually apologizes to Bertie for troubling him with the lunch at his apartment, and, even though she’s the one who gives the dog away in the first place, she ultimately helps Bertie with the scheme to get him back. Bertie is also sympathetic to her desire to make a hit with Blumenfield, and doesn’t seem to hold a lot of ill-will regarding the water bottle prank.

One more minor note: In “Episode of the Dog McIntosh,” Bertie makes reference to the song “I Lift Up My Finger and I Say Tweet Tweet,” which Bertie performs in the season 3 episode “Right Ho, Jeeves.”

The segment with Cora Bellinger and everyone in the universe singing Sonny Boy is a solid adaptation of “Jeeves and the Song of Songs” with few differences that are really worth mentioning. There are changes, but they’re pretty minor. I am sad that we miss out on this particularly Extra monologue from Bertie after Tuppy’s performance of Sonny Boy, though:

“’Come, Jeeves,’ I said, and those standing by wondered, no doubt, what had caused that clean-cut face to grow so pale and set. ‘I have been subjected to a nervous strain unparalleled since the days of the early Martyrs. I have lost pounds in weight and permanently injured my entire system. I have gone through an ordeal, the recollection of which will make me wake up screaming in the night for months to come. And all for nothing. Let us go.’” 

@cuddyclothes (I will cross-post this and Part 1 to G_S later!)

[wmshappen]

Plan your Escape

With a little over a month to go until the Great Escape throws open its doors, it’s time to get serious about who you want to see. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing some of the confirmed acts that have tickled the fancy of our chief music nerds, starting with these five:

Smerz

As someone who has 14 different playlists devoted to tracking Scandinavia’s musical output across pop and folk to minimalist electro, nothing – apart from maybe other people’s trips to Ikea – gets me going quite like the words ‘Copenhagen-based Norwegian female production duo’. Smerz make deconstructed techno-pop that’s deceptively infectious and accessible while still evoking dancefloors so dark you can’t see your own chest. Nordic detachment comes as standard, but their single Because, released earlier this year, was nothing short of a slinky low down banger. They even make being called Craig sound cool and Sure was certainly written with a road trip to Blaafarveværket in mind. If you don’t want to fill your trolley with Smerz and then go for meatballs, basically we can’t be friends.

Ray BLK

Ray BLK blends soul and hip-hop in a way that everyone and their nan has compared to Lauryn Hill, but her lyrics ooze uniquely British savvy and draw on a rapidly expanding range of influences. Her debut EP Havisham had a gloriously nerdy and unusual concept – retelling the story of Miss Havisham from Charles Dickens' Great Expectations – and since then, she’s continued to riff eclectically, from the Cardigans to Alicia Keys. She won the Sound of 2017 and told the BBC her mini album Durt is about female empowerment, so for the Chill Out video she travelled to Jamaica to meet and express solidarity with Kingston’s homeless transgender women. BLK stands for Building, Living, Knowing, and it’s a commitment which infuses every track. Listening to her is like having a conversation about books, music, and ideas with someone who makes you want to be a better person.

Matt Maltese

The world needs another I’m-just-a-regular-bloke singer-songwriter processing his manpain about being dumped over three increasingly tedious albums like it needs a hole in its new season festival cagoule. Luckily for all of us, Matt Maltese is not like that. He has a Hawley or Cocker-like knack for lyrical wryness and songs like As The World Caves In (which was produced by Hugo White out of the Maccabees, who he bonded with over loving the Leonard Cohen album Leonard hated, Death of a Ladies Man) deals with the anxiety-inducing political times we live in with grandiosity and poise. Recently he performed a Piano Session for Huw Stevens, a format which seems made for his apocalyptic ivory-tinkling musings.  

Paigey Cakey

There are many reasons to fall in love with Paigey Cakey but let’s just run through the basics: the super casual way she enters her lock code before delivering her verse on this live broadcast freestyle with Lady Leshurr, and that she made a mixtape – Red Velvet – as a Christmas gift for fans, which is dead nice. So she’s prodigiously nonchalant, generous, and talented – she also acted in stuff like Waterloo Road and Attack the Block – and when she wasn’t layering vibes upon vibes on Changes with J-Sol, she was making Hot Tings, both of which make even the most prone to skiving back in the day slightly nostalgic about the idea of stalking through the playground lip-synching.   

Drones Club

Most bands claim to have been brought together by run of the mill stuff – not being able to get off with anyone at the school disco, being the only four kids in the village into Motown, that sort of thing. Not Drones Club. According to Noisey they bonded over Adam Curtis social theory and a desire to improve our ability to connect. As if that’s not enough of a nod to Being People Who Think About Things, they share their name with PG Wodehouse’s fictional gentleman’s club, which was second home to Bertie Wooster and Barmy Fotheringay-Phipps. Fortunately, if Soul of a Spaceman is anything to go by, they sound less like a lecture on selfie culture and more like all your favourite 90s shoe and navel gazing bands hooked up behind the bike sheds.

JD Bracknell / @jdbracknell, who amongst other things can help curate music for your events so you don’t get stuck with the sound engineer’s choices (they always pick Toto, it’s just not worth the risk).