Customer Reviews

Wodehouse Playhouse - Series Three

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I loved the first two volumes of Wodehouse Playhouse, but the third is quite disappointing. To begin with, the wonderful Pauline Collins is missing, and the chemistry between her and John Alderton was priceless. Alas, no actress here comes up to Ms. Collins' zany delivery, and the results are flat. The writing has lost its edge as well, and even the timing seems off. Only "Mulliner's Buck-U-Uppo" comes near attaining the hilarious heights of the first two seasons. Completists will find it a necessity, but casual viewers should stick to the first two volumes.

Sure, I love Pauline Collins too, but don't let the switch put you off this DVD set. The stories are every bit as funny as the first two volumes and in some respects better for having chosen some of the better P.G. Wodehouse stories. John Alderton is still worth the price of admission all by himself, but if you'll take my advice and come into the thing with an open mind, you might like the new girl very well as well.

I would not have bought this DVD if I had known that it was the sans Collins version. First I am a great fan of Wodehouse done well. The PBS Jeeves and Wooster was beautifully done. Playhouse 1 and 2 was in the main beautifully done. Just 2 or 3 weak stories. The Wodehouse series, when played by regular actors, has in essence, some rather dumb scenes and stupid stories. It is the talent of Collins and Alderton that brings a new dimension and makes it so enjoyable. Collins sense of the ridiculous, is superb and quite unique. She has some of the most terrible lines and somehow makes them unforgettable. She:"Pah!", He:"Did you say 'Pah'?", She: "Yes I said Pah. Pah! Pah! Pah!" What can any other actress do with lines like that. Alderton is excellent but Wodehouse is possible without Alderton. Without Collins these stories are not worth much.

These programs are unique. Unless you like reading Punch magazine you may not like them. Even if you liked Jeeves and Wooster you may not like these. They are very subtle satires of aspects of English culture that many people do not understand.

On another note, one person plays the main parts in all of the programs. This may or may not have been the best casting decision. The woman who played the parts in the first two series as if they were airhead bimbos is not in these episodes to my great relief. Also, words and phrases that reappear in Jeeves and Wooster are prevelent in these episodes.

This presentation has the very insulting feature of canned laughter injected here and there. I would like the BBC and ITC to send the people who are responsible for this into being desert hermit monks.

The best way to get Wodehouse Playhouse is the box set containing all three series (six DVDs). It's by far the most economical and, well I mean, why not? Having said that, I can't agree with the negative view of some reviewers re: the third set. Nevertheless, two things are missing from set three: the brief intros by PGW and the stunning acting of Pauline Collins. The first is because said Octaganerian flew off the planet and can't be helped. The second is for some other reason, probably that Collins had engagements elsewhere being, as she is, a fixture and favorite of the British telly.

Each of the three sets includes an extremely helpful brief by Tony Ring, President of the International Wodehouse Association, giving the books each espisode originally appeared in, along with their first printing in a magazine. Wodehouse's most famous creation, the stars of the later Jeeves and Wooster shows, don't appear in any of these pieces, which are drawn entirely from the Drones, golf and Mr. Mulliner stories. Series one includes six Mulliner and one golf story. Series two, one golf story and five Mulliner tales. Series three is the only one to include Drones Club stories (three, from the books Young Men in Spats and Eggs, Beans and Crumpets) along with three Mulliner shorts.

In the books, the golf stories are narrated by the Oldest Member of the golf club. These shows drop out the narrative frame of the story within a story, but Richard Caldicot as the Oldest Member steals the show in "Tangled Hearts" in series three and moves the story along. The Mr. Mulliner stories in the book collections similarly open with Mr. M. spinning yarns about his relations, but that narrative was entirely absent from the original magazine stories. Wodehouse Playhouse follows the magazine format; Mr. Mulliner is absent from the TV shows except for an opening voice-over. The shows might have been better with these narrative opening scenes, but each of the series is a mixed bag, rather than, for instance, featuring all Mulliner tales.

The first of these series hails from 1975, and the humor is broad, Monty Pythonish sketch comedy, with John Alderton playing various male roles and Pauline Collins various female ones. In lieu of Collins, a changing roster of commediennes shine in the third season. These include: Judy Buxton as Lady Bellinger in "The Smile that Wins" (Mulliner), Anna Fox as April Carroway in "Trouble Down at Tudsleigh" (Drones Club), Sally Tomsett in "Tangled Hearts" (golf), Lisa Goddard in "The Luck of the Stiffams" (Drones Club), Susan Jameson in "The Editor Regrets" (Drones Club), Maggie Henderson in "Big Business" (Mulliner), and Belinda Carroll in "Buck-U-Uppo" (Mulliner).

The Playhouse series ran in the US as a summer replacement for another, now long forgotten show. It was lower budget and is much more British than the lavish Jeeves and Wooster series which played down accents and stressed enunciation in an effort to find friends across the ocean. Wodehouse fans need no such introduction but those new to the books will find Jeeves and Wooster a much more accessible point of departure into the wonderful world of Wodehouse.