Blandings (radio series)

Blandings

Cover of the audio cassette release of Galahad at Blandings, part of the Blandings radio series
Genre	Comedy
Running time	30 minutes
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Language(s)	English
Home station	BBC Radio 4
Starring	Richard Vernon Ian Carmichael
Written by	Richard Usborne, adapted from the works of P. G. Wodehouse
Produced by	Bobby Jaye Martin Fisher Gareth Edwards
Narrated by	Nigel Anthony Ronald Fletcher Moray Watson
Original release	2 February 1985 – 13 February 1992

The Blandings radio series is a series of radio dramas based on the Blandings Castle stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse.^[1] The stories were dramatised by Wodehouse biographer Richard Usborne.^[2] The series ran between 1985 and 1992 on BBC Radio 4.

The 1985 episodes are based on six short stories. The first five of these short stories were featured in the collection Blandings Castle and Elsewhere (1935), while the sixth, "The Crime Wave and Blandings", was collected in Lord Emsworth and Others (1937). The later episodes are based on four novels published between 1929 and 1965.

Main cast

• Narrator – Nigel Anthony (short stories), Ronald Fletcher (Summer Lightning), Moray Watson (the other novels)
• Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth – Richard Vernon
• The Hon. Galahad Threepwood – Ian Carmichael
• Beach – Lockwood West (short stories), Timothy Bateson (Summer Lightning and Pigs Have Wings), John Rapley (Heavy Weather), Harold Innocent (Galahad at Blandings)
• Lady Constance Keeble – Margot Boyd (short stories), Elizabeth Spriggs (Summer Lightning, Heavy Weather), Joan Sanderson (Pigs Have Wings)
• The Hon. Frederick Threepwood – Steve Hodson
• Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe – Richard Marsh

Episodes

The seven episodes released in 1985 are based on Blandings Castle short stories, while later episodes are based on novels.

• "The Custody of the Pumpkin" – 2 February 1985^[3]
• "Lord Emsworth Grows a Beard" – 9 February 1985^[4]
• "Pig-hoo-o-o-o-ey" – 16 February 1985^[5]
• "Company for Gertrude" – 23 February 1985^[6]
• "Lord Emsworth and the Girlfriend" – 2 March 1985^[7]
• "The Crime Wave at Blandings" – 9 March 1985 to 16 March 1985 (two parts)^[8]
• Summer Lightning – 12 March 1987 to 16 April 1987 (six parts)^[9]
• Heavy Weather – 12 July 1988 to 4 August 1988 (four parts)^[10]
• Pigs Have Wings – 22 August 1989 to 12 September 1989 (four parts)^[11]
• Galahad at Blandings – 23 January 1992 to 13 February 1992 (four parts)^[12]

Production

The short story episodes broadcast in 1985 were produced by Bobby Jaye. Martin Fisher produced the episodes based on Summer Lightning, Pigs Have Wings and Heavy Weather, and Gareth Edwards produced the episodes based on Galahad at Blandings.^[13]

References

References

Sources

• Taves, Brian (2006). P. G. Wodehouse and Hollywood. London: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-2288-3.