"Kidnapped!" is the fifth episode of the second series of the 1990s British comedy television series ''
Jeeves and Wooster''. It is also called "The Mysterious Stranger". It first aired in the UK on on
ITV.
In the US, "Kidnapped!" was one of five episodes of ''Jeeves and Wooster'' that were not aired as part of the original broadcast of the television series on ''
Masterpiece Theatre'', though all episodes were made available on US home video releases.
Background
Adapted from ''
Thank You, Jeeves''.
Chuffnell Regis parts were filmed in
Clovelly, Devon.
Cast
*
Jeeves
Jeeves (born Reginald Jeeves, nicknamed Reggie) is a fictional character in a series of comedic short stories and novels by English author P. G. Wodehouse. Jeeves is the highly competent valet of a wealthy and idle young Londoner named Berti ...
–
Stephen Fry
*
Bertie Wooster –
Hugh Laurie
*
"Chuffy", Lord Chuffnell –
Matthew Solon
* Pauline Stoker –
Sharon Holm
*
J. Washburn Stoker –
Manning Redwood
* Dwight Stoker –
James Holland
* Myrtle Pongleton –
Fidelis Morgan
* Seabury Pongleton –
Edward Holmes
* Sir
Roderick Glossop
Sir Roderick Glossop is a recurring fictional character in the comic novels and short stories of P. G. Wodehouse. Sometimes referred to as a "nerve specialist" or a "loony doctor", he is a prominent practitioner of psychiatry in Wodehouse's wor ...
–
Roger Brierley
David Roger Brierley (2 June 1935 – 23 September 2005) was an English actor.
Career
Brierley appeared in dozens of television productions over a forty-year period. He twice appeared in ''Doctor Who'', as Trevor in ''The Daleks' Master Pl ...
* Lady Glossop –
Jane Downs
Jane Margaret Downs (22 January 1935 – 20 May 2015) was an English actress.
Downs was born in Bromley, Kent, England. She started her career in the theatre, and later appeared on radio and in film, playing Kenneth More's wife in '' A Nigh ...
* Barmy Fotheringay-Phipps –
Martin Clunes
*
Oofy Prosser –
Richard Dixon
* Sgt. Voules –
Dave Atkins
* Dobson –
William Waghorn
* Aunt Hilda –
Cynthia Grenville
* Station Master –
Gordon Salkilld
* Drones Porter –
Michael Ripper
Plot
Bertie's club, the
Drones Club
The Drones Club is a recurring fictional location in the stories of British humorist P. G. Wodehouse. It is a gentlemen's club in London. Many of Wodehouse's Jeeves and Blandings Castle stories feature the club or its members.
Various memb ...
, are electing a new dining committee chairman. Bertie wishes to be elected, but discovers that no one with a criminal record can stand. The trip results in startling results, including an encounter with several Drones in
blackface
Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person.
In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...
.
Pauline Stoker is being stalked by a mysterious stranger. Bertie, always chivalrous, is called upon to protect her on her way back to Chuffnell Regis.
Because Lord Chuffnell ("Chuffy") cannot get permission to turn Chuffnell Hall into a hotel, Pauline tries to persuade
Sir Roderick Glossop
Sir Roderick Glossop is a recurring fictional character in the comic novels and short stories of P. G. Wodehouse. Sometimes referred to as a "nerve specialist" or a "loony doctor", he is a prominent practitioner of psychiatry in Wodehouse's wo ...
to turn it into a sanatorium. Glossop initially views Bertie as mentally unstable.
Bertie is kidnapped by Pauline Stoker's father, who wants Bertie to marry his daughter. But Bertie escapes by posing as one of the Barmy's blackface musicians.
All musicians and Sir Roderick, Stoker and Bertie are arrested in blackface. Sir Roderick, Stoker and Bertie become civil to each other and they patch up their differences after having been obliged to blacken their faces for different reasons.
And they get in front of Chuffy as the local magistrate, who releases the prisoners Sir Roderick, Stoker and Bertie. Sir Roderick, Stoker and Bertie are going undercover using snazzy aliases so that they aren't recognized: Sir Roderick as Alfred
Trotsky
Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian M ...
, Stoker as Frederick Aloisius
Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...
and Bertie as
Dr. Crippen. But all musicians of Bertie's club, the Drones, are punished by Chuffy. The musicians of Bertie's club, the Drones, now have all a criminal record.
Chuffy as the local magistrate says: ''″... you, Alfred Trotsky, and you, Frederick Aloisius Lenin, were led astray. You are discharged. But as for the rest of you: Boko Disraeli, Oofy Lloyd George, Barmy, Lord Tennyson, and the rest—not only have you been guilty of a breach of the peace of considerable magnitude, I also strongly suspect that you have given false names and addresses! You are each fined the sum of five pounds... Quiet, Dr. Crippen″''
See also
*
List of ''Jeeves and Wooster'' characters
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kidnapped, Jeeves and Wooster
Jeeves and Wooster episodes
1991 British television episodes