''The Good Companions'' is a novel by the English author J. B. Priestley. Written in 1929, it follows the fortunes of a concert party on a tour of England. It is Priestley's most famous novel and established him as a national figure. It won the

James Tait Black Memorial Prize The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Un ...

and was adapted twice into film.

Plot summary

The novel is written in

picaresque The picaresque novel (Spanish: ''picaresca'', from ''pícaro'', for ' rogue' or 'rascal') is a genre of prose fiction. It depicts the adventures of a roguish but appealing hero, usually of low social class, who lives by his wits in a corrupt ...

style and opens with the middle-aged, discontented Jess Oakroyd in the fictional

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

town of Bruddersford. He opts to leave his family and seek adventure "on t'road". (Throughout the novel Priestley uses dialect for all non- RP speakers of English.) He heads south down the Great North Road. Intertwined with the story of Oakroyd's travels are those of Elizabeth Trant and Inigo Jollifant, two similarly malcontented individuals. Miss Trant is an upper-middle-class spinster and Jollifant is a teacher at a down-at-heel private school. All three ultimately encounter one another when a failing concert troupe ('The Dinky Doos') are disbanding as a result of their manager's running off with the takings. The independently wealthy Miss Trant, against the advice of her relatives, decides to refloat the troupe, now known as The Good Companions. Inigo plays piano and writes songs, Oakroyd is the odd-job man and the troupe has also been joined by Mr Morton Mitcham (a travelling banjo player and conjuror whom Inigo met earlier on his own odyssey). The other members of the troupe are comedian Jimmy Nunn, song-and-dance man Jerry Jerningham, singers Elsie Longstaff, Courtney (aka Joe) Brundit and Joe's wife (referred to as Mrs Joe) and singer-comedienne Susie Dean. The troupe have various adventures round the shires of middle England. After a sabotaged performance the troupe disband: Jerry marries Lady Partlit, a fan; Susie and Inigo become successful and famous in London; Miss Trant marries a long-lost sweetheart; Jess Oakroyd emigrates to Canada and the other performers carry on with their life on the road.

Literary significance and reception

''The Good Companions'' was an instant hit on publication but was not particularly well regarded by critics. Nevertheless it remained popular for more than forty years. It then fell out of favour, not only because the novel was written from a (rather old-fashioned) middle-class perspective, but also because it dealt with a phenomenon (a travelling music hall troupe) that no longer existed. More recently there has been a reappraisal of this and other Priestley works: a new edition of ''The Good Companions'' appeared in October 2007 with a foreword by Dame

Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Widely considered one of Britain's greatest actors, she is noted for her versatility, having appeared in films and television, as well as for her numerous roles on the stage ...

, accompanying a reappraisal of the various versions by

Ronald Harwood Sir Ronald Harwood ( né Horwitz; 9 November 1934 – 8 September 2020) was a South African-born British author, playwright, and screenwriter, best known for his plays for the British stage as well as the screenplays for '' The Dresser'' (for ...

André Previn André George Previn (; born Andreas Ludwig Priwin; April 6, 1929 – February 28, 2019) was a German-American pianist, composer, and conductor. His career had three major genres: Hollywood films, jazz, and classical music. In each he achieved ...

and

Alan Plater Alan Frederick Plater (15 April 1935 – 25 June 2010) was an English playwright and screenwriter, who worked extensively in British television from the 1960s to the 2000s. He is best known for the sitcom ''Oh No It's Selwyn Froggitt'' and th ...

amongst others. In

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a re ...

's 1932 novel '' Stamboul Train'', Priestley is satirized as Quin Savory, author of ''The Great Gay Round'', the Cockney genius who usually remembered to drop his aitches.

Dramatic adaptations

1931 theatrical adaptation

Priestley collaborated with

Edward Knoblock Edward Knoblock (born Edward Gustavus Knoblauch; 7 April 1874 – 19 July 1945) was a playwright and novelist, originally American and later a naturalised British citizen. He wrote numerous plays, often at the rate of two or three a year, of whic ...

on a stage version of his novel, which opened at His Majesty's Theatre, London, on 14 May 1931. It ran for nine months, with Edward Chapman,

Edith Sharpe Edith Mary Sharpe (14 September 1894 – 6 June 1984) was a British actress. Born in Hackney, London. She married Alexander Francis Part in 1931 and had one child. She appeared in TV series such as Dixon of Dock Green, Z Cars, Emergency Ward 1 ...

and

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud ( ; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Britis ...

in the cast.

1933 film version

The first film version appeared hard on the heels of the play. Produced by Gaumont, it starred

as Ingo Jollifant,

Jessie Matthews Jessie Margaret Matthews (11 March 1907 – 19 August 1981) was an English actress, dancer and singer of the 1920s and 1930s, whose career continued into the post-war period. After a string of hit stage musicals and films in the mid-1930s, suc ...

as Susie Dean and

Edmund Gwenn Edmund Gwenn (born Edmund John Kellaway; 26 September 1877 – 6 September 1959) was an English actor. On film, he is best remembered for his role as Kris Kringle in the Christmas film ''Miracle on 34th Street'' (1947), for which he won t ...

as Jess Oakroyd.

1957 film version

Technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...

remake was directed by

J. Lee Thompson John Lee Thompson (1 August 1914 – 30 August 2002) was an English film director, screenwriter and producer. Initially an exponent of social realism, he became known as a versatile and prolific director of thrillers, action, and adventure fil ...

for

Associated British Picture Corporation Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC), originally British International Pictures (BIP), was a British film production, distribution and exhibition company active from 1927 until 1970 when it was absorbed into EMI. ABPC also owned appr ...

and starred

Eric Portman Eric Harold Portman (13 July 1901 – 7 December 1969) was an English stage and film actor. He is probably best remembered for his roles in three films for Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger during the 1940s. Early life Born in Halifax, ...

as Oakroyd,

Celia Johnson Dame Celia Elizabeth Johnson (18 December 1908 – 26 April 1982) was an English actress, whose career included stage, television and film. She is especially known for her roles in the films ''In Which We Serve'' (1942), ''This Happy Breed ...

as Miss Trant,

Joyce Grenfell Joyce Irene Grenfell (''née'' Phipps; 10 February 1910 – 30 November 1979) was an English diseuse, singer, actress and writer. She was known for the songs and monologues she wrote and performed, at first in revues and later in her solo show ...

as Lady Partlit,

Janette Scott Thora Janette Scott (born 14 December 1938) is a British retired actress. Life and career Scott was born on 14 December 1938 in Morecambe, Lancashire, England. She is the daughter of actors Jimmy Scott and Thora Hird and began her career as ...

as Susie Dean, John Fraser as Inigo Jollifant and Rachel Roberts as Elsie and Effie Longstaff. This version updates the narrative and music to the late 'fifties (with a score by

Laurie Johnson Laurence Reginald Ward Johnson (7 February 1927 – 16 January 2024) was an English composer and bandleader who wrote scores for dozens of film and television series, described as "one of the most highly regarded arrangers of big-band swing a ...

) when touring shows were in decline. It did not replicate the success of the book and signified the end of the novel's popular success. It came to be typified by the contemporaneous Angry Young Men of British stage and screen as the kind of unrealistic depiction of working-class Britain they were struggling to be free of.

1974 stage musical

On 11 July 1974 a musical adaptation, directed by

Braham Murray Braham Sydney Murray, OBE (12 February 1943 – 25 July 2018) was an English theatre director. In 1976, he was one of five founding Artistic Directors of the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, and the longest-serving (he retired in 2012). E ...

with a libretto by

, music by

and lyrics by

Johnny Mercer John Herndon Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Wallichs Music Cit ...

(in his last show) opened at

Her Majesty's Theatre His Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated in the Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The building, designed by Charles J. Phipps, was constructed in 1897 for the actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who ...

in London – the same venue as the stage play more than forty years earlier (having had its world premiere at the Palace Theatre in Manchester). The cast included

John Mills Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portray ...

as Oakroyd,

as Miss Trant and

Marti Webb Marti Webb (born 1943) is an English actress and singer. She appeared on stage in '' Evita'' before starring in Andrew Lloyd Webber's one-woman show '' Tell Me on a Sunday'' in 1980. This included her biggest hit single, " Take That Look Off Yo ...

as Susie Dean. It was revived in 2000 at the Eureka Theater in San Francisco. In October 2001 it was performed at the

York Theatre The York Theatre Company is an Off-Broadway theatre company based on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. Established in 1969, The York is the only theater in New York City, and one of the few in the world, whose two-fold missio ...

in New York City as part of the York's ‘Musicals in Mufti’ reading series.

1980 TV version

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

series appeared in 1980, adapted by

. It starred

Judy Cornwell Judy Valerie Cornwell (born 22 February 1940) is an English actress. She is best known for her role as Daisy in the British sitcom ''Keeping Up Appearances'' (1990–1995). She also played Anya Claus in '' Santa Claus: The Movie'' (1985). In ...

as Elizabeth Trant and John Stratton as Jess Oakroyd. (Music composed by

David Fanshawe David Arthur Fanshawe (19 April 1942 – 5 July 2010) was an English composer and self-styled explorer with a fervent interest in world music.''The Times'' obituary 9 July 2010. His best-known composition is the 1972 choral work '' African Sanct ...

. Executive Producer – David Cunliffe, Producer – Leonard Lewis, Directors – Leonard Lewis and Bill Hays.1980 TV version

IMDB.com IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

website. Retrieved on 10 March 2008.)

1995 stage musical

Peter Cheeseman Peter Barrie Cheeseman, CBE (27 January 1932, Cowplain, Hampshire – 27 April 2010, Stoke-on-Trent) was a British theatre director who is credited with having pioneered "theatre in the round". Early life His father's work as a Naval Commun ...

commissioned Bob Eaton (Book and Lyrics) and Sayan Kent (Book and Music) to write a new stage musical version for the

New Vic Theatre The New Vic Theatre is a purpose-built theatre in the round in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire. The theatre opened in 1986, replacing a converted cinema, the Victoria Theatre in Hartshill, Stoke-on-Trent. History In the early 1960s, Stephen ...

, Newcastle Under Lyme. It was directed by Bob Eaton. It has since been performed at the

Theatre by the Lake Theatre by the Lake is situated on the shores of Derwentwater in the Lake District in Keswick, Cumbria, England. It opened in 1999, replacing the mobile Century Theatre, and was made possible by an Arts Council Lottery Fund Grant. From May to N ...

, Keswick, in 2002, directed by Ian Forrest, the

New Wolsey Theatre The New Wolsey Theatre is a producing theatre with a café & bar in Ipswich, Suffolk. It is a midsized regional theatre, with a seating capacity of 400. History It replaced The Arts Theatre, the town's much loved and respected Repertory Theat ...

, Ipswich, in 2003 directed by Peter Rowe and in 1998 it was the 40th Anniversary production at the

Belgrade Theatre The Belgrade Theatre is a live performance venue in Coventry, England. It was the first civic theatre to be built in Britain after the Second World War and is now a Grade II listed building. Background Coventry was the fastest growing city in ...

, Coventry, where Bob Eaton was Artistic Director (1996 to 2003).

2009 stage musical

The

Bristol Old Vic Theatre School The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (BOVTS) is a drama school in Bristol, England. The institution provides training in acting and production for careers in film, television and theatre. BOVTS was an affiliate of the Conservatoire for Dance a ...

produced an all-new musical version at the Bristol Old Vic Studio in November 2009. Directed by the school's Artistic Director, Sue Wilson, it featured a new script and score by Malcolm McKee, design by Sue Mayes and choreography by Gail Gordon.

Radio adaptations

In 1994

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

broadcast an adaptation featuring

Bernard Cribbins Bernard Joseph Cribbins (29 December 1928 – 27 July 2022) was an English actor and singer whose career spanned over eight decades. During the 1960s, Cribbins became known in the UK for his successful novelty records " The Hole in the Ground" ...

as Jess Oakroyd and

Hannah Gordon Hannah Campbell Grant Gordon
Film reference website (born 9 April 1941) is a Scottish actress and presenter ...

as Miss Trant. On 4, 11 and 18 August 2002

broadcast a three-part dramatisation of Priestley's novel by

Eric Pringle Eric Pringle (5 April 1935, Morpeth, Northumberland, England – 13 April 2017, Ledbury, Herefordshire) was a British writer for radio and television. He also wrote three novels for children. He was one of the writers of the 1972 television ...

, with

Helen Longworth Helen Longworth (born 11 December 1976 in Preston, Lancashire) is a British actress. She has appeared in many radio plays including playing the character of Zofia in six series of ''On Mardle Fen'', Susie Dean in ''The Good Companions'' and Mari ...

as Suzie Dean, Philip Jackson as Jess Oakroyd, Jemma Churchill as Elizabeth Trant and Nicholas Boulton as Inigo Jolliphant. The production was directed by Claire Grove and was rebroadcast on

BBC Radio 7 BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It mostly broadcasts archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes, and is the sister station of Radio 4. It is the pri ...

from 25 to 27 May 2010.

broadcast a 90-minute adaptation by John Retallack on 24 February 2018, directed by David Hunter and featuring

Ralph Ineson Ralph Michael Ineson ( ; born 15 December 1969) is an English actor and narrator. Ineson's notable film roles include Amycus Carrow in the final three ''Harry Potter'' films (2009–2011), William in '' The Witch'' (2015), the title characte ...

as Jess Oakroyd,

Fenella Woolgar Fenella Woolgar (born 4 August 1969) is an English film, theatre, television and radio actress. She is known for her roles in films including '' Bright Young Things'', '' Swallows and Amazons'' and '' Victoria and Abdul'' and for TV shows incl ...