Blandings (TV series)

Plot

Set in 1929, the 9th Earl of Emsworth (Spall) resides at Blandings Castle, along with his imperious sister Connie (Saunders), his empty-headed son Freddie (Jack Farthing), and any number of houseguests, love-struck nieces and their boyfriends. Lord Emsworth would rather be left in peace with his prize pig The Empress, but his family is always at hand to complicate his life. Offering a reluctant helping hand is his loyal and long-suffering butler, Beach (Mark Williams/Tim Vine).

Production

The series was produced by Mammoth Screen and was filmed on location at Crom Castle, near Newtownbutler, in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. Some scenes were also filmed at Florence Court, a National Trust property near Kinawley in south-west County Fermanagh. The producer was Spencer Campbell and the director was Paul Seed. It was the first adaptation of Blandings for British television since the BBC's film of Wodehouse's novel Heavy Weather in 1995.

On 7 June 2013, BBC commissioner Danny Cohen confirmed that Blandings would return for a second series. The second series has seven episodes and began airing 16 February 2014.

On 24 October 2013, it was announced that Tim Vine would join the cast for the second series as Beach replacing Mark Williams.

Cast and characters

Main

• Timothy Spall as Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth
• Jennifer Saunders as Lady Constance Keeble
• Jack Farthing as The Hon. Frederick Threepwood
• Mark Williams as Sebastian Beach (series 1)
• Tim Vine as Sebastian Beach (series 2)

Recurring

• Ron Donachie as Angus McAllister
• Robert Bathurst as Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe

Episodes

Series 1 (2013)

Guest cast: Tony Maudsley as Cyril Wellbeloved, B. J. Hogg as Constable Evans, Alice Orr-Ewing as Angela, Brendan Patricks as Lord Heacham, and James Norton as Jimmy Belford.

Guest cast: David Walliams as Rupert Baxter, Tony Maudsley as Cyril Wellbeloved, Natalie Burt as Pandora, Sylvestra Le Touzel as Veronica Schoonmaker, and Nick Hardin as Jimmy Schoonmaker.

Guest cast: David Bamber as Herr Schnellhund, Sam Hoare as Rupert "Beefy" Bingham, Eve Hedderwick Turner as Gertrude, and Thaila Zucchi as Paquita.

Guest cast: David Walliams as Rupert Baxter, Paloma Faith as Georgia Sparks, and Oscar Lloyd as George.

Guest cast: Richard Doubleday as Gandle, Emily Beecham as Miss Younghusband, Molly Conlin as Gladys, Ashley Foster as Ern, and Olivia Nash as Mrs Rossiter.

Guest cast: Jessica Hynes as Daphne Littlewood, Emerald Fennell as Monica Simmons, and Toby Murray as Huxley.

Series 2 (2014)

Guest cast: Harry Enfield as the Duke of Dunstable, Mathew Baynton as Pongo Twistleton, Ruby Bentall as Linda, and Geoffrey McGivern as Sir Roderick Glossop.

Guest cast: Celia Imrie as Charlotte, Max Olesker as Hugo Camody, and Ruby Thomas as Millicent.

Guest cast: Julian Rhind-Tutt as Galahad Threepwood, Jemima Rooper as Lesley Drabble and Kevin O'Loughlin as Binstead.

Guest cast: Nichola McAuliffe as Drusilla, Michael Brandon as Grumman, and Zoe Boyle as Pauline Petite.

Guest cast: James Fleet as Colonel Fanshawe and Sophie Colquhoun as Valerie Fanshawe.

Guest cast: Julian Rhind-Tutt as Galahad Threepwood, Daisy Beaumont as Vanessa Polk, John Sessions as Hannibal, Lord Didcot, and Ian Beattie as Claude.

Guest cast: Rose Leslie as Niagara Donaldson, Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Felicity Parsloe-Parsloe, and Fergus Craig as Constable Piper.

Reception

Ben Lawrence of The Daily Telegraph awarded the first episode two stars out of five and wrote that the lack of Wodehouse's "authorial voice", ever present in the books to add "clarity and depth" and "invest psychological complexity into [the] characters", left the cast "all at sea".

Tributes were paid to Empress, the Middle White sow used in the show, when she died from what vets believe was a "massive heart attack" just before the final episode was broadcast. Timothy Spall said he was "very upset" at the news.

References

References

1. "''Blandings''". [[BBC Online]].
2. "''Blandings''". [[BBC Online.
3. BBC media centre [https://archive.today/20130916124027/http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2013/blandings-series2.html] Retrieved 24 October 2013
4. Crom castle http://cromcastle.com/second-series-of-blandings-was-filmed-at-the-castle-in-november-2013/ retrieved 31 January 2014
5. BBC media centre [https://web.archive.org/web/20150925072200/http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2013/blandings-series-2.html] Retrieved 24 October 2013
6. BBC media centre [https://web.archive.org/web/20130116003758/http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/mediapacks/blandings/synopses.html] Retrieved 19 January 2013
7. "Blandings".
8. Lawrence, Ben. (13 January 2013). "Blandings: episode one, BBC One, review". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
9. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-21571581 TV stars pay tribute to Blandings pig actor The Empress after she dies]