The Bassetts' Fancy Dress Ball

"**The Bassetts' Fancy Dress Ball**"
"The Bassetts' Fancy Dress Ball"
Jeeves and Wooster episode
Episode no.	Season 2; Episode 2
Directed by	Simon Langton
Original air date	21 April 1991

"The Bassetts' Fancy Dress Ball" is the second episode of the second series of the 1990s British comedy television series Jeeves and Wooster. It is also called "A Plan for Gussie".[1] It first aired in the UK on 21 April 1991 (1991-04-21) on ITV.

In the US, this episode was originally broadcast as the fifth episode of the fourth series of Jeeves and Wooster on 5 February 1995 on Masterpiece Theatre. The second episode of the second series was instead "Bertie Takes Gussie's Place At Deverill Hall".[2]

Background

Adapted from The Code of the Woosters.

Cast

Jeeves – Stephen Fry
Bertie Wooster – Hugh Laurie
Sir Roderick Spode – John Turner
Sir Watkyn Bassett – John Woodnutt
Madeline Bassett – Diana Blackburn
Stiffy Byng – Charlotte Attenborough
Gussie Fink-Nottle – Richard Garnett
Constable Oates – Campbell Morrison
Rev. Stinker Pinker – Simon Treves
Barmy Fotheringay-Phipps – Martin Clunes
Oofy Prosser – Richard Dixon[3]

Plot

Gussie Fink-Nottle has been keeping a notebook containing insulting observations on Sir Watkyn Bassett and Sir Roderick Spode, in order to keep his courage up about them. Gussie is naturally terrified of Spode, and even the smallest misunderstanding will put his life in jeopardy. Spode has two jobs—he is the leader of the Black Shorts,[4] but also designs and sells women's underwear, being the proprietor of a lingerie shop called Eulalie Soeurs. He is perpetually in fear that his followers in his first role will discover his second one and it is the threat of this disclosure which is used by Bertie to stop him assaulting Gussie. Jeeves revealed the secret pseudonym "Eulalie". When Gussie loses the notebook, he calls on Bertie to help find it. Gussie (dressed as a devil) is assaulted by Spode (a Roman soldier). Bertie finds a way of keeping Spode from beating Gussie into a jelly telling Spode: "Spode, I know all about Eulalie."

The Rev. Harold "Stinker" Pinker and Stephanie "Stiffy" Byng wish to marry, but Stiffy's guardian Sir Watkyn doesn't approve. Stiffy blackmails Bertie into helping her convince her guardian otherwise.

Meanwhile Bertie comes into possession of a policeman's helmet.

References

"Jeeves and Wooster Series 2, Episode 2". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
Taves, Brian (2006). P.G. Wodehouse and Hollywood: Screenwriting, Satires and Adaptations. London: McFarland & Company. pp. 192–195. ISBN 978-0-7864-2288-3.
"The Bassetts' Fancy Dress Ball (1991)". BFI. British Film Institute. 2019. Archived from the original on 8 January 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
Wodehouse, P. G. (1 May 2008) [First published 1938 by Herbert Jenkins Ltd.]. The Code of the Woosters (Reprinted ed.). Arrow Books. p. 66. ISBN 978-0099513759.

External links

"The Bassetts' Fancy Dress Ball" at IMDb

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[1] "Jeeves and Wooster Series 2, Episode 2". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 2 April 2019.

[Taves-2] Taves, Brian (2006). P.G. Wodehouse and Hollywood: Screenwriting, Satires and Adaptations. London: McFarland & Company. pp. 192–195. ISBN 978-0-7864-2288-3.

[3] "The Bassetts' Fancy Dress Ball (1991)". BFI. British Film Institute. 2019. Archived from the original on 8 January 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2019.

[Code_of_the_Woosters-4] Wodehouse, P. G. (1 May 2008) [First published 1938 by Herbert Jenkins Ltd.]. The Code of the Woosters (Reprinted ed.). Arrow Books. p. 66. ISBN 978-0099513759.