The second episode of Jeeves and Wooster is again based on three of the short stories, all of which were eventually published in Very Good, Jeeves: “Jeeves and the Yule-Tide Spirit,” “Jeeves and the Song of Songs,” and “Episode of the Dog McIntosh.” There are also elements borrowed from “Jeeves and the Kid Clementina,” which was published in the same book.
One general difference I wanted to mention before I go on is that the TV episodes are not arranged in the same order as the stories and novels. For the most part, it doesn’t really matter, but it does lend a slightly different feeling to the development of events and the relationships between the characters. For example, Bertie spent a lot more time early in the stories bouncing around in America, whereas most of that takes place later in the show. These particular stories take place after most of Bertie’s American adventures in the book!timeline.
Anyway, let’s look at how these episodes stack up against their corresponding stories!
There are a few general changes here that make a great deal of sense. For instance, the three main stories involved here seem to take place over a longer period of time in the book (maybe a few months), whereas in the episode they are compressed into a few days, or maybe a couple of weeks at the most. The order of events is somewhat changed to help the stories fit together more seamlessly, too. For instance, McIntosh is with Bertie from the very start of the episode, meaning he’s there through the events of both “Jeeves and the Yule-Tide Spirit” and “Episode of the Dog McIntosh.” Bertie also first meets Cora when he’s at Bobbie Wickham’s country house at the start of the episode.
Also, as the title suggests, “Jeeves and the Yule-Tide Spirit” was originally a Christmas story, not that the Christmas setting really matters that much. The only thing that’s really lost is Jeeves’s brutally chipper “Merry Christmas, sir!” when he greets Bertie in the morning after he’s spent a terrible night sleeping in an armchair post-water bottle incident. Oh Jeeves, you magnificent bastard.
But there are several other big changes to the events of “Jeeves and the Yule-Tide Spirit” that I really don’t get. First of all, Bertie’s rival in the water bottle war was originally Tuppy Glossop, not Barmy Fotheringay-Phipps. Bertie had sworn ~*~*~HIDEOUS REVENGE~*~*~ against Tuppy for betting him he couldn’t swing across the ropes and rings above the Drone’s swimming pool, which ended with Bertie being forced to drop into the pool in full evening attire when he found that Tuppy had looped back the last ring. This was a long-running joke in the short stories and novels, and something for which Bertie never completely forgave Tuppy.
I’m not sure why they chose to change this, because A) it’s hilarious, and B) Tuppy’s right there the whole time in the episode! I guess they just wanted an excuse to feature Barmy? Anyway, this also necessitated giving Bertie a reason to get back at Barmy, hence the extended golf sequence at the beginning where Barmy shows up Bertie in front of Bobbie Wickham.
Also, in the story, Jeeves was particularly salty because they had been planning a Christmas vacation to Monte Carlo, which Bertie canceled in order to visit Bobbie Wickham’s family home. Jeeves’s big goal, other than souring Bertie on Bobbie, was to get the Monte Carlo vacation back on track so he could chill at the casino. Instead, we have a more low-key disagreement over Bertie’s hideous golf trousers, which is an element borrowed from “Jeeves and the Kid Clementina.”
Finally, the original victim of all that water bottle piercing was Sir Roderick Glossop, who was replaced with the new characters Prof. and Madame Cluj. Again, I’m not sure why this was changed. In the short story, the whole incident reinforced Sir Roderick’s notion that Bertie was insane, so Jeeves’s gambit was a double whammy against two marital threats (Honoria and Bobbie).
There are also, as in many of the TV episodes, little touches here and there that seem calculated to make Bertie seem a little dumber. For instance, in “Jeeves and the Yule-Tide Spirit,” Bertie is the one who uses the word espièglerie in reference to Bobbie, not Jeeves (although, as usual, he second-guesses himself about whether it’s the right word).
Otherwise, the events of the episode are fairly similar to those of the stories in question. One difference is that Bertie had already met Blumenfield and son in the short stories, in the early story “Jeeves and the Chump Cyril.” (This story is adapted in the season 3 episode “Introduction on Broadway.”) Bertie is alarmed at the prospect of meeting Blumenfield Jr. again. He’s afraid the kid will tell him he has a face like a fish just like he did to Cyril, in which case Bertie fears he will not be able to resist “doing his upper maxillary a bit of no good.” (“Perhaps the young gentleman will not notice that you have a face like a fish, sir,” says Jeeves. Harsh, bro.) It is for this reason that Bertie takes off during the lunch and isn’t around to stop Bobbie from giving away McIntosh.
The sequence where Bertie witnesses Jeeves giving Blumenfield Sr. the McIntosh clone and freaks out is also a change from the story. Originally, Jeeves explains what he has done after the fact. It’s a solid change, IMO, because that scene is hilarious.
It’s also worth noting that Bobbie comes off more sympathetic in the original story than she does in the TV episode. She actually apologizes to Bertie for troubling him with the lunch at his apartment, and, even though she’s the one who gives the dog away in the first place, she ultimately helps Bertie with the scheme to get him back. Bertie is also sympathetic to her desire to make a hit with Blumenfield, and doesn’t seem to hold a lot of ill-will regarding the water bottle prank.
One more minor note: In “Episode of the Dog McIntosh,” Bertie makes reference to the song “I Lift Up My Finger and I Say Tweet Tweet,” which Bertie performs in the season 3 episode “Right Ho, Jeeves.”
The segment with Cora Bellinger and everyone in the universe singing Sonny Boy is a solid adaptation of “Jeeves and the Song of Songs” with few differences that are really worth mentioning. There are changes, but they’re pretty minor. I am sad that we miss out on this particularly Extra monologue from Bertie after Tuppy’s performance of Sonny Boy, though:
“’Come, Jeeves,’ I said, and those standing by wondered, no doubt, what had caused that clean-cut face to grow so pale and set. ‘I have been subjected to a nervous strain unparalleled since the days of the early Martyrs. I have lost pounds in weight and permanently injured my entire system. I have gone through an ordeal, the recollection of which will make me wake up screaming in the night for months to come. And all for nothing. Let us go.’”
@cuddyclothes (I will cross-post this and Part 1 to G_S later!)
