Uckridge
1968 - United KingdomStanley Featherstonehaugh (pronounced Fanshaw) Ukridge (pronounced Ewkridge) is a fictional character from the short stories and novels of P. G. Wodehouse. And while Ukbridge never enjoyed the same popularity as Bertie Wooster and Jeeves here was another of the author's amiable eccentric characters from the 1920s bought to life in exemplary style by the BBC.
Ukridge is a bounder, a schemer and an outrageous conman who will do anything for financial gain - as long as it doesn't involve working. He is an opportunist who never passes up a chance to exploit any kindness shown to him. He is also an eternal optimist whose grand plans for making money are almost always harebrained and doomed to failure. And yet, as with so many other television rogues down the years, the viewing public took him straight to their collective heart, due in no small part to the amiable performance of Anton Rodgers in the lead role, suitably accompanied by Julian Holloway as his chum, Corky, the original stories were narrated by James “Corky” Corcoran, a long-suffering journalist and Ukridge's reluctant sidekick, whose perspective adds to the comic effect, and Marian Spencer as financially comfortable Aunt Julia , which makes her a frequent target of Ukridge's "borrowing" schemes. Julia is sharp-tongued, practical, and utterly unimpressed by Ukridge's antics.
Richard Waring adapted Wodehouse's scripts for television. Unfortunately, although the series was a faithful adaptation of Wodehouse's humour and characters, most of the episodes from the series are now considered lost, with only a few surviving in the archives. Wodehouse must have retained a certain fondness for him as his first appeance in Love Among the Chickens was published in 1906 and his last was 60 years later.
The series adapted several of Wodehouse's Ukridge stories, including:
The Accident Syndicate
The Comeback of Battling Billson
The Dog College
The Nasty Corner
The Debut of Battling Billson
The Wedding Bells
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Published on February 9th, 2019. Written by Laurence Marcus for Television Heaven.
