Roderick Spode
Roderick Spode | |
---|---|
Jeeves character | |
First appearance | The Code of the Woosters (1938) |
Last appearance | Much Obliged, Jeeves (1971) |
Created by | P. G. Wodehouse |
Portrayed by | James Villiers John Turner Jack Klaff and others |
In-universe information | |
Gender | Male |
Title | 7th Earl of Sidcup |
Occupation | Fascist politician and designer of ladies' lingerie, later Earl of Sidcup |
Relatives | Mrs. Wintergreen (aunt) Colonel H. H. Wintergreen (uncle) (deceased) 6th Earl of Sidcup (uncle) (deceased) |
Nationality | British |
Roderick Spode, 7th Earl of Sidcup, often known as Spode or Lord Sidcup, is a recurring fictional character in the
He has a low opinion of Jeeves's employer Bertie Wooster, whom he believes to be a thief. A large and intimidating figure, Spode is protective of Madeline Bassett to an extreme degree and is a threat to anyone who appears to have wronged her, particularly Gussie Fink-Nottle.
Life and character
Spode is a friend of
About seven feet in height, and swathed in a plaid ulster which made him look about six feet across, he caught the eye and arrested it. It was as if Nature had intended to make a gorilla, and had changed its mind at the last moment.[3]
In Bertie's eyes, Spode starts at seven feet tall, and seems to grow in height, eventually becoming nine feet seven.
Like Bertie, Spode had been educated at Oxford; during his time there, he once stole a policeman's helmet.[5] While the leader of the Black Shorts, he is also secretly a designer of ladies' underclothing, being the proprietor of Eulalie Soeurs of Bond Street. Bertie's Aunt Dahlia is a customer at Eulalie Soeurs and remarks that the shop is very popular and successful.[6] Spode later inherits a title on the death of his uncle, becoming the seventh Earl of Sidcup. After being elevated to the peerage, he sells Eulalie Soeurs.[7] At some point, he leaves the Black Shorts. Bertie says in Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves that before Spode succeeded to his title, he had been "one of those Dictators who were fairly common at one time in the metropolis", but "he gave it up when he became Lord Sidcup".[8] Despite Spode becoming Lord Sidcup, Bertie usually thinks of him as Spode, at one point addressing him as "Lord Spodecup".[9]
In
In
In
In Much Obliged, Jeeves, which takes place at Brinkley Court, Spode has been invited by Bertie's Aunt Dahlia to Brinkley for his skills as an orator. He gives speeches in support of the Conservative candidate for Market Snodsbury, Harold "Ginger" Winship. As Spode's fiancée, Madeline goes with him. After the success of his speeches, Spode considers standing for election himself for the House of Commons, which would require him to relinquish his title. Madeline, who wanted to gain the title Lady Sidcup, breaks their engagement, and says she will marry Bertie instead. After being hit by a potato at a lively candidate debate, Spode changes his mind about standing for Parliament and decides to retain his title, leading to a reconciliation between him and Madeline. They are still engaged at the end of the novel.[14]
Although Spode regularly threatens to harm others, he is generally the one who gets injured. In The Code of the Woosters, when Spode advances to attack Gussie, Gussie manages to hit him on the head with an oil painting. Spode's head goes through the painting, and while he is briefly stunned, Bertie envelops him in a sheet. Bertie then hits Spode with a vase, but gets grabbed by Spode; Bertie frees himself by burning Spode with a cigarette.[15] In other novels, Spode is knocked out three times: he is hit with a cosh by Bertie's Aunt Dahlia in Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit, he is punched by Harold Pinker in Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves, and Emerald Stoker smashes a china basin on his head in the same book. He is also hit in the eye with a potato at a candidate debate in Much Obliged, Jeeves.[16]
Appearances
Spode is featured in:
- The Code of the Woosters (1938)
- Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit (1954)
- Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves (1963)
- Much Obliged, Jeeves (1971)
Spode is mentioned in:
- Aunts Aren't Gentlemen (1974) (ch. 7 and 15)
The Black Shorts
The Saviours of Britain, nicknamed the Black Shorts, is a fictional fascist group led by Roderick Spode. Spode is modelled after Sir
When Bertie Wooster rebukes Spode in The Code of the Woosters (1938), he mocks Spode's black shorts, calling them "footer bags" (football shorts):
"It is about time", I proceeded, "that some public-spirited person came along and told you where you got off. The trouble with you, Spode, is that just because you have succeeded in inducing a handful of half-wits to disfigure the London scene by going about in black shorts, you think you're someone. You hear them shouting 'Heil, Spode!' and you imagine it is the Voice of the People. That is where you make your bloomer. What the Voice of the People is saying is: 'Look at that frightful ass Spode swanking about in footer bags! Did you ever in your puff see such a perfect perisher?'"[19]
Like Mosley, Spode inherited a title upon the death of a relative; unlike Mosley, who inherited his
In the television series Endeavour (series five episode four – "Colours"), there is a reference to "Spode and Webley" being shot as fascists. (Webley is another fictional fascist leader, from Aldous Huxley's Point Counter Point, and unlike Spode does end up being assassinated.)
Adaptations
Television
In the 1990–1993 television series
Members of the Black Shorts comprise the small, audience to whom Spode makes loud, dramatic Hitler-like speeches in which he announces bizarre statements of policy, such as giving each citizen at birth a British-made bicycle and umbrella. He also makes several statements revolving around root vegetables. In the original stories, none of Spode's speeches are depicted and no other members of his group make an appearance. In both the television series and Wodehouse novels, Spode has a secret recorded in the Junior Ganymede Club's book, involving a women's lingerie shop named Eulalie.
Stage
- In the 1975 musical Jeeves, Spode was portrayed by John Turner, who also played Spode in the television series Jeeves and Wooster. Differing from the novels, Spode is referred to as Sir Roderick Spode in the musical.[21] The character was dropped from the 1996 rewrite titled By Jeeves, in which the closest equivalent character is Cyrus Budge III Jnr, who is original to the musical.[22]
- In the 2013 play Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense, in which the events of The Code of the Woosters are reenacted by Bertie, Jeeves, and Aunt Dahlia's butler Seppings, Spode is portrayed by Seppings.[23]
Radio
- In the 1973–1981 radio drama series What Ho! Jeeves, Spode was voiced by James Villiers (The Code of the Woosters) and Paul Eddington (Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves).[24] Spode is mentioned in the What Ho, Jeeves! adaptation of Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit but does not have a speaking role. His actions are described by other characters.
- In the 1997 L.A. Theatre Works radio adaptation of The Code of the Woosters, Spode was voiced by Martin Jarvis. Jarvis also voiced Jeeves in the same production, which was recorded live before an audience.[25]
- In BBC Radio 4's 2006 adaptation of The Code of the Woosters for its Classic Serial series, Spode was voiced by Jack Klaff.[26]
- Adam Godley voiced Spode in the 2018 BBC radio adaptation of Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves.[27]
See also
- List of Jeeves characters, an alphabetical list of Jeeves characters
- List of P. G. Wodehouse characters in the Jeeves stories, a categorized outline of Jeeves characters
- List of Jeeves and Wooster characters, a list of characters in the television series
References
- Notes
- ^ Ring & Jaggard (1999), p. 282.
- ^ a b Cawthorne (2013), pp. 226–227.
- ^ a b Wodehouse (2008) [1938], The Code of the Woosters, chapter 1, p. 20.
- ^ a b Wodehouse (2008) [1938], The Code of the Woosters, chapter 3, p. 66.
- ^ Wodehouse (2011) [1938], The Code of the Woosters, chapter 3, p. 42.
- ^ Wodehouse (2008) [1954], Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit, chapter 15, p. 150.
- ^ Garrison (1991), p. 179.
- ^ Wodehouse (2008) [1963], Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves, chapter 18, pp. 152–153.
- ^ Wodehouse (2008) [1971], Much Obliged, Jeeves, chapter 7, p. 73.
- ^ Wodehouse (2008) [1938], The Code of the Woosters, chapter 11, p. 234.
- ^ Cawthorne (2013), pp. 104–111.
- ^ Cawthorne (2013), pp. 128–134.
- ^ Cawthorne (2013), pp. 138–143.
- ^ Cawthorne (2013), pp. 143–147.
- ^ Wodehouse (2008) [1938], The Code of the Woosters, chapter 7, pp. 144–147.
- ^ Usborne (2003), p. 120.
- ISBN 978-0-415-39145-0.
- ^ Wodehouse (2008) [1938], The Code of the Woosters, chapter 3, p. 67.
- ^ Wodehouse (2008) [1938], The Code of the Woosters, chapter 7, p. 143.
- ^ Taves (2006), pp. 189–198.
- ^ "Jeeves, Lyrics To The 'Lost' Songs: Eulalie". Alan Ayckbourn. Haydonning Ltd. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
- ^ "Jeeves, Lyrics To The 'Lost' Songs: SPODE". Alan Ayckbourn. Haydonning Ltd. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
- ISBN 978-1848424142.
- ^ "What Ho, Jeeves!: 21: The Plot Thickens". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
- ^ "The Code of the Woosters". LATW. L.A. Theatre Works. 2017. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
- ^ "Classic Serial: The Code of The Woosters". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
- ^ "Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves". BBC Radio 4. BBC. 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
- Bibliography
- ISBN 978-1-78033-824-8.
- Garrison, Daniel H. (1991) [1989]. Who's Who in Wodehouse (Revised ed.). ISBN 1-55882-087-6.
- Ring, Tony; Jaggard, Geoffrey (1999). Wodehouse in Woostershire. Porpoise Books. ISBN 1-870-304-19-5.
- Taves, Brian (2006). P. G. Wodehouse and Hollywood: Screenwriting, Satires and Adaptations. ISBN 978-0786422883.
- Usborne, Richard (2003). Plum Sauce: A P. G. Wodehouse Companion. ISBN 1-58567-441-9.
- ISBN 978-0099513759.
- ISBN 978-1-78033-824-8.
- ISBN 978-0099513957.
- ISBN 978-0099513964.