P.G. Wodehouse's much-loved stories about Bertie Wooster and his brilliantly clever valet, Jeeves, were brought faithfully to life in Jeeves and Wooster, starring Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry as master and servant. The scripts of this perfectly cast production retain all the sparkling wit of Wodehouse's prose, and it's hard to see how any future adaptation of his work could surpass this wonderfully funny series. This boxed set contains the entire first season of Jeeves and Wooster. In "Jeeves Takes Charge," young man-about-town Bertie Wooster employs a new valet called Jeeves, and not a moment too soon. Thanks to his Aunt Agatha, Bertie faces the terrible prospect of marriage to the statuesque Honoria Glossop, and only Jeeves can save the day. "Tuppy and the Terrier" finds Bertie in trouble again when he loses Aunt Agatha's dog. Further aunt-related complications arise when Bertie's chum Tuppy falls for our hero's cousin Angela. Aunt Dahlia is not amused. An uncle in love with a waitress, a trip to the country, a speedy choirboy, and a secret betting syndicate all lead to trouble in "The Purity of the Turf." Jeeves, of course, is the only one who can put things right.
Jeeves and Wooster really hits its stride in the final episodes of the first series, "The Hunger Strike" and "Brinkley Manor." When Bertie visits Aunt Dahlia, he is called upon to solve the romantic problems of his friends Tuppy Glossop (in love with cousin Angela) and the delightful Gussy Fink-Nottle (in love with Madeleine Basset, a young lady who believes the stars to be God's daisy chain.) Unwisely, Bertie decides to cook up his own plan and before long disaster strikes. Aunt Dahlia's superb chef Anatole gives his notice, and Bertram is to blame. Thank goodness for Jeeves. --Simon Leake
