The Worst Episodes of Wodehouse Playhouse

Episode Rankings

1. #1 Worst Episode
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   6.7/10(20 votes)

   #1 - The Rise of Minna Nordstrom

   S1:E55/21/1975

   The making of a Hollywood Film Star. In Prohibition era Hollywood, a producer's life is one bad audition after another. But a star is born when a successful movie producer encounters a housemaid who really has the goods - on him and his buddies...

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2. 

   7.5/10(14 votes)

   #2 - Trouble Down at Tudsleigh

   S3:E211/7/1978

   ""Tonight's story, Trouble Down at Tudsleigh, is about Freddie Widgeon of whom it's been said that if all the girls he's loved and lost were laid end to end they would reach from Piccadilly Circus to Hyde Park Corner, possibly further, for many of them were quite tall, as indeed was April Carroway whom Freddie met while on a duty visit to Lady Carroway at Tudsleigh Court..."" One look at April Carroway and Freddie Widgeon falls hard. To impress her, he does battle with the perplexing Lady of Shallott and April's dangerous younger sister, Prudence.

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3. 

   7.7/10(15 votes)

   #3 - Big Business

   S3:E612/5/1978

   ""Tonight's story, 'Big Business', is about Reginald Mulliner, a young man of slender means and slighter intellect who before the dramatic change in his fortunes had only two assets in his life -the love of Amanda Biffen and the ability to sing Old Man River, a talent we discover him exercising in anticipation of the annual church concert in the village of Lower Smattering On The Whistle,Worcestershire..."" Agreeably addle-brained Reginald Mulliner loses a fortune and a girl while preparing for his big moment on stage at the Christmas show. But from the depths of despair, he finds a new voice...

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4. 

   7.8/10(23 votes)

   #4 - Romance at Droitgate Spa

   S1:E24/30/1975

   ""There is a terrible lot of snobbery, I am sorry to say, in all English health resorts. Visitors with merely a touch of arthritis are terribly snubbed by the swells with ailments which get written up in special numbers of 'The Lancet'. Tonight's story, Romance at Droitgate Spa, shows this."" P.G. Wodehouse Introduction Freddie Fitch-Fitch falls head-over-white-tie-and-tails in love with a bewitching but lowly conjurer's assistant. The only obstacles to their bliss are Freddie's snobbish uncle, a health spa devotee who holds sway over his nephew's finances, and the Great Boloney himself who thinks he has an unbeatable ace up his sleeve.

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5. 

   7.9/10(17 votes)

   #5 - Mulliner's Buck-U-Uppo

   S3:E712/12/1978

   Tonight's story, Mulliner's Buck-U-Uppo tells of the Reverend Augustine's experience with a wonder tonic capable of transforming a pale young curate, timidly in love with his vicar's daughter, into a - but let's start at the beginning, with our pale young curate ....

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6. 

   8.1/10(22 votes)

   #6 - Rodney Fails to Qualify

   S1:E65/28/1975

   This is the story of love among golfers. It shows how true love, even if it slides into troubled waters, can always get back on the fairway, though it may get rather wet. Young William Bates is a torpid wooer who will not pop the question to Jill Packard, who is becoming dreamy and absent-minded, ever since reading 'The Love That Scorches' a romantic epic about the desert and people on camels and an Arab Chief with stern but tender eyes, and oases and mirages and things like that... The Oldest Member advises William to be quick about it and ask Jill to marry him before she becomes too entangled with romantic poet Rodney Spelvin. His advice to William is to engage Jill in a passionate exchange at the 6th hole in the large bunker there - a vast sandy waste where Jill may prove more susceptible to his wooing, and recommmends that before he even speaks to her, William is to clasp her in his arms and let his hot breath sear her face. But will William be in time? Even now Jill is walking

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7. 

   8.1/10(16 votes)

   #7 - The Nodder

   S2:E54/30/1976

   ""Tonight's story, The Nodder, set in the Hollywood of 1928, tears the tinsel from The Boulevard of Broken Dreams to reveal the simple story of a boy and girl - and a gorilla..."" Mabel Ridgway, an expert bird imitator, agrees to marry fellow Hollywood studio employee Wilmot Mulliner on the condition that Wilmot, the ultimate yes-man, proves he is a Real Man. When a scary looking gorilla gets loose on the film lot, Wilmot is put to the test.

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8. 

   8.1/10(14 votes)

   #8 - Tangled Hearts

   S3:E311/14/1978

   At the golf club, bossy Smallwood Bessemer and burly Carter Muldoon inadvertently exchange fiancees. Non-golfer Bessemer must play his way out of the rough.

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9. 

   8.1/10(15 votes)

   #9 - The Editor Regrets

   S3:E511/28/1978

   ""Tonight's story, 'The Editor Regrets', concerns Bingo Little, the husband of best-selling novelist Rosie M. Banks and editorial force behind 'Wee Tots', that popular and influential journal which has done so much to mold thought in the nursery and has now led to a sort of literary renaissance at the Drones Club"". Revelling in his fame as editor of Wee Tots magazine, Bingo Little is the toast of his club. Trouble ensures when he brushes off an American children's author being pursued by his boss..

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10. 

    8.2/10(16 votes)

    #10 - Anselm Gets His Chance

    S2:E13/26/1976

    ""Tonight's story, 'Anselm Gets His Chance', tells how the fortunes of even a humble curate can be improved if he has a girl like Myrtle Jellaby, a girl with a heart full of love and larceny!"" P.G. Wodehouse 1975

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11. 

    8.2/10(17 votes)

    #11 - Feet of Clay

    S2:E44/23/1976

    ""Tonight's story, 'Feet Of Clay', tells of Agnes Flack and Sidney McMurdo who both had the true golfing spirit and so were able to win through to the 18th Hole Of Happiness despite the Bunkers Of Temptation along the way."" Agnes Flack is engaged to fellow golf fanatic Sidney McMurdo, but while Sidney is away, Agnes meets and falls in love with suave fortune-hunter Jack Fosdyke. Jilted by Agnes, Sidney falls for Cora McGuffy Spottsworth, a writer who believes in reincarnation. Cora and Agnes eventually face off in the women's singles golf tournament.

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12. 

    8.3/10(28 votes)

    #12 - Portrait of a Disciplinarian

    S1:E35/7/1975

    Reggie Mulliner is invited to Bingley On Sea by his brother, Dr. Joe Mulliner, to visit their old Nannie, Nurse Wilks who lives on in Reggie's memory as being 7 feet tall, with stevedore shoulders, beetling brows and steel teeth. Noblesse Oblige requires Reggie to visit Nurse Wilks for afternoon tea with boiled eggs and fruit-cake. Upon arriving at 'Wee Holme' in Marazine Road, Nannie's address, he finds that she is also entertaining Jane Oliphant, Reggie's ex-fiancee, a girl with a heart of stone whom Reggie has reason to believe visited some people by the name of Ponderby and became engaged to a man named Dillingwater, all in the space of a week. It is up to Nurse Wilks to bring the two star-crossed lovers together. Reggie is locked in a cupboard because he refuses to kiss Miss Jane, and Jane follows Reggie into the cupboard when she forgets where she is and lights up a cigarette. There can be no person on earth more likely to strike terror into the human heart and mind than the En

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13. 

    8.4/10(29 votes)

    #13 - The Unpleasantness at Bludleigh Court

    S1:E45/14/1975

    ""In our story tonight - 'The Unpleasantness at Bludleigh Court' - we see how the malevolent influence of a house nearly wrecked the romance of two poets - they had the dickens of a time - but fortunately everything came right in the end."" (P.G. Wodehouse) Introduction Kindred spirits and fellow poets, Charlotte Mulliner (author of 'Vignettes in Verse') and Aubrey Trefusis (author of 'Pastels In Prose') meet at 'The Crushed Pansy' a club for the literati. It emerges that Charlotte Mulliner has been invited to stay at the home of Aubrey Trefusis' parents, Sir Alexander and Lady Bassinger. Bludleigh Court is a strange house - it exercises a ghastly spell that saps even the most humanitarian principles and turns the gentlest nature-lover into a monster of ravening bloodlust. At first Charlotte is inclined to scoff at Aubrey's warnings but upon arriving at the house, both young people soon fall under its spell. They find themselves pursuing Aubrey's Uncle Francis, whose sole to

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14. 

    8.4/10(17 votes)

    #14 - A Voice From the Past

    S1:E76/4/1975

    ""Tonight's story is called 'A Voice from the Past'. It tells of a young man who by means of tuition from a correspondence school developed an iron will. Eventually he decided he would be better without it."" P.G. Wodehouse Narrator Encountering an old school chum, sturdy Muriel Mulliner recalls her eventful courtship. Her beloved goes to great lengths to fit into the rough-and-ready Mulliner mold until a chance encounter with an old nemesis causes him to revert to being the milquetoast Muriel adores.

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15. 

    8.4/10(14 votes)

    #15 - The Luck of the Stiffhams

    S3:E411/21/1978

    Passionate but penniless Adolphus ""Stiffy"" Stiffham seeks his fortune in America to win the hand of his love, Lady Geraldine. But he doesn't appear to have a ghost of a chance of succeeding...

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16. 

    8.5/10(13 votes)

    #16 - Mr. Potter Takes a Rest Cure

    S2:E24/2/1976

    This episode tells of how an American publisher and a rising young politician were unwise enough to accept an invitation from the mother of Bobbie Wickham, a girl widely known as a dutiful daughter, a resourceful personality - and A Menace To Society.

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17. 

    8.6/10(34 votes)

    #17 - The Truth About George

    S1:E14/23/1975

    ""If anyone here tonight is afflicted with a stammer you will be interested to learn how George Mulliner got rid of his... The method is shown in our opening story, 'The Truth About George'. It entailed a certain amount of unpleasantness, but it was very effective ..."" P.G. Wodehouse Introduction Though a whiz at crosswords, poor George Mulliner stammers so badly he sounds like a soda-water syphon and is unable to declare his love for Susan. Searching for a cure, he sings (carols, chants, vocalizes) his way into a bit of a mess (botch, muddle, mix-up).

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18. 

    8.6/10(16 votes)

    #18 - Strychnine in the Soup

    S2:E34/9/1976

    ""Tonight's story, Strychnine in the Soup, tells how a young interior decorator won the hand of the girl he loved against all the odds, but not without a little dirty work behind the scenes..."" Amelia Bassett and interior designer Cyril Mulliner, two mystery buffs, fall madly in love. But Amelia's mother, a rough-and-ready huntress, objects to their engagement because of Cyril's occupation. Cyril plans to confront his prospective mother-in-law at a country house weekend they all attend.

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19. 

    8.8/10(15 votes)

    #19 - The Code of the Mulliners

    S2:E65/7/1976

    ""Tonight's story, The Code Of The Mulliners, is of Archibald, who had two great advantages in his life, his love for Aurelia Cammarleigh and his ability to imitate a hen laying an egg - the latter is being imitated at this very moment at the Drones Club in Dover Street."" Believing his mother to be insane, Archie Mulliner feels compelled to break off his engagement to Aurelia Cammarleigh. But a Mulliner never fails to honour a commitment, so he needs to find a way to get her to do the breaking up. Yvonne, an inventive actress, offers him a sure-fire plan...

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20. 

    8.8/10(15 votes)

    #20 - The Smile That Wins

    S3:E110/31/1978

    Deadly serious young private detective Adrian Mulliner looks like an underdog when he takes on the British aristocracy. On doctor's orders, he goes in smiling.

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