- For the BBC/WGBN TV adaptation (1995), see Heavy Weather .
Heavy Weather is a
novel by
P. G. Wodehouse,
first published in the U.S.
on July 28, 1933 by Little, Brown and Company,
Boston
, and in the U.K.
on August 10, 1933 by Herbert Jenkins, London
.
It is part of the
Blandings Castle
series of tales, the fourth full-length novel to be set there, and
forms a semi-sequel to
Summer
Lightning (1929), with many of the same characters
remaining at the castle from the previous story. It also features
an appearance from
Lord Tilbury, who had
previously appeared in
Bill the
Conqueror (1924) and
Sam the
Sudden (1925).
Plot introduction
With the Hon.
Galahad's
reminiscences removed from the market, publisher
Lord Tilbury is anxious
to get hold of the manuscript, while
Lady Constance Keeble and
Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe want
to lay hands on it for quite other reasons.
Lord Emsworth fears that Parsloe-Parsloe is
out to spoil his prize pig
Empress
of Blandings' chances at the forthcoming county show, and keeps
detective Pilbeam on hand to keep watch.
Meanwhile,
Sue
Brown is anxious to hide her old friendship with
Monty Bodkin from her jealous fiance
Ronnie
Fish, giving his mother
Lady
Julia a chance to talk him out of the unsuitable
marriage...
Plot summary
Monty Bodkin, despite his wealth, needs
to hold a job down for a full year ("There are wheels within
wheels"), so when he is sacked from his job assistant-editing
Tiny Tots for
Lord Tilbury's
Mammoth
Publishing Company, he jumps at his pal
Hugo
Carmody's tip that his old job as
Lord
Emsworth's secretary is available, especially on hearing that
his former fiancee
Sue
Brown will be on the premises.
Hearing that Monty is on his way, and fearing
Ronnie's
jealous nature, Sue heads to London, dines with Bodkin and warns
him to be distant; on the train back, they both encounter Ronnie's
formidable mother
Lady
Julia, and claim not to know each other. Lady Julia, having
seen Sue and Monty at lunch together, tells her son about their
suspicious behaviour, and Ronnie is at once convinced that Sue
loves Monty.
Meanwhile,
Connie and
Parsloe-Parsloe, unaware of
these developments, task
Percy
Pilbeam with obtaining
Galahad's manuscript, used to ensure Sue
and Ronnie's marriage is permitted. Lord Tilbury, also wanting the
book, visits the castle and is rebuffed. Leaving, he calls on the
Empress, but is locked in a
shed by
Pirbright
the pig-man, instructed by a suspicious Lord Emsworth to guard the
pig closely. He is released by Monty Bodkin, who he persuades to
steal the book by offering him a year's guaranteed employment - he
is worried about his tenure at the castle, as Lord Emsworth
suspects him, being the nephew of his rival Parsloe-Parsloe, of
scheming to nobble his pig, the
Empress.
Beach, catching Pilbeam in the act
of grabbing the book, tells Galahad and is instructed to guard the
book himself. When he overhears Tilbury and Bodkin plotting in the
garden at the
Emsworth Arms,
however, he sees the task is too much for him and hands the book on
to Ronnie Fish. Fish is distracted by his loss of Sue's love, but
once the storm breaks feels better; he sees Monty Bodkin, drenched
from the rain, and is friendly towards him. However, when he sees
"Sue"
tattooed on Bodkin's chest, his mood
turns sour once more.
Sue, having heard Ronnie's kind words, is also cheered and rushes
to find Ronnie; when he is once more cold and distant, she breaks
down and breaks off the engagement. Bodkin finds Ronnie and asks
him a favour - to get Beach to hand over the book, explaining he
needs it in order to marry his girl. Ronnie, inwardly furious,
chivalrously hands it over. Gally sees Sue is upset, learns all and
confronts Ronnie with his idiocy. He explains about Bodkin and Sue,
and Ronnie forgives her. Gally then confronts his sisters,
threatening them once more with his book; although Julia is at
first unmoved, when Gally relates a few of the stories it contains
concerning her late husband
"Fishy"
Fish, she is defeated.
Bodkin, having engaged Pilbeam to find the book for him, tells the
detective he is no longer needed, revealing where he has hidden the
manuscript. Pilbeam steals it, planning to auction it between
Tilbury and the Connie-Parsloe syndicate, and hides it in a disused
shed. He informs Lord Emsworth that Bodkin released Tilbury, and
Bodkin is fired. Pilbeam is summoned to see Lady Constance, and
primes himself with a bottle of
champagne. She is insulting, and Pilbeam
vows to sell the book to Tilbury, who he calls promising to deliver
it, but he retires to bed first to sleep off the booze.
Lord Emsworth, having moved the Empress to her new sty for safety,
finds her eating the manuscript. Pilbeam sees this, and hurries to
Connie and Parsloe-Parsloe, but is denied his fee when they find
the pig has eaten the book. He then rushes to the Emsworth Arms,
and gets a cheque out of Lord Tilbury, telling him the book is in
the pigsty. Bodkin is on hand, however, and destroys the cheque and
warns Emsworth by phone that someone is heading for his sty. Later,
full of remorse, he offers Pilbeam a thousand pounds to employ him
for a year in his agency.
While Emsworth is being badgered by his sisters into denying Ronnie
his money, a mud-spattered Lord Tilbury is brought in, captured by
Pirbright. Gally and Sue then appear, informing Emsworth that
Ronnie has the pig in his car and will drive off with it if denied
his cash. Emsworth coughs up, and the happy couple depart, much to
Gally's satisfaction.
Characters in Heavy Weather
Television
A television adaptation was made by the
BBC, with partners including WGBH Boston
, screened on Christmas
Eve 1995 in the UK, and shown in the US by
PBS on February 18 1996. It
starred
Peter O'Toole as Lord
Emsworth,
Richard Briers as Gally,
Roy Hudd as Beach,
Samuel West as Monty Bodkin and
Judy Parfitt as Lady Constance. It was directed
by
Jack Gold with a screenplay by
Douglas Livingstone, and was
generally well-received by fans.
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