The Bagthorpe Saga
Encyclopedia
The Bagthorpe Saga is a series of 10 fiction books written by author Helen Cresswell
between 1977 and 2001. The series became the basis of a TV comedy series - also called The Bagthorpe Saga - in 1981, and also won two International Reading Association
awards. The books were published in the UK and the United States by Faber and Faber
.
in 1981. The character of Rosie was eliminated and some of her dialogue and character attributes were given to Tess. Each episode ran for 30 minutes.
Helen Cresswell
Helen Cresswell was an English author of more than 100 children's books, including the Lizzie Dripping series, and The Bagthorpe Saga...
between 1977 and 2001. The series became the basis of a TV comedy series - also called The Bagthorpe Saga - in 1981, and also won two International Reading Association
International Reading Association
The International Reading Association is an international professional organization that was created in 1956 to improve reading instruction, facilitate dialogue about research on reading, and encourage the habit of reading....
awards. The books were published in the UK and the United States by Faber and Faber
Faber and Faber
Faber and Faber Limited, often abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in the UK, notable in particular for publishing a great deal of poetry and for its former editor T. S. Eliot. Faber has a rich tradition of publishing a wide range of fiction, non fiction, drama, film and music...
.
Background
The saga follows the lives of the eccentric Bagthorpe family, who live in Unicorn House in an unspecified but rural part of the UK. The nearest large settlement is the fictional town of Aysham.Books in the Saga
- Ordinary JackOrdinary JackOrdinary Jack is a novel by Helen Cresswell, the first book in the Bagthorpe Saga.-Plot summary :Depressed at being an 'ordinary' child in a talented family, and by the failure to beat his younger sister at swimming, Jack Bagthorpe enlists the help of his Uncle Parker in hatching a scheme to become...
(1977) ISBN 0-380-43349-4 - Absolute ZeroAbsolute Zero (novel)Absolute Zero is a 1978 children's novel by Helen Cresswell, the second book in the Bagthorpe Saga.-Plot introduction:The Bagthorpe Saga follows the lives of the Bagthorpe family, who live in Unicorn House in an unspecified part of the United Kingdom. The nearest large settlement is the fictional...
(1978) ISBN 0-571-11155-6 - Bagthorpes UnlimitedBagthorpes UnlimitedBagthorpes Unlimited is the third children's novel in The Bagthorpe Saga, a series by author Helen Cresswell. It was first published in 1978.-Plot summary:...
(1978) ISBN 0-380-49296-2 - Bagthorpes Versus the World (1979) ISBN 0-340-72246-0
- Bagthorpes AbroadBagthorpes AbroadBagthorpes Abroad is a children's novel by Helen Cresswell, first published in 1984. It is the fifth book in The Bagthorpe Saga.-Plot:Mr Bagthorpe sets off to write a script about ghosts and decides to get inspiration from renting a haunted house for the summer holidays. After some...
(1984) ISBN 0-140-31972-7 - Bagthorpes Haunted (1985) ISBN 0-340-71655-X
- Bagthorpes Liberated (1989) ISBN 0-027-25441-0
- The Bagthorpe Triangle (1992) ISBN 0-571-17805-7
- Bagthorpes Besieged (1996) ISBN 0-571-17423-X
- Bagthorpes Battered (2001) ISBN 0-340-78824-0
Parents
- Henry Bagthorpe, father of the family. A scriptwriter for the BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. - Laura Bagthorpe, mother of the family. An agony aunt (under the name "Stella Bright"), and part-time magistrateMagistrateA magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...
.
Children
Three of the four children are held (chiefly by themselves) to be frightfully gifted ('genii') and work assiduously at the many 'strings to their bows'. Boasting about their many talents is not regarded as boasting but as 'taking a just pride in their accomplishments'. Only Jack is ordinary.- William Bagthorpe, sixteen, whose talents include drumming, amateur radioAmateur radioAmateur radio is the use of designated radio frequency spectrum for purposes of private recreation, non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, and emergency communication...
, mathematics, and tennis. He spends much of his spare time communicating with a character called "Anonymous from GrimsbyGrimsbyGrimsby is a seaport on the Humber Estuary in Lincolnshire, England. It has been the administrative centre of the unitary authority area of North East Lincolnshire since 1996...
". - Tess Bagthorpe, fourteen, fluent in French, (in one book, Tess undertakes to rewrite VoltaireVoltaireFrançois-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
to get into the Guinness Book of Records), she also plays the oboeOboeThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
and has a black belt in judoJudois a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an... - Jack Bagthorpe, twelve, who has no 'strings' whatsoever
- Rosie Bagthorpe, ten, whose 'strings' include mathematics (putting her in competition with William), violin,painting and photography.
Other family members
- Grace Bagthorpe, mother of Henry Bagthorpe. She and her husband, Alfred, live with the other Bagthorpes at Unicorn House, on a 'temporary' basis. Henry Bagthorpe is described as being her favourite son as he is always easy to goad into a good argument. However, she would never admit this. She holds a vendetta against Uncle Parker for running over her evil pet cat, Thomas I four years ago (in Bagthorpes V. the World, she acquires a new cat, Thomas II, who Daisy calls Little Tommy) but dotes upon Daisy, calling her a "shining jewel of a child" and probably recognizing her as a kindred spirit.
- Alfred Bagthorpe, father of Henry. Unlike all the other Bagthorpes, he is described as living a quiet life, enjoying fishing and watching television with the sound turned off. Both watching television without sound and his ability to live a peaceful parallel life in the Bagthorpe household can be attributed to his reduced hearing - Russell describes him as "S.D. - Selectively Deaf"
- Celia Parker, daughter of Grace and Alfred, and sister to Henry. Married to Russell Parker. Their home, a short distance from Unicorn House, is called The Knoll. Celia wears cheeseclothCheeseclothCheesecloth is a loosewoven gauze-like cotton cloth used primarily in cheese making and cooking.Cheesecloth is available in at least seven different grades, from open to extra-fine weave. Grades are distinguished by the number of threads per inch in each direction.- Uses :The primary use of...
in the manner of a dishevelled Greek heroine. She writes poetry and can finish The TimesThe TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
crossword faster than Henry Bagthorpe. - Russell Parker, husband of Celia Parker. He has a large private income from "something in shares", drives fast (on one occasion running over Thomas, Grandma Bagthorpe's cat) and also enjoys goading Henry Bagthorpe into massive arguments.
- Daisy Parker, the precocious and trouble-making 4 year old daughter of Celia and Russell Parker. Goes through phases, which include flooding, arsonArsonArson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
, morbidity (described as "Intimations of Mortality" by her mother), and graffitiGraffitiGraffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
. - Uncle Claud, a vicarVicarIn the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...
. He is the son of Grace and Alfred, and brother to Henry. Married to Penelope, they have two children Luke and Esther. He and his family are considered very boring by the rest of the Bagthorpes. - Aunt Penelope, an obsessive compulsive and very religious lady, who is the wife of Claud. She is sufficiently worried for her children's health that she puts all library books in the oven to steriliseSterilization (microbiology)Sterilization is a term referring to any process that eliminates or kills all forms of microbial life, including transmissible agents present on a surface, contained in a fluid, in medication, or in a compound such as biological culture media...
them before letting her children read them. The rest of the Bagthorpes were very amused to learn that on one occasion she forgot the books, burning them.- Luke, and Esther, Penelope's and Claud's two genius children. Luke is a Young Brain of Britain,and Esther tells tales. They do one another's boasting.
- Great Aunt Lucy, an eccentric elderly relative of Henry, who lives in TorquayTorquayTorquay is a town in the unitary authority area of Torbay and ceremonial county of Devon, England. It lies south of Exeter along the A380 on the north of Torbay, north-east of Plymouth and adjoins the neighbouring town of Paignton on the west of the bay. Torquay’s population of 63,998 during the...
. In Bagthorpes v. the world, Great Aunt Lucy visits the Bagthorpes, and her great-nephews and nieces spend the book trying to get rid of her. She does not believe in Time, consequently has no set time for anything, is afraid of the full moon and has a vicious Pekinese called Wung Foo.
Other characters
- Mrs. Fosdyke, the Bagthorpe's housekeeper.
- Zero, the Bagthorpe family's pet dog.
- Joseph O'Toole, a whiskey addicted tramp.
- Max Fosdyke,Mrs Fosdyke's son, on the run for stealing a cashcard.
- Billy Goat Gruff, Daisy's beloved, psychotic pet goat.
- P.J, a director from Borderline Television whom Tess unwillingly invites into the Bagthorpe household after she wins a competition on The Happiest Family in England. He is thoroughly unpleasant and the Bagthorpes accordingly give him hell.
- Atlanta, the Danish au-pair. William and several of his friends develop crushes on her.
Television series
The Bagthorpe Saga, a six-part adaptation of the first two novels (Ordinary Jack and Absolute Zero) was broadcast by the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
in 1981. The character of Rosie was eliminated and some of her dialogue and character attributes were given to Tess. Each episode ran for 30 minutes.
Cast
- Edward HardwickeEdward HardwickeEdward Hardwicke , sometimes credited as Edward Hardwick, was an English actor.-Early life and career:...
- Henry Bagthorpe - Angela ThorneAngela ThorneAngela Thorne is an English actress who is best known for her roles in To the Manor Born and Anyone for Denis?-Early life:Angela Thorne was born in Karachi, British India, , in 1939...
- Laura Bagthorpe - Phillada Sewell - Grandma
- Ceri Seel - William Bagthorpe
- Richard Orme - Jack Bagthorpe
- Ruth Potter - Tess Bagthorpe
- Dandy NicholsDandy Nichols-References:* Dandy Nichols at screenonline.* Dandy Nichols at The Museum of Broadcast Communications.-External links:...
- Mrs Fosdyke - Tim PreeceTim PreeceTim Preece is an English actor, prominent in 1970s television.He played the politically correct Tom Patterson in two series of The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin and The Legacy Of Reginald Perrin and also had a role in Doctor Who in 1973...
- Uncle Parker - Rebecca Lalonde - Daisy Parker
- Madeline SmithMadeline SmithMadeline Smith is an English actress and comedienne. She was a model in the 1960s, and appeared in many comedy films Madeline Smith (born 2 August 1949 in Hartfield, Sussex) is an English actress and comedienne. She was a model in the 1960s, and appeared in many comedy films Madeline Smith (born 2...
- Aunt Celia
External links
- Reviews of the first six books of the series by Russ Allbery