Apropos of Nothing...Drones Club Discussion Question

[dogwoodblossom.livejournal.com]

I read a fic recently that had an offhand reference to the Drones Club Darts Tournament. This gist of it was that the Drones are all too stupid to realize that they wouldn't always have ties if they'd play an odd number of games. This is manifestly true, but the fic had Bertie grouped with the rest of the mentally negligible Drones. I know I've read the story about the tournament but I can't really remember it, but I know that the impression that I got from the show was that Bertie was well aware of the problem but that he and his partner were using it to tie on purpose and split the winnings when the other Drones inevitably lost their bets. But I have been known to make up backstory out of whole cloth before, so I'd like to hear other thoughts on the subject. Am I right about the show, and was that implication part of the original story?

Comments

[erynn999.livejournal.com]

I'm wondering if the tie thing doesn't come from the TV show, rather than canon. Here's an excerpt from the show:

Stilton Cheesewright: [referring to Bertie's cocktail] Now what do you suppose those things are doing to your eye?
Bertie Wooster: For your information, Cheesewright, one does not administer alcohol by the eye, or even by the ear. The mouth is the correct orifice.
Stilton Cheesewright: Not if one's meant to be in trainng for the Drones darts tournament, it isn't.
Bertie Wooster: Ah, yes, of course, you've drawn me in the sweepstake, haven't you? Well, your money is safe, Cheesewright. The Wooster form is as devastating as ever.
Stilton Cheesewright: We want a win this year, Wooster, not another dratted tie. I happened to look in on the Drones Club this evening. Freddie Widgeon was at the darts board, stunning everyone with a performance that took one's breath away.
Bertie Wooster: Tcha!
Stilton Cheesewright: Eh?
Bertie Wooster: I said "tcha!" scornfully, with ref. to F. Widgeon. I know his form backwards.
Stilton Cheesewright: He's knocked off smoking, you know!
Bertie Wooster: No!
Stilton Cheesewright: He takes a cold bath every morning!
Bertie Wooster: [shrugs] He's forgotten where the hot tap is.


From Bertie Wooster Sees It Through/Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit:

The annual Darts sweep is one of the high spots of life at the Drones Club. It never fails to stir the sporting instincts of the members, causing them to roll up in dense crowds and purchase tickets at ten bob a go, with the result that the sum in the kitty is always colossal. This time my name had been drawn by Stilton, and as Horace Pendlebury-Davenport, last year's winner, had gone and got married and at his wife's suggestion resigned his membership, the thing was pretty generally recognized as a sitter for me, last year's runner-up. "Wooster," the word flew to and fro, "is the deadliest of snips. He throws a beautiful dart."

***

So I think those of us who have gone with the tie thing were probably heavily influenced by the show, rather than the books. Both are "canon," just of different sorts.

[storyfan.livejournal.com]

As soon as my kid gets home from school we're going to watch that episode. To hell with ACT prep.

[dogwoodblossom.livejournal.com]

Good. Yes. Clearly you have the right attitude.