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Staff RoomPlease knock before entering, otherwise there'll be tea spilled everywhere. This is where members of staff retire to when they are sick and tired of you noisy lot trampling about. It's also the place to find out a bit about them!
Poor Mr L. P. Wilkins, Esq., M.A.(Cantab.). He never does quite understand Jennings, or indeed his friends, and the misunderstandings that ensue are often hilarious. Buckeridge taught for a while himself, and it was something of an open secret that he based his more understanding and paternal teacher, Mr Carter, on himself. Here is Buckeridge on the genesis of his characters. "...I had to invent more stories and introduced further characters into the plots. They were not based on particular individuals, but were an amalgam of people I had met. Thus, although I had known boys like Darbishire and masters like Mr Wilkins, they were only the skeletons of my dramatis personae and had to be fleshed out to become the final characters I had in mind."
The doh is sometimes needed. Here is Mr Wilkins faced with Jennings setting the school on fire, from Jennings, As Usual. Mr Wilkins smells burning and... "I never told you to set fire to the building." "I was just putting my name on my rubber, sir." "What! With a burning-glass!" Mr Wilkins' voice rose to a squawk of protest as his eye fell upon the tell-tale object lying on the desk. "Yes sir. It worked all right on Bromwich I's ruler, sir, so I thought..." "Doh! You silly little boy!" Dropping the pile of books on to the master's desk with a loud thump, Mr Wilkins threw both hands above his head and marked time as though taking part in a primitive tribal dance... There's no doubt that Mr Wilkins' unerring ability to leap to conclusions causes as much trouble as does young Jennings himself. In Jennings' Diary, the young scamp decides to keep a diary, writing everything in super secret code – everything is backwards. Mr Wilkins loses his cufflink, and Jennings decides to make a note of it in class. Of course, the diary gets confiscated, and this is what Mr Wilkins finds... Mr Wilkins turned his attention again to the diary, and a frown of annoyance clouded his brow as he pored over the next entry. Retsim Snikliw – gnissim knil, it said. "Very interesting I'm sure. Unfortunately for you, Jennings, I can work this out myself." And with an accuracy that would have done credit to an experienced solver of ciphers, he announced in ringing tones: "Mr Wilkins – missing link!" There was a burst of laughter from the class... I think we all know where THAT'S going. Both Jennings' Diary and Jennings, As Usual are currently available to buy from the School Shop. |
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Today's staff member is Mr Wilkins from the Anthony Buckeridge Jennings books.
Modern popular culture has embraced television as well as books, and of course one of the most popular shows is The Simpsons. Homer Simpson's most famous phrase might well be "Doh!" – but Mr Wilkins said it first! Or did he? Actually, the expression was lifted by Buckeridge in turn, from James Finlayson, the ever mugging fall guy in Laurel and Hardy.