Sir Godber Evans
Encyclopedia
Porterhouse Blue
Porterhouse Blue is a novel written by Tom Sharpe, first published in 1974. There was a Channel 4 TV series in 1987 based on the novel, adapted by Malcolm Bradbury...
(1974) and, posthumously, Grantchester Grind
Grantchester Grind
Grantchester Grind is a novel written by Tom Sharpe, a British novelist born in 1928 who was educated at Lancing College and then at Pembroke College, Cambridge.-Premise:...
(1995), two novels about life in the fictitious Porterhouse College at Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
by British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
novelist Tom Sharpe
Tom Sharpe
Tom Sharpe is an English satirical author, best known for his Wilt series of novels.Sharpe was born in London and moved to South Africa in 1951, where he worked as a social worker and a teacher, before being deported for sedition in 1961...
. For centuries, Porterhouse College has been renowned for its cuisine, the prowess of its rowers and the low level of its academic achievements.
Early career
The son of a butcher, Godber Evans went to the College from his grammar schoolGrammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
, which immediately marked him out as 'not a gentleman'. Where the other 'scholars' at Porterhouse drink and dine and row, Evans studies, determined to make something of himself. This leads to his being 'dunked' in the College fountain. The left-wing Evans comes to hate Porterhouse and everything it represents and believes that after being an undergraduate there, a man has nothing left to fear.
Evans marries the wealthy and influential Lady Mary Lacey, daughter of a peer
Peerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
and heir to a fortune. She is regarded by all who encounter her as self-righteous, dogmatic and unattractive. With her money behind him Evans enters Parliament, being appointed Minister for Technological Development and later Social Security. He earned a knighthood and the nickname 'Soapy' after his campaign 'A Bathroom in every Home.' However, in this as in everything else he does, Evans is mediocre, and he knows it, deep within himself.
As Master of Porterhouse
When the Master of Porterhouse dies without naming his successor, the College Visitor, the Queen, takes the Prime Minister'sPrime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
advice and appoints Sir Godber Evans as his successor. The Prime Minister sees it as an opportunity to get rid of him as his career has been marked by idealistic aspirations that generally failed to translate into effective policies. As Minister of Technological Development, he cut funding for research into superconductivity
Superconductivity
Superconductivity is a phenomenon of exactly zero electrical resistance occurring in certain materials below a characteristic temperature. It was discovered by Heike Kamerlingh Onnes on April 8, 1911 in Leiden. Like ferromagnetism and atomic spectral lines, superconductivity is a quantum...
to the detriment of British industry. Sir Godber, having been pressured by his wealthy left-wing wife, Lady Mary, daughter of a Liberal Party
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
peer, announces sweeping changes to the centuries of College tradition, much to the concern of Skullion
Skullion
Skullion is a central character in Porterhouse Blue and Grantchester Grind , two novels about life in the fictitious Porterhouse College at Cambridge by British novelist Tom Sharpe. For centuries, Porterhouse College has been renowned for its cuisine, the prowess of its rowers and the low level of...
, the Head Porter, and the Fellow
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
s, who plan a counter attack to the proposed contraceptive machines
Condom machine
A condom machine is a vending machine for the sale of condoms. Condom machines are often placed in public toilets, subway stations and airports as a public health measure to promote safe sex. Many pharmacies also keep one outside, for after-hours access...
, women students, and a self-service canteen. Evans also intends to sell the row of houses where the College servants live.
Skullion contemptuously remembers Sir Godber from his student days as a grammar school boy and therefore not a proper gentleman. As the son of a butcher
Butcher
A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat or any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat, poultry, fish and shellfish for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments...
, young Godber was the recipient of the college's legendary snobbery, known to all as 'grammar school tyke.' Skullion is sacked for insolence by Sir Godber, and is forced to leave his home. He appears live on a television programme in which he reveals all of the College's murky secrets, to the horror of Sir Godber and the College's Senior Fellows, but to the amusement of everybody else.
Skullion returns to Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, determined to ask for his job back in return for donating a large inheritance he has received to the College. He confronts Sir Godber who treats him with pity and contempt. This angers Skullion's sense of pride, and he advances menacingly on Sir Godber, who, backing away in fear, trips and bangs his head. He is found dying by the Dean and Senior Tutor and tries to tell them who is responsible. They misunderstand his meaning and believe that he has named Skullion as his successor as Master. They inform Skullion of this and he suffers a 'Porterhouse Blue' , a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
, but survives and is installed as the new Master of the College.
Grantchester Grind
The mysterious circumstances surrounding Sir Godber's death cause his widow, Lady Mary, to plant a spy in the College as the Sir Godber Evans Memorial Fellow. The appointee, Dr Purefoy Osbert, is to collect data proving that Sir Godber was murdered. He overhears a deliberately staged confession to the murder by SkullionSkullion
Skullion is a central character in Porterhouse Blue and Grantchester Grind , two novels about life in the fictitious Porterhouse College at Cambridge by British novelist Tom Sharpe. For centuries, Porterhouse College has been renowned for its cuisine, the prowess of its rowers and the low level of...
, the current Master of Porterhouse.
Sir Godber Evans in film
In 1987 Porterhouse BluePorterhouse Blue
Porterhouse Blue is a novel written by Tom Sharpe, first published in 1974. There was a Channel 4 TV series in 1987 based on the novel, adapted by Malcolm Bradbury...
was adapted for television by Malcolm Bradbury
Malcolm Bradbury
Sir Malcolm Stanley Bradbury CBE was an English author and academic.-Life:Bradbury was the son of a railwayman. His family moved to London in 1935, but returned to Sheffield in 1941 with his brother and mother...
for Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
, with Ian Richardson
Ian Richardson
Ian William Richardson CBE was a Scottish actor best known for his portrayal of the Machiavellian Tory politician Francis Urquhart in the BBC's House of Cards trilogy. He was also a leading Shakespearean stage actor....
playing the role of Sir Godber Evans.
See also
- Tom SharpeTom SharpeTom Sharpe is an English satirical author, best known for his Wilt series of novels.Sharpe was born in London and moved to South Africa in 1951, where he worked as a social worker and a teacher, before being deported for sedition in 1961...
- Porterhouse BluePorterhouse BluePorterhouse Blue is a novel written by Tom Sharpe, first published in 1974. There was a Channel 4 TV series in 1987 based on the novel, adapted by Malcolm Bradbury...
- Grantchester GrindGrantchester GrindGrantchester Grind is a novel written by Tom Sharpe, a British novelist born in 1928 who was educated at Lancing College and then at Pembroke College, Cambridge.-Premise:...
- Porterhouse College, Cambridge
- SkullionSkullionSkullion is a central character in Porterhouse Blue and Grantchester Grind , two novels about life in the fictitious Porterhouse College at Cambridge by British novelist Tom Sharpe. For centuries, Porterhouse College has been renowned for its cuisine, the prowess of its rowers and the low level of...
- Lord Jeremy PimpoleLord Jeremy PimpoleLord Jeremy Pimpole is a fictional character created by author Tom Sharpe, a British novelist. The character of Lord Pimpole is first mentioned in Porterhouse Blue , set in the fictitious Porterhouse College in Cambridge, where his name, with that of a former student, Launcelot Gutterby, is often...