- The Dongle of Donald Trefusis
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The Dongle of Donald Trefusis 
Hosting Stephen Fry Updates Fortnightly Debut 26 May 2009 End date unknown (planned 27 October 2009) Genre Comedy/Mystery/Monologue Website http://www.stephenfry.com/dongle/ The Dongle of Donald Trefusis is "a mixture of podcast, audio book and radio monologue" written and read by Stephen Fry.[1][2] It stars Fry as himself, who receives an inheritance from his (fictional) former university tutor, Donald Trefusis, who has recently died. The inheritance includes a USB drive or "dongle", which contains messages from Trefusis to Fry from beyond the grave. The series was planned to run to 12 episodes, but only three have so far been released.[3]
Contents
Setting
The series is the first to feature the character of Trefusis, who also appeared as a character in Fry's first novel, The Liar, and made a series of appearances on the BBC Radio 4 programme Loose Ends.
Availability and success
The first episode was made available to download on 26 May 2009.[4] Initial reviews were extremely positive, although Fry has been criticised for the brevity of subsequent episodes, and a perceived lack of content.[5]
Following episodes
The following episodes were originally scheduled to be released on Tuesdays every fortnight in 2009, being 26 May; 9 and 26 June; 7 and 21 July; 4 and 18 August; 1, 15 and 29 September; 13 and 27 October.[6] However, Fry announced at the beginning of Episode 3 that he was too busy to maintain a fortnightly schedule, and has removed the release date information from his website. As of February 2011, there has been no further news on release dates of subsequent episodes with the last episode being released over a year and a half ago.
Plot
In the first episode, Fry talks about the life of Trefusis, his former tutor and professor of Philology at the fictional St Matthew's College, Cambridge, and the relationship shared by the two. After The Liar and Loose Ends, the two made little contact, with Fry sending him emails and Trefusis writing postcards in return. While Fry was filming in Madagascar, he learnt that Trefusis has died and has left him something in his will.[7]
Fry goes to the solicitors in charge of the will, "Hodgman, Hodgman, Hodgman, Hodgman and Hodgman" - none of whom are related to each other, and discovers that what is left to him is Trefusis' collection of essays and the books in his vast library. Fry is also given a key, which he uses to open a drawer of a desk in Trefusis' library which contains an 8Gb USB drive. Fry puts the dongle into his computer and finds a collection of mp3 files, which contain messages by Trefusis to Fry.[7]
It is revealed that messages are part of a puzzle which Trefusis is guiding Fry and those listening through. Each episode features a series of clues, with extra information being posted on a Twitter account Trefusis has created.[8]
Production
The series is made by Fry's own production company SamFry Ltd. and hosted by the Independent Online Distribution Alliance (IDOA).[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b Staples, Heather (2009-05-27). "Stephen Fry and IODA Partner for The Dongle of Donald Trefusis" (PDF). www.stpehenfry.com. http://www.stephenfry.com/dongle/press/PressRelease_StephenFry_DongleOfDonaldTrefusis.pdf. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
- ^ "Fry tops audiobook charts". Chortle.co.uk. 2009-05-28accessdate=2009-05-28. http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2009/05/28/8969/fry_tops_audiobook_charts.
- ^ Fry, Stephen. "Release Dates". www.stephenfry.com. http://www.stephenfry.com/dongle/releases.html. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
- ^ "Stephen Fry - Fry's audio book a big hit". Contactmusic.com. 2009-05-28. http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/frys-audiobook-a-big-hit_1104727. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
- ^ "iTunes reviews". apple.com. 2009-07-08. http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=321271587&s=143444. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ^ "The New Adventures of Mr Stephen Fry - The Dongle of Donald Trefusis - New Audio Series". http://www.stephenfry.com/dongle/releases.html. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
- ^ a b SamFry and IDOA (Independent Online Distribution Alliance). Episode 1 http://www.stephenfry.com/dongle/. Podcast accessed on 2009-05-28
- ^ SamFry and IDOA (Independent Online Distribution Alliance). Episode 2 http://www.stephenfry.com/dongle/. Podcast accessed on 2009-06-11
External links
- Official website
- Donald Trefusis on Twitter.
Autobiographies Moab Is My Washpot (1997) · The Fry Chronicles (2010)Novels Non-fiction Paperweight (1992) · Stephen Fry's Incomplete and Utter History of Classical Music (2004) · The Ode Less Travelled: Unlocking the Poet Within (2005) · Stephen Fry in America (2008)Audiobooks The Dongle of Donald Trefusis (2009)Screenplays Television The Crystal Cube (1983) · Alfresco (1983–1984) · Saturday Live (1985–1987) · A Bit of Fry & Laurie (1987–1995) · Jeeves and Wooster (1990–1993) · QI (2003–present) · Absolute Power (2003–2005) · Stephen Fry: The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive (2006) · Kingdom (2007–2009) · Stephen Fry in America (2008) · Last Chance to See (2009) · Fry's Planet Word (2011)Radio See also Categories:- Audio podcasts
- Comedy and humor podcasts
- Audiobooks
- Spoken word albums
- Monologues
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