by Mark Murton and Linda Kay
Original Air Date: November 22, 2021
Directed by: Bruce McDonald
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains spoilers for a few episodes!
Synopsis: In this episode of the BBC Children’s drama, Matron’s (Ashley McGuire) smoked kippers disappear leading her to she suspect there may be a thief at Malory Towers. Meanwhile, the other girls’ efforts to make new scholarship pupil Ellen (Carys John) feel more included backfires.
Cat Burglar (Scene Stealer): After a humiliating incident during a games lesson, Ellen, who already feels like an outsider due to being a scholarship girl whose parents don’t have the money to buy her all the things the other girls have, runs off. Hiding in the gardens she hears a cat crying nearby and when she goes to investigate she finds a torbie tom tucking into matron’s kippers.
She gathers up the cat and carries him away with her.
Jean (Beth Bradfield) has come looking for Ellen and finding her with the cat asks her what she’s going to do with it. Ellen tells her she’s going to keep it safe until she can find out who it belongs to. When Jean reminds her that they aren’t allowed pets on the school grounds she replies, “Then I’ll have to keep him hidden.”
Jean offers to help, which surprises and delights Ellen.
Hiding the cat in a basket, Ellen and Jean take the cat back to their dorm hoping to secrete it there.
Unfortunately Matron is present when another girl starts sneezing and says she’s allergic to cats. It isn’t a big leap for Matron to put together the missing kippers and the sound of soft mewing and figure out what is going on. She demands the girls hand over the cat. The girls hand the cat and basket over to Matron. Disgusted, she instructs the gardener’s assistant, Ron (Jude Harper-Wrobel), to “dispose of the filthy creature.”
Ron leaves with the basket on the back of his pushbike but Ellie runs after him and begs him not to take it away. He informs her the cat’s owners moved away and so he’s a stray now, making Ellen all the more determined to keep him. Reluctantly Ron agrees.
Later, Jean is looking for Ellen and finds her in the potting shed, but is horrified to see she still has the cat. Ellen insists she can look after him without anyone finding out.
Jean realises she isn’t to be dissuaded and as she cuddles the cat she asks Ellen what she’s going to call him. “Kenny,” declares Ellen.
Throughout season two Ellen successfully hides Kenny, so much so that he makes few appearances. In the episode The Quiz, Ellen is feeding Kenny some kippers in the potting shed in the first scene.
As the second season wraps up with The Lost Treasure, Matron, who is depressed over the possibility of the school closing, is sitting on a bench in the garden when Kenny approaches her. “Oh, if you think you’re getting your mitts on my kippers . . . oh, what does it matter now,” Matron sighs, offering the cat some of the prized fish.
As the school year comes to a close and the girls prepare to go home, Ellen regrets not being able to find the cat and worries about who will feed him over the summer. Jean offers to go look for Kenny with Ellen. Out front the girls are surprised to see Mr. Parker (Jason Callender) kissing a woman named Poppy when they thought he had proposed to Matron. Matron approaches the girls holding Kenny and laughs when she finds out the girls thought she was engaged and explains that Mr. Parker had been down on one knee to try to coax Kenny out from under a cabinet. “I’d choose a cat over a man any day!” Matron scoffs.
Ellen and Jean arrive and are thrilled Matron has found Kenny. “So you’ve been looking after the cat all year,” Matron notes, then continues, “Well, with your permission, I’ll look after him and he’ll look after me this summer.” Ellen and Jean are thrilled and Kenny looks pretty happy, too.
A scene from The Stray was used in the opening credits of the show for the two actresses.
Behind the Scenes
Actress Beth Bradfield noted in an interview with the website Tresa that working with the cat actor who played Kenny was a highlight of performing in season two for her, explaining that she is a cat person. Kenny was also included in a publicity shot for the series with actress Carys John.
Kenny was not in the original book series and did not re-appear after season two. But author Enid Blyton, who wrote the Malory Towers books, also penned some books featuring Siamese cats such as The Mystery of the Disappearing Cat and Bimbo and Topsy as well as several stories which included kitties. Blyton owned a Siamese cat named Bimbo and would include a letter from her pet in issues of a magazine called Sunny Stories written and edited by the author for children.
Final Mewsings: Strays should stick together.
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