Joanna Lumley plays a blinder as Miss Marple's Watson. When her friend, Dolly Bantry (Joanna Lumley) says they never have wild parties in St Mary Mead, she agrees with infinitely lingering regret "N-a-y-o-w." You wouldn't have thought a single vowel could be stretched out as long as that without a wild horse at either end. Talking of little tarts, her sidelong eyes are full of mischief, and one suspects that this Miss Marple has a racy past. Her tiny face is screwed up like a withered apple, sharp and possibly a little tart. (Phoebe de Gaye - I know she sounds implausible - has had a lot of fun with the costumes.) She is so fond of this particular hat, and indeed it is flattering, that she has a blue and a green version. As Miss Marple she looks like a mischievous elf wearing a hat like a fallen leaf or half a harebell. At a gathering of the Clan McEwan, all with mighty knees and some playing the bagpipes, she would stand out. Invisible is not in a leading lady's vocabulary. Now, Christie's idea of Miss Marple was a maiden lady, so fluttery, so flustered, so wreathed in fluffy wool that she was effectively invisible.
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