Doolally?

Well, tonight's episode of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple marks the very first time in my life that I have heard the delicious term "doolally" (dolally? do-lally?) spill from the lips of anyone other than my mother (or of those of my family who say it in emulation of her). I always knew it must have been some sort of British colloquialism from the 1950s or earlier – quite possibly no longer in current use, and more or less synonymous with barmy, which I believed she never used – but I have never heard or read it anywhere, not even from my relations still living in England. I shall have to research the term to see if I can find out how it is spelled (if it even has a standard spelling).

Altogether, this new Marple production has been an utter delight – beautiful cinematography and locales, cracking great cast, and of course Geraldine McEwan of Lucia and Barchester fame beats Joan Hickson (I'm sorry, but she's unwatchable) hands down. So far I have found the series to be marred only by the rather wearisome and quite unnecessary intrusion of a slightly racy backstory for Miss Marple in the form of a secret love tragically killed in WWI (a married lover, no less): can't the writers imagine their twenty-first century audience respecting or empathizing with a character if she were a genuine "old maid"? Thankfully, this evident attempt to sexualize Miss Marple is brief and easy to ignore (thankfully, the the schmaltzy touch of a nightly ritual with the dead love's photograph is dropped after the first episode). All told, between this new series and the mostly quite enjoyable Foyle's War, Mystery seems to be recovering from the wilderness years of Rather Badly Mrs. Bradleys and Thinly Written Inspector Linleys (not to mention the unmentionable Hetty Wainthrop).

I can't believe Patsy is going to be in the next installment! Can't wait.

Categories: doolally, etymology, language, marple, mystery, lucia, british, agathachristie, byjjmg