Mallory Towers!

[PlomBear]

On BBC iplayer from Monday!

Miriel, I think you’re thinking of Ellen, whose mother was a cook at the school? Or was she a matron? Anyway, Ellen never really fitted in. Her brother (Eddie?) was a slightly shady character who made an appearance too.

Ellen was the cheating scholarship girl in the second form at MT. Eileen whose mother was matron was in Claudine at St Clare's. I don't think Eddie was shady, just impoverished and working class. Which to Blyton probably meant the same thing!

Ohh, thanks Queen.
I was never quite as into St Clare’s - it didn’t have the swimming pool and I didn’t like the twins very much, even after they stopped being “stuck up.”

Queen yes no doubt!

I downloaded the first book on my Kindle as a result of this thread. I still have the old versions at mum and dad's but obviously I can't go and get them just now.

Anyway I really enjoyed it. I thought the story was quite well structured tbh (IMHO, mind you, I have not been reading much challenging stuff lately ) with events pivoting around the pool incidents, and Darrell's "journey" of recognising her strengths and weaknesses and seeing the good in others etc.

I especially loved Mary Lou and Sally, and I agree with PP who said the girl playing Mary Lou in the programme is really good. I felt a bit sorry for GML, and even more so for her governess, who we see during the half term visit to MT.

Also contrary to my earlier post, the dorm in the book does actually sound quite nice and comfortable, and the beds all have different brightly coloured eiderdowns so the programme was accurate there.

Anyway. Obviously I've downloaded the second book already!

Got two more episodes to watch and for some reason I've stopped enjoying it as much, maybe I'm just being a grumpy cow today

We've watched them all. Not read the books, not sure why as I did read EB books when i was a child. Their uniforms kept reminding me of Su Pollards character in Hi-di-hi! They should've been wearing smart pinafore dresses. Gwendoline was brilliantly awful.

@icelolly, I wondered about the gingham dresses, but DM confirms that this is what she wore as summer uniform at her girls boarding school in the 1950s (I know MT is late 40s).

They should've been wearing smart pinafore dresses.

Not in the summer term. It was definitely the norm to swap tunics for cotton dresses once it was warm enough.

@BikeRunSki gingham would've been better. When I started senior school some pupils wore gingham dresses. Can't imagine teenagers wearing them these days

I missed the brown and orange tunics. It’s in the first book where Darrell looks at herself in the mirror before she sets off to school for the first time.

We had to wear summer dresses at secondary school in the early 80s. Not gingham, thank goodness, but a dark blue print on a mid blue background if I remember right. You had to buy the material and get the dresses made - by mums or a dressmaker. And the approved patterns were all hideous.
Thank goodness after two years they were abandoned in favour of short sleeved blouses.

When I was at boarding school in the sixties, we had different uniform for Sundays. They decided to go trendy and opted for a sort of shift dress in a flowery material in the summer term. It was utterly hideous, and the worst thing was that it was sufficiently un-uniform like to make people think you had actually chosen it and just had appallingly bad taste.

Judy the worst thing was that it was sufficiently un-uniform like to make people think you had actually chosen it and just had appallingly bad taste.

My DD and I just finished reading all MT a month ago - this is superb timing! We've watched the first six now, can't wait to binge watch more when she's back from her dads!

Dd and I on our second watch, I loved the MT books as a child and dd has read them too. Slightly painful to watch as an adult, Gwen is soooo nasty!

I'm currently binge watching this. I loved the books as a child and was gutted that my parents wouldn't send me to boarding school.

To me, the dormitory and the pool was how I imagined it. The school building not so much!

The ghost story is highly irritating!

How old are the actresses? Nowadays everyone under the age if 25 appears about 12 to me so I'm not sure how old they are.

Do we know what is the name of the building that is being used as the school for filming?

I would say they're all around 12, though Katherine and Sally look slightly older.

Did someone say it's part-filmed in Canada? The actresses playing Misses Potts and Grayling are both Canadian and I think Mam'zelle is too. And Alicia of course.

They all look a lot older than 12 to me. It’s something that I find irritating about it. They look too old for the characters.

Just seen the push

How did dr r get the appendix out ? Would he carry gas or knocking out drugs

And yes the girls look young now but so did harry in hp stone
And last book he was a strapping lad

Wonder if they will make a mt eveey year or a few a year

I wasn’t allowed to read Malory Towers as a child - my mum was very snobby about Enid Blyton, and thought the quality of her writing was poor. I was allowed to read some Chalet School stories, although I only read three of the books as a child, and didn’t read the other 60-odd until I was an adult, lodging with a woman who was a fan and had the full set.

I have watched the whole series - although now I am wishing I had rationed myself, and made it last longer - and really enjoyed it.

I have only spotted two teachers, apart from the Head teacher - Miss Potts and Mam’zelle - they must be rather overworked, poor things!

It is interesting, seeing the similarities between MT and the CS - both had brown and orange uniforms (though the CS call it brown and flame - as if that is better somehow). And I am sure I remember the CS girls being able to choose any colour for their summer dresses, as long as they were made to the same pattern.

I hated the chalet school!

I loved everything EB wrote. Famous five, secret seven, Malory Towers, St Clare’s (poss my favourite!) and the other ones with Kiki the parrot!? The castle of adventure etc?!

My favourite EB school series were the Naughtiest Girl - did anyone read them? The kids ruled the school!
I loved pretty much all the books I read of hers - the find outers and the mystery series with Barney stand out in my mind. I worked in a library in the 80s/90s and the books were vilified by the staff in there, I had to keep my mouth shut on that subject because I loved them. I just see them as a product of their time, nothing to hate about them.

I wasn't a fan of the Seven as they always left the girls out of the best adventures!

I liked the Mystery series, about two sisters. One was called Diana or Dinah, can't remember the other one's name.

Or was that a different series? Barney rings a bell though...

Unless they've found some particularly flat-chested older actresses with no hips, most of the girls look around 12 to me.