Mallory Towers!

[PlomBear]

On BBC iplayer from Monday!

I'm wondering if the people that made it actually read it.

I have binge watched most of the series today, even 16 year old ds has been watching.

Gave up 10 mins in. I adored the books but I can't relate them to what's on screen at all. I'm sure that my new extended screen time possibilities will mean that I come back to it but I didn't love it.

I'm wondering if the people that made it actually read it

That's what my husband said -- he has two older sisters and a childhood affection for Malory Towers, while I think St Clare's is the better series. I haven't seen any of it yet, but he said the writers had clearly just borrowed the goodwill of the name and character names, and then written something which bears absolutely no resemblance to any aspect of the novels. Of course, making a series which is true to the spirit of the series would involve uncomplicatedly celebrating snobbery, xenophobia and bullying, so that's not ever going to be made...

Plus a 21st c Darrell would probably have been expelled and charged with assault for throwing Sally across the room in first form, and the series would have had to go on without her...

21st c Darrell would probably have been expelled and charged with assault for throwing Sally across the room in first form

And, ironically, half the cast wouldn't have lasted 5 minutes at the original MT as they would've been poked fun at for being overweight, foreign, or both!

Hmm I’m not really a fan of this. Some aspects are good such as setting - the building and the pool are just as described in the books. Mrs Grayling good too. Why do they have to meddle and chuck in Alicia as an American? I’m sure kids nowadays are smart enough to realise that if something is in a historic setting it isn’t going to be just like nowadays so they don’t need to be so pc. Why not chuck in a bit more unpleasantness in the characters too? They all get some sort of comeuppance or realise their errors anyway.

See, I think that if they left it as it was, it would raise a lot of areas for discussion.
Jean's meant to be Scottish - and possibly red-haired. Gwendlyn is nowhere near plump and bratty enough, Alicia is totally wrong, so is Sally.

Yes, it was xenophobic and all of those other terrible things, but if you're not going to translate the thing to the screen as it was, then don't pretend it is what is isn't.

The school building is totally wrong, and as for the uniform....

@Standrewsschool They are laxy sticks not hockey sticks doncha know 😀.
Hmm not sure. The uniform looks like my school in the fifties. The modernisation of language / characters / diversity just feels really uncomfortable to me. Neither t'other nor which.

E2. When in bed and MatRon comes in

What happened to jean? Her face ? Burnt in a fire ?

I don’t remember any girl in the books having a disability but I guess they are just trying to make the series more diverse?

@Blondeshavemorefun I think the actress has a medical condition.

Bloody love Malory Towers! I re read them all last year and my 6 year old loves the audiobooks. We’ll be watching this during lockdown! Yay!

written something which bears absolutely no resemblance to any aspect of the novels.

But that isn't true. There are several aspects of the storyline that come straight from the books.

I think Darrell, Mary Lou and Miss Grayling are pretty accurate.
Alicia, Miss Potts and Matron are just so wrong.
But I’m enjoying it so far.
That swimming pool looks lovely but cold!

Was the stuff about why Darrell left her last school in the books?

Think she lost her temper and slapped a girl

Then did it at mt

And oh. Didn’t reliese that about actress who plays jean :(

I don't remember Darrell being expelled from her last school in the books?

I don't remember Darrell being expelled from her last school in the books?

She wasn’t.

Location and pool - spot on

Matron - a bloody travesty. She was warm and caring, not a bully.
Miss Grayling - Yes, loved her

Uniform - wrong

All the girls, terribly wrong - A little bit gutted. Even DD1 aged 10 was asking why Gwen was bullying and blackmailing Darrell.

written something which bears absolutely no resemblance to any aspect of the novels.

The entire series is based on the first book, every episode is basically a chapter of the book, it's just been rejigged so that each episode covers a single storyline within the series arc that can be wrapped up within that episode, rather than everything happening at once.

Yes some things aren't right - matron seems to have taken on Mamzelle Rougier's temperament and Miss Potts seems to teach everything except French, while also doing wake ups and being on call at any time of night - but overall it's fairly good for a modern adaptation of a period children's book.

Oh and as for why Alicia isn't British, the series is co produced by a Canadian company, filmed on location in Canada and has Canadian actors in the cast - most notably Zoey Siewert who is playing Alicia, Jennifer Wigmore who is playing Miss Grayling and Genevieve Beaudet who is playing Mam'zelle.

E4 - the slap - Expelled for nearly /pushing a teacher down the stairs

Loved these as a kid. Not too impressed by the two I've watched, but I'll carry on. Agree it felt like they did a tick list of all the different ethnicities/disabilities they wanted. They also seem to spend a lot of time not actually doing lessons. Waking up whenever and going to the pool. Also hated the scene in ep2 when Darrell and Gwen came back at night and they were all tiptoeing round the school but having really loud conversations in rooms flooded with light.
I quite like the actress playing Darrell - reminds me of my niece. Not too impressed with many of the other casting choices. Alicia is not right at all.

I don't see why people say the uniform is wrong - it's pretty similar to what we wore in the 60s in the summer term, except ours was hideous red gingham rather than yellow.

I loved it! My girls and I watched 3 episodes last night. I thought it was brilliant! (I agree about the change in Matron's character, but it was still a brilliant watch.). The pool was just as described in the books. Great acting by the girls too.