Despite watching a good deal of Miss. Marple, I have been having a great of trouble remembering the names of all the ladies involved, despite the use of a version of the alphabet game. Which takes the form of going through the alphabet, finding ladies' names for each of the letters. For some obscure reason, the right name quite often pops out, pops out when frontal assault had failed to get it.
Agatha Christie does not get lost.
But the forename of Jane Marple can sometimes take a few seconds to retrieve.
While the lively Margaret Rutherford often gets lost altogether.
Joan Hickson usually survives, although I sometimes have to cast about a bit. The best Marple of the bunch for regular consumption; the main course, with the others being just tasters, amuse-bouches, by comparison.
Geraldine McEwen often gets lost altogether, although the brain may be being confused in this case by her also appearing in a version of Mapp & Lucia, one of the two versions which we watch when we need a change.
Julia McKenzie is usually present, with both forename and family name. She may survive for her sensible remark, as the fourth in line, that it was no good trying to be the person whom one is succeeding, however good she may have been on her watch. One has to be one's own person, to make the role one's own.
The seventh, Anna Massey, gets an honorary degree, as it were, on the grounds that I often mix her up with Geraldine McEwen. Again, often missing.
A couple of days ago I had thought that I had got them all lodged firmly in the brain. And by way of a mnemonic I noted that there were a lot of J (and soft G) sounds, and little beyond M. A short version of the alphabet game should suffice.
But then this morning, Joan Hickson and Geraldine McEwen both went missing for about ten minutes.
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