elegant and very simple, really

There is practically nothing Ms Baroque likes better than to curl up on the sofa with a nice cup of tea and watch Joan Hickson playing Miss Marple. The story is definitely secondary to wonderful character.

Of course she is elegantly dressed - even exotically dressed, until a couple of years ago, when 'secretary chic' flooded the high street with tweed, some of it very cheap - in her simple suits and blouses, shawls and hats and sensible shoes. Miss Marples elegance is of the kind that is out not to get noticed. And her clothes, in a brilliant stroke, mirror her personality: sensible, and even (at first glance) bland, until one takes in their high quality and general wonderfulness. For Miss Marple is expensively dressed. It makes you wonder about her means.

Miss Marple never raises her voice. She never laughs loudly or cracks stupid jokes or has to pull up her top in a vain effort at covering her bosom. She sits in wonderful hotel lobbies, knitting - and, incidentally, owning the scene. Can you imagine owning that many hotel lobbies? People are inclined, it is true, not to take Miss Marple seriously - but, to be honest, you can have that problem without being Miss Marple, and any of us could learn from her polite assertiveness techniques. I love the way the realisation slowly dawns on those police officers.

She is the hub of calm, in her calming tweed suit from the Army & Navy, or Barkers of Kensington, while chaos explodes around her; she is never in a flap, though it does upset her when she can't figure something out; oh, yes. She can be a little sharp; Ms B also. That's one thing we have in common. And we both make a great cup of tea.