Mary Dogood

Mary Dogood is a black comedy that follows the heroine from adolescence to womanhood. During this time she is incarcerated in a secure hospital for trying to blow up her cruel father, and, possibly, murdering a fellow schoolgirl.

Mary blossoms into womanhood while in Riverdale secure hospital, and comes to the attention of oafish guard Claude Mc Bean, and creepy psychiatrist Doctor Templeton Lightbody. They both sexually abuse her, but Mary dupes the noxious pair into helping her escape, and assumes a new identity.

Having taken two degrees while in Riverdale, Mary successfully applies for a lecturing post at The Nigel Baird College Of Further Education, in Manchester. There she meets and falls in love with Assistant Principal Harry Clark.

For a short while life is sweet for Mary Dogood. She has a job she loves, a man she loves, and a home of her own. But soon, powerful forces in the college see Mary as threat to their fraudulent activities and try to frame her for theft in order to get rid of her. Mary knows who the culprits are and is enraged by their actions. But what to do about it?

When she suffers at the hands of others, Mary is always stalked by The Blue Lady, a ghostly figure who always demands the ultimate penalty for Mary's tormentors. It was she who urged Mary to blow up her father, and who may have been present when the schoolgirl met her end. Mary tries to resist The Blue Lady's commands, but when one of her college enemies goes missing and the other is found hanged, it seems The Blue Lady has prevailed again.

But with one set of foes gone, others appear. They are crazed Sports Science lecturer Jock McKnutt, and Writer In Residence, Tommy Dangerfield. The pair, inadvertently aided by Sports Science student Jerome P. Nugent, whose bizarre sexual proclivities draw him to Mary, begin to suspect who Mary really is.

They visit Claude McBean in prison. Mary has quite ingeniously
framed Claude for her own murder. They then go to Lightbody's isolated cottage, where Mary spent time immediately after her escape. And there they find proof of Mary's true identity.

But they do not go to the police straight away. Dangerfield believes he has a 'best seller' on his hands, and possibly a movie also, with Sean Connery playing the part of McKnutt in the celluloid version of Mary's unmasking.

They decide to get maximum effect by exposing Mary at the college's annual barbecue. And so the scene is set. But will Mary be exposed? Or will she be saved by a twist in the tale?

Daniel Boyle has been a successful scriptwriter for twenty five years: 'Inspector Morse', 'Rebus', 'Hamish MacBeth', 'Taggart', 'Lewis'. He has also penned four original films for TV and is currently under commission to Rooster Film and Television Ltd, to adapt Mary Dogood for the screen.