Gladys Dixon

In the novel The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side, Gladys Dixon is a seamstress who lives in The Development in St. Mary Mead, and works at the film studio's canteen.

Gladys is described as a "plump girl with a plain face". She lives at No. 16 Blenheim Close, and is a friend of Cherry Baker.

Gladys tells Cherry that Marina Gregg had created a scene at the studio, saying that there was something wrong with her coffee. Gladys felt that there could not have been anything wrong with the coffee, because it came from the same jug as everyone else's coffee. Gladys always poured Marina's coffee into a special china cup, but it was the same coffee as what everyone else drank. Jason Rudd had calmed everyone down, taken the coffee from Marina, and poured it down the sink.

Gladys had helped at Gossington Hall on the day of the fête, and had been quite nearby when Heather Badcock spilled her cocktail. She comments on how lovely Heather's new royal blue nylon taffeta dress was, and says that something struck her as "funny". She says that "she did it on purpose", and that she is thinking of having a word with Giuseppe about it. Cherry is of the opinion that Gladys just wants an excuse to talk to Giuseppe.

Sergeant Tiddler later goes to Gladys' house looking for her, but is told that she has gone fro a holiday, and has not left an address.

It is later revealed that Miss Marple went to see Gladys, gave her some money, and told her to take a holiday in Bournemouth, and not write home. She did this because she did not want Gladys to be killed.

It is further revealed that when Gladys said that "she did it on purpose", she was not referring to Heather Badcock, but to the murderer, who had deliberately jogged Heather's arm, making her spill her cocktail.

Portrayals
In the 1992 BBC adaptation, the character of Gladys Dixon is played by Rose Keegan. Here she is not a seamstress but a maid at Gossington Hall and had been serving drinks during the reception in the house on the day of the fete. She did not tell Giuseppe (The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side) about what she had seen concerning the poisoning of Heather Badcock. Instead, she told her friend Cherry Baker who brought her to see Miss Marple. This was towards the end of the episode. Miss Marple was able to solve the case soon after and so she was not really in danger and was not sent away for her safety. Like in the original story, she also had trouble mixing up her pronouns and it took Miss Marple a while to sort out what exactly she was trying to say.

In ITV's 2010 adaptation of the novel, the name of the character is changed to "Primrose Dixon" and the part is played by Lois Jones. Otherwise the portrayal is quite faithful to the original. She usually works serving coffee at the film studio but Ella Blunt, Jason Rudd's secretary, asks her to help at the fete. She notices that Marina Gregg deliberately spilt Heather Babcock's cocktail. Only in this adaptation she doesn't tell Giuseppe (who is not cast), she tells Ella Blunt instead. Later Primrose tells her good friend Cherry Baker who tells Miss Marple. As in the original novel, Miss Marple sends Primrose, accompanied by Cherry, to Bournemouth for a holiday for her safety.