A few years ago I wrote about my decades-long love for Enid Blyton’s children’s book series The Famous Five. In that post I made a passing comment on the television adaptations, recommending them to English language learners as an additional learning resource they can use together with the books.
In this post I’m going to expand on that by presenting my favourite TV series based on Blyton’s adventure stories, namely the 1978-1979 version of The Famous Five, produced by Southern Television. If you’re unfamiliar with the title, let me first sum up The Famous Five for you:
The series follows the adventures of three siblings—Julian, Dick, and Anne—their cousin George, and her dog, Timmy. Each episode finds the fearless gang solving mysteries, often involving hidden treasure, smugglers, robbers and such. The adventures typically take place in picturesque coastal locations, showcasing the beauty of the British countryside. The series emphasizes teamwork, problem-solving, and the importance of loyalty and friendship.
There’s a number of reasons why I’m partial to this particular adaptation. Having been born in 1979, I love the late ‘70s aesthetics of the series, just as much as I love the even more retro setting of the original novels. From the music to the fashion… It all awakes a wonderful sense of nostalgia. So, for me there’s that added element of having a personal connection with the time period. It’s just very satisfying.
A common criticism when it comes to television adaptations is that they often deviate too much from the books they are based on. One could make that criticism in the case of The Famous Five: the episodes don’t follow the books in their chronological order; some episodes merge elements from different novels in the series; storylines tend to be simplified and many of the details present in the books are skipped over…
All that may be true, but if you haven’t read any of the books, you wouldn’t even know about it. Interestingly, the production ended after two successful seasons only after the Blyton estate expressly prohibited the writing of any new content outside what was already in the canonical 21 novels. Taking creative liberties was tolerated, but it was still imperative for the series to be an actual adaptation of the existing novels, rather than a whole new creation loosely based on them. And the way it was done was very clever and skillful, with the obvious intention to retain the spirit of Blyton’s writings. Another plus in my book!
However, the single biggest strength of the series are the cast: Marcus Harris as Julian, Gary Russell as Dick, Jennifer Thanisch as Anne, and Michele Gallagher playing George. (And Toddy in the role of Timmy the Dog, of course). I’ve found them all superb—and they are just as I would picture the book characters in my mind before I ever had the chance to see the series.
The Famous Five has been issued and reissued on DVDs multiple times during the 2000s, and depending on where you live, you might even be able to find the series on some of the streaming platforms (just don’t confuse it with the more recent adaptation released in the 1990s). If you don’t mind a somewhat subpar, VHS-like image quality, you can easily find all the episodes on YouTube. To save you some time, here are the links to all 26 episodes:
- Five on Kirrin Island – Part 1
- Five on Kirrin Island – Part 2
- Five Go Adventuring Again
- Five Go to Smuggler’s Top – Part 1
- Five Go to Smuggler’s Tio – Part 2
- Five Go Off in a Caravan
- Five Go Off to Camp – Part 1
- Five Go Off to Camp – Part 2
- Five on a Hike Together
- Five Go to Mystery Moor
- Five on a Secret Trail
- Five Go to Billycock Hill
- Five on Finniston Farm
- Five Get into Trouble – Prisoners
- Five Get into Trouble – Conspiracies
- Five Get into a Fix
- Five Get Together Again – Part 1
- Five Get Together Again – Part 2
- Five Have a Wonderful Time
- Five Fall into Adventure – Part 1
- Five Fall into Adventure – Part 2
- Five Run Away Together
- Five Go to Demon’s Rocks – Part 1
- Five Go to Demon’s Rocks – Part 2
- Five Go Down to the Sea – Part 1
- Five Go Down to the Sea – Part 2
If you’ve never encountered The Famous Five books or this TV series, I hope you’ll feel encouraged to explore the wonderfully exciting world of Julian, Dick, Anne, George, and Timmy. I return to it from time to time, partly to relive my own childhood, but also to simply enjoy these timeless escapist stories, in all their retro glory.
ADDITIONAL LINKS
The Famous Five – theme and incidental music playlist
The Famous Five special cast reunion video
Eighty years of “The Famous Five”
NOTES
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