E. Nesbit - The Railway Children, etc.

[Anita Bensoussane]

A lovely thing to do, Adrian. I'm sure the young enthusiast will have a super day.

[number 6]

Thanks Katharine, Pete and Anita! Fingers crossed she'll have a fabulous day.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I've just finished the DVD of the 1976 The Phoenix and the Carpet and thoroughly enjoyed it. My sister and I watched it as children when it was first broadcast (and read the book immediately afterwards) and the flying carpet and talking phoenix made a great impression on us, inspiring many imaginative games.

The TV serial relies quite obviously on studio sets in some episodes but the "special effects" are still surprisingly effective, although fairly basic by today's standards. Details like that don't detract from the story, which is nicely-paced and engaging. The actors (including a young Gary Russell as Cyril) do a good job and I rather like the mechanical phoenix - there's a touch of Professor Yaffle (Bagpuss) about him. Anthea is played by Tamzin Neville, sister of Sophie Neville (Titty in Swallows and Amazons, 1974). Tamzin and Sophie's mother, Daphne Neville, plays the mother in The Phoenix and the Carpet. By the way, if anyone can identify the theatre in the final episode I'd be interested to know which theatre it is.

I wonder whether some plot threads might have influenced Enid Blyton (there's no record of her having read E. Nesbit but she did read the magazine The Strand, in which a number of Nesbit books were serialised). For example, there's an episode involving the finding of family treasure (as happens in several Blyton books) and the flying carpet gets damaged just as the flying chair does in Blyton's Wishing-Chair series.

I'm delighted that this serial is as good as I remembered and I'm sure I'll watch it again at some point. I became attached to the characters and found the ending very moving, just as I did as a child.

[Rob Houghton]

I'm glad you found it 'up to scratch' Anita! I know that quite often, with things we've seen as a child, they fall short of our memories when we watch them as an adult. This happened a little with The Enchanted Castle - which as a child I thought was utterly amazing, and devoured hungrily (like you with Phoenix I bought the book afterwards - complete with 'TV cover' depicting a scene from the TV show) - but when I watched the series again a couple of years ago I was a bit disappointed - mainly with the special effects. As a child they were magical, but these days we have become blase about special effects, which are of course so much better now.

I think I will definitely buy The Phoenix and the Carpet. Back when I watched it the first time, I remember it was the mechanical Phoenix that impressed me the most, because he was really so unusual and very magical/slightly creepy!

As people will know from articles I've written, I'm sure Enid read many of E Nesbit's novels. After all, as you say, they appeared in The Strand, which Enid read...and we tend to forget now that, before Enid Blyton, E Nesbit was one of the most popular children's authors of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. I see many similarities between The Railway Children and The Family At Red Roofs, and can see that there are indeed similarities between The Phoenix and the Carpet and The Wishing Chair -- in fact its almost as if Enid thought 'oh, blow! They've already done a magic carpet...!' and so she made up a Wishing Chair instead...with Chinky instead of the Phoenix!

I would also suggest that Enid Blyton's 'The Put-Em-Rights' where children interfere in other people's lives in an attempt to make things better, is very much like E Nesbit's 'The Wouldbegoods' - which has a similar sounding name, and features a similar plot idea.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Yes, there are quite a few echoes of Nesbit in Blyton and I'm surprised Enid didn't mention having read any of Edith's books as I'm sure the inventive stories and wonderfully lively, natural characters would have appealed to her greatly.

[Rob Houghton]

Last night we finished watching the BBC 1970's adaptation of The Phoenix and the Carpet - two episodes a night. What an absolute joy it was to see this again! I remembered very little of it, as the last time I saw it I must only have been 5 or 6! It was remarkably well-done for its time - the special effects were shaky compared to 2019 of course, but very passable - and the acting from the children was on the whole extremely good. As when I was a kid, it was the Phoenix that stuck out for me - such a great creation - comic, proud, worldly-wise and very big-headed! Well worth having...and I have been inspired now to get 'Five Children and It' - a BBC adaptation I only vaguely remember, as I was 'too old' for it when it came out in 1991.

[Courtenay]

I wasn't aware that there was a 1970s version of The Phoenix and the Carpet (bit before my time) — I did read the book and the other sequel, The Story of the Amulet, when I was perhaps 11 or 12, but didn't enjoy either of them as much as Five Children and It. I liked the character of the Phoenix, though!

and I have been inspired now to get 'Five Children and It' - a BBC adaptation I only vaguely remember, as I was 'too old' for it when it came out in 1991.

I remember that one and sort of liked it, sort of didn't... I don't remember it that well, but I know it departed from the book in quite a few respects (not something I appreciate in an adaptation unless there's a really good reason for it or it genuinely improves the story). I recall at one point one of the children's wishes resulted in them being transported from Edwardian England to 1990s England, which was just weird and definitely didn't enhance the plot. (Predictable situations like all the '90s people they met assuming they must be in fancy dress, and one of the children exclaiming "Look, the counter's moving!" as they enter a modern supermarket with conveyor-belt checkouts — that's about all I remember of it.) I thought the Psammead was cute and quite cleverly done, but I was a bit disappointed that his eyes didn't stand out on stalks as they do in the book! Will be interested to hear what you think of it, Rob.

[Rob Houghton]

I recall at one point one of the children's wishes resulted in them being transported from Edwardian England to 1990s England, which was just weird and definitely didn't enhance the plot. (Predictable situations like all the '90s people they met assuming they must be in fancy dress, and one of the children exclaiming "Look, the counter's moving!" as they enter a modern supermarket with conveyor-belt checkouts — that's about all I remember of it.)

I'm a bit surprised about that, as I have actually had this version on video in the past and watched it - but I don't remember those scenes set in the 1990's!

I wasn't aware that there was a 1970s version of The Phoenix and the Carpet (bit before my time)

Almost before my time too - it was made in 1976 when I was 5. Cyril is played by a certain Gary Russell...!

It sticks to the plot of the book very closely except for the final chapter where the children build a funeral pyre for the phoenix. I guess this might have been a bit horrific for a children's TV programme! The egg is just found at the theatre in the previous chapter.

[Courtenay]

I'm a bit surprised about that, as I have actually had this version on video in the past and watched it - but I don't remember those scenes set in the 1990's!

Hmmm, maybe I'm mixing it up with another BBC children's series of the same time. (Did they do Amulet as well? I know there's a scene in that one, in the book, where the children visit an idealised future Britain, as imagined by Nesbit the Edwardian socialist.) I thought it was Five Children and It, but it's a bit of a blur. I know it was on TV at a time when I didn't pay as much attention to such shows as I would have a year or two earlier — I was sort of starting to "go off" children's stories, or so I thought, as I was finishing primary school and trying to grow up... I never did manage that, though, so I finally gave up. (And started reading children's books again, including, of course, Enid Blyton.)

[Rob Houghton]

I'm not sure. They did do a sequel based on the Helen Cresswell book, 'Return of the Psammead' in 1993...

I'll let you know when I watch the BBC adaptation of Five Children and It!

[Courtenay]

I'm not sure. They did do a sequel based on the Helen Cresswell book, 'Return of the Psammead' in 1993...

Yes, perhaps that was it. I seem to recall the ABC did show a sequel as well as the adaptation of the original story, but it's all a bit vague now!

[Rob Houghton]

Well, I've now watched 'Five Children and It' - a very entertaining series - 6 episodes - and very faithful to the book - in fact the only part they missed out was where the children are hunted by 'Red Indians' - probably not deemed suitable for a children's series in the 1990's. Very well done, and highly recommended!

[Courtenay]

Ah, so the journey into the future must have been from the sequel, then. I'm glad they didn't tamper with the original. I do now remember wondering whether the "Red Indians" episode from the book would be in the TV version and I wasn't surprised that it was left out. British children in the past did of course pretend to be "Red Indians" with no intention of being racist and, I would think, a genuine sense of respect (however naïve), but still obviously based on stereotypes and ideas that would now be understood as culturally insensitive.

I'm just thinking they might possibly have been able to leave it in if the episode just involved the children themselves playing "Red Indians", with some on-screen disclaimer at the start to point out that this is simply reflecting real games and attitudes that were popular in Edwardian times and is not intended to endorse racial stereotypes etc. It would still be highly controversial in today's society — there are some who'd prefer to have certain games and toys and practices written out of history altogether (like golliwogs) rather than being portrayed and understood in their historical context. But since the plot in this story involves the children meeting "real" Indians who attempt to scalp them — and are then apparently too stupid to realise that they've only removed the children's wigs, not their real scalps!! — I can't see how it could be rewritten in any acceptable way today, so it's probably better they left it out.

[Rob Houghton]

Yes - a bit like in the 1976 version of The Phoenix and the Carpet - the only slightly uncomfortable bits were the scenes on the 'tropical island' with the 'natives' (white people browned up wearing black fuzzy wigs and grass skirts, dancing up and down and speaking gibberish) who proclaim the cook their queen. Of course, when we read it, the sequence seems less racist because it is written rather than seen, and its sort of magical at the same time, because its a children's view of a tropical isle - but I found the TV depictions surprising, even for the 1970's!

Of course, E Nesbit was a big Socialist and was very liberal...so it sort of seems at odds with how we view socialism and liberalism today - which proves, I think, that neither Nesbit or Blyton were racist in any way - just products of their time.

[burlingtonbertram]

This happened a little with The Enchanted Castle ..when I watched the series again a couple of years ago I was a bit disappointed - mainly with the special effects. As a child they were magical, but these days we have become blase about special effects, which are of course so much better now.

I've said this before and I'll say it again. The Ugly-Wuglies: WHAT WERE THE PRODUCERS THINKING!

OH THE HORROR!

Apologies for the caps but it's the nearest I can get to a scream.