Famous Five 90s Series

Discuss the television and film adaptations of Enid Blyton's stories.
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Pippa-Stef
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Re: Famous Five 90s Series

Post by Pippa-Stef »

Petermax wrote:
Thank you for that information Tony, the cardboard cover of Secret Trail did intrigue me somewhat. I paid slightly over the odds for this very rare tape prior to my discovery of the 1990's Famous Five series Dutch DVD box-set. Needless to say, I was somewhat annoyed!
I almost paid forty for one! :shock: But at the time our main computer was down and mine wasn't connected to the internet so we put in the max bid we (e.g. my mum) was willing to pay, and we were out bid in the last minutes!

On finding the DVD's It was a relief that I hadn't paid so much for one tape!

The ones I've seen didn't seem to be in carboard! They looked like they were in plastic boxes! :roll:

Anyway it's because it wasn't released isn't it?- They're collectable!
"You're so sharp you'll cut yourself one day!" Hunchy said going to the door
"So my Mother told me that when I was two years old!" said Julian and the others giggled.

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TB3
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Re: Famous Five 90s Series

Post by TB3 »

Pippa-Stef wrote:A way around that though is to get the DVD, because the DVD's only lacking feature is the lask of Smugglers top!
Hehe - got a copy of the Dutch box-set in the post the other day and noticed the absence of Smuggler's Top off the bat - peeved me a bit but thankfully the episode can be seen online. A fantastic two-parter with a wonderfully eccentric Mr Barling. Who can forget his saving of Timmy from the quicksand at the end, and then his lamentation over loosing "a very fine hat"?

Having not watched the 90s series in a while it really was a delight to rewatch it - some of the writing is fantastic, especially where they expand on some of the elements Enid wrote or tweak it for dramatic effect - I honestly find some of the episodes better than the books they were based on, especially ones like "mystery to solve", "together again" etc.
rogoz
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Re: Famous Five 90s Series

Post by rogoz »

For the castle-challenged, there seems little doubt that the '90's Kirrin castle is a cut&paste of Dunstanborough castle built 1313 on the Northumberland coast. The front gate detail matches too well to be an accident. Don't know about the interior scenes - they could be any old ruin.
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Stephen
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Re: Famous Five 90s Series

Post by Stephen »

I've just been enjoying this series on YouTube, courtesy of Petermax. Absolutely fantastic stuff! Very faithful to the books, well acted, well cast. The only real issue I have is that I always imagined Uncle Quentin to be a smartly dressed, well groomed no-nonsense gentleman - yet the actor here seems like a stereotypical wild haired mad scientist! But the four children are perfect in their roles.

Mind you, you can never beat a certain funky 70s theme tune...
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Re: Famous Five 90s Series

Post by Eljay »

Tony Summerfield wrote:I am sure you are all already aware of it, but in case someone doesn't know, Five On a Secret Trail was never actually commercially released. It was simply used as a freebie promo by W H Smith and unfortunately their stocks ran out very quickly. I find it annoying that it didn't even have a proper case and therefore looks totally out of place with the rest of the set. I guess as a freebie, WHS were out to save on costs! :lol:
'Five Are Together Again' from series 2 was also released on a tape all by itself, although in a proper plastic case (catalogue number VA3096). I assume this too was a promo-only release, as it isn't mentioned in the 'also available' insert on the other series 2 tapes. It is also, like 'Secret Trail', quite rare and expensive - or rather, was rare and expensive before the series became widely available on foreign DVDs. A few years ago it took me ages to find a copy and I certainly paid a lot for it!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Famous-Five-Are ... 535&sr=1-1

I now have the excellent Spanish boxset (now unfortunately deleted) which, unlike the Dutch one, has all 26 episodes - in four languages! The packaging and menus are very well done, much better than the Dutch set, and the picture quality is better too. On the down side, there is no scene selection or 'Play All' option - you have to select each episode to watch from the menu.
rogoz
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Re: Famous Five 90s Series

Post by rogoz »

Followers of Jemima Rooper's career [ Georgina ] might want to catch her in the new ITV series " Lost in Austen "
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Pippa-Stef
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Re: Famous Five 90s Series

Post by Pippa-Stef »

Is it going to be shown then?

Because last I heard it was on Hiatus due to ITV's new boss!
"You're so sharp you'll cut yourself one day!" Hunchy said going to the door
"So my Mother told me that when I was two years old!" said Julian and the others giggled.

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rogoz
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Re: Famous Five 90s Series

Post by rogoz »

Pippa - Apparently the 4 part series " Lost in Austen " will go to air on ITV-1 in September. Seeing I'm from down under, I might have to don my pirate cloak to have a look, although it could get shown here free-to-air eventually.
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Re: Famous Five 90s Series

Post by Pippa-Stef »

Ah right!

I'll keep an eye out for it! :D
"You're so sharp you'll cut yourself one day!" Hunchy said going to the door
"So my Mother told me that when I was two years old!" said Julian and the others giggled.

http://worldofblyton.wordpress.com/
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Re: Famous Five 90s Series

Post by Pippa-Stef »

Has anyone but myself noticed the funny editing on Five got to Demon's rocks?

When Marco climbs down the ladder the first time, he's shown climbing down it in blue shorts and gray pull over.

Later when they've been locked in, he's wearing a blue sweater and khaki shorts, but when it cuts to him and Paul climbing down the ladder, they've edited in the earlier part where he's wearing the gray pull over and blue shorts. Yet when they reach the bottom, he's back in blue and Khaki! :?

I know I know! I pay way too much attention! I just wondered whether anyone else had noticed? :D
"You're so sharp you'll cut yourself one day!" Hunchy said going to the door
"So my Mother told me that when I was two years old!" said Julian and the others giggled.

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Petermax
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Re: Famous Five 90s Series

Post by Petermax »

Pippa-Stef wrote:Has anyone but myself noticed the funny editing on Five got to Demon's rocks?
The "funny editing" that you refer to is probably bad continuity, it is a frequent problem with film and television, even on productions with a very large budget. Most film/TV production companies have members of staff whose sole purpose is to oversee continuity. It is a very complex task and inevitably one two errors make their way past the final editing process.
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Pippa-Stef
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Re: Famous Five 90s Series

Post by Pippa-Stef »

Petermax wrote:
Pippa-Stef wrote:Has anyone but myself noticed the funny editing on Five got to Demon's rocks?
The "funny editing" that you refer to is probably bad continuity, it is a frequent problem with film and television, even on productions with a very large budget. Most film/TV production companies have members of staff whose sole purpose is to oversee continuity. It is a very complex task and inevitably one two errors make their way past the final editing process.
Righto! :lol: Thanks!
"You're so sharp you'll cut yourself one day!" Hunchy said going to the door
"So my Mother told me that when I was two years old!" said Julian and the others giggled.

http://worldofblyton.wordpress.com/
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Re: Famous Five 90s Series

Post by Nearby »

I'm currently watching the five (or de Vijf as it were) on the Dutch DVD box set that I received through the post the other day. While sorting out which episodes are on which disks (they are in the order they were broadcast, whereas I would prefer to view them in the order of the books) and after much counting and only coming up to 20 episodes I realised that Five Goes to Smugglers Top is inexplicably absent from the boxed set. I could have saved myself some time had I read this thread first.

Anyway, after pouting for a while, I started to watch the episodes. Having only seen the 70's adaptations, I wasn't too sure what to expect.

I must say that so far, I am pleasantly surprised. The locations look like they have been given some thought into with Enid Blyton's scenes and locations springing into life on the screen. The scripts (thus far), seem to faithfully follow the books as much as they can. I would say Jemima Rooper is perfectly cast as George with the other's working well in their roles.

My only fault so far is Julian's character, with his strong willed and slightly overbearing but friendly persona in the books translating as petulance on the screen. Though, this could well be down to the broken leg suffered by the actor as mentioned earlier in the thread.

Another minor niggle is that the actors try a little too hard in places to emulate the "oh golly gosh, lashings and lashings of tomatoes" esque dialogue of the period the books were written. But to be fair, such dialogue would be very difficult for the children of the 90's and today to reproduce and make it sound natural.

The final niggle is that Timmy is supposed to be a big powerful dog and the on screen Timmy is, well, slightly lacking.

Minor complaints aside, I think this series is well made and eminently enjoyable. :D
Between the years of 1947-1959, Enid Blyton used 98% of the worlds resources of ! Fact.
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Pippa-Stef
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Re: Famous Five 90s Series

Post by Pippa-Stef »

You've hit a chord with me here! :D Sorry If I go on a bit!

Marco Williamson, who plays Julian, was probably used to theater acting, having toured with the Royal Shakespere Company in Richard the Third. The second series, (where he broke his leg) he does tend to change Julian in to a rather bossy so-and-so, but in the first series where he was more the age, his portrayal of Julian was very much correct in my mind.

There are those who will argue with me, but it's Marco's fault I'm a Julian girl! :oops:

Jemima was perfectly cast as George. In the annual to accompany the series, Laura Petela (Anne) said that she would have perfered to be George than Anne.

Paul Child is an excellent Dick! There isn't a peg to choose between him and Gary Russell in my mind!

Timmy was a problem for me aswell. He wasn't as he should be. But again in the Annual it is explained why Connel was choosen for the part.

It is annoying that Smugglers Top isn't on the DVD's but it does contain the one rare one that was never realised on video, Secret Trail, which for me, makes up slightly for the mess up for Smugglers! :D

I am a child of this series and love it to bits. Sometimes the acting makes me laugh, but it doesn't age because of the fact it's set in the 5o's.

Sorry! I've gone off on one again haven't I? :oops: :lol:
"You're so sharp you'll cut yourself one day!" Hunchy said going to the door
"So my Mother told me that when I was two years old!" said Julian and the others giggled.

http://worldofblyton.wordpress.com/
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Re: Famous Five 90s Series

Post by Nearby »

Pippa-Stef wrote:
Sorry! I've gone off on one again haven't I? :oops: :lol:
Not at all. :) Having had so many people look at me as if I'd grown an extra head over the years (the very cheek of it, an adult reading Blyton, whatever next!) it's very refreshing to see the fruits of her work discussed with such genuine enthusiasm.

I agree, Paul Child does make a very good 'Dick', and appears to have a slightly more prominent role on screen than he did in the books, either that, or he just naturally stands out in a scene, which is nice.

Aunt 'Frances' though? :(
Between the years of 1947-1959, Enid Blyton used 98% of the worlds resources of ! Fact.
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