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 »

Nearby wrote:
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.
Paul is wonderful! But Blond? Well I can't complain really! :D Some one should start a thread with a poll, who'd you prefer- Gary or Paul?

Probably Gary would get the most votes! :D

I think it's wonderful, how Dick gets to take charge in Five have a wonderful time, and in Caravan too, because of Marco's broken leg! :D

Paul is a brilliant actor. He did a few epsiodes of the Worst Witch, and the Bill, but I can't find anything recent for Marco, Paul or Laura. Jemima is teeming with projects though!
Nearby wrote:


Aunt 'Frances' though? :(
This was during the time when Fanny was the common slang for ladies areas. The obvioulsy thought that kids wouldn't respond well to it, and changed it to Frances. :D

Someone stop me! I'll right a whole article on it next time! :shock:

: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.

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Tony Summerfield
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Re: Famous Five 90s Series

Post by Tony Summerfield »

Pippa-Stef wrote: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.
Secret Trail was released on video - I've got it!
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Anita Bensoussane
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Re: Famous Five 90s Series

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Have to admit I don't really like the way Paul Child portrays Dick. Mock frowning one minute, mock grinning the next. To me, he isn't convincing in the part and I much prefer Gary Russell's more natural, serious approach.

Even in the 1950s cinema adaptation of Five On a Treasure Island, Aunt Fanny was replaced by Aunt Margaret! I wonder how many children wrote to Enid Blyton at the time saying, "I loved the film, but why did they change Aunt Fanny's name?"

Anita
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.


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Bannerman65

Re: Famous Five 90s Series

Post by Bannerman65 »

It's still slang for ladies area's over here, Pippa-Stef. :(
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Pippa-Stef
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Re: Famous Five 90s Series

Post by Pippa-Stef »

Tony Summerfield wrote:
Pippa-Stef wrote: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.
Secret Trail was released on video - I've got it!
I know, but wasn't it free with something at Smiths?
"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:I know, but wasn't it free with something at Smiths?
Indeed. The very rare cardboard sleeve VHS edition which cost me rather a lot on Ebay last year. Imagine my slight annoyance when I discovered the Dutch DVD box-sets!
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Re: Famous Five 90s Series

Post by Nearby »

Pippa-Stef wrote:
This was during the time when Fanny was the common slang for ladies areas. The obvioulsy thought that kids wouldn't respond well to it, and changed it to Frances. :D

Someone stop me! I'll right a whole article on it next time! :shock:

:lol:
Still, it seems quite ridiculous to have done away with poor aunt Fanny because of it's connotations with slang words. It's not as if children wouldn't make the same correlation with Dick. Political correctness gone mad. :evil:

While I'm posting on the thread, I watched 'Five go to Billycock (and another :twisted: ) Hill the other night. Although a complete change from the usual character of George as set in the books, I absolutely love the scene where she becomes enamoured or 'starstruck' of the airman Jeff Lacy and actually admits to being a girl. Very sweet, slightly funny and very well acted.
Between the years of 1947-1959, Enid Blyton used 98% of the worlds resources of ! Fact.
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Re: Famous Five 90s Series

Post by Pippa-Stef »

Deffinatly one of Jemima's Best!

I thought that was a lovely twist, especailly as it isn't the best famous five!

The funnist bit is Marco doing Star jumps! :lol: Wouldn't you agree?
"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 »

It was a funny scene, and you would almost think that it was ad-libbed. :)

I must say, that despite them straying a little from the books, I quite like the scenes where the scriptwriter have added their own little bits. Such as that scene with Georg, or the cunning way they've managed to give Uncle Quentin a role in the same episode, which is entirely plausible him being a scientist of renown.
Between the years of 1947-1959, Enid Blyton used 98% of the worlds resources of ! Fact.
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Petermax
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Re: Famous Five 90s Series

Post by Petermax »

Nearby wrote:
Pippa-Stef wrote:While I'm posting on the thread, I watched 'Five go to Billycock (and another :twisted: ) Hill the other night. Although a complete change from the usual character of George as set in the books, I absolutely love the scene where she becomes enamoured or 'starstruck' of the airman Jeff Lacy and actually admits to being a girl. Very sweet, slightly funny and very well acted.
This was a totally unnecessary departure from the book which I found rather irritating. Condensing a story to fit television running times was understandable, but due to silly tinkering with names and plotlines, the opportunity was missed for the HTV series to have been the definitive screen depiction of the Famous Five.

EDIT 25-08-08 typo
TB3
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Re: Famous Five 90s Series

Post by TB3 »

Billycock Hill was one of the episodes that I never saw 'properly' when it aired. I have vague recollections that at the time my family were visiting some other part of Britain and that having missed one part I was reduced to watching the other on a small screen in a hotel room, which wasn't exactly conductive to a good viewing experience. However, now having seen it on the DVD set, I must say it is wonderful. The use of the period aircraft really make the setting come alive.

And like others, I found George's little moment quite touching. Yes she is the queen (king?) of tomboys, but lets not forget that the character is a young woman who is just getting into puberty, so its natural to have such moments of conflict. I also loved the addition of Quentin (and his mysterious Gemini Radar Project, very intriuging), and his references to years spent as an amateur boxer always give me a giggle.

*

Regarding the two series as a whole, I have an 'emotional' bias towards the 70s show. I wasn't raised on it because I was only born in 1986, and didn't discover it until I had read a good chunk of the books. What happened is that my mother brought me 'Five Go Off To Camp' to encourage me to read (playing on my love of trains), and eventually we collected all of them from a shop in my hometown called Beez Books (which is now a cafe). I still have all these books on proud display in our home's entrance hall on a bookshelf. Now, these were editions printed around 1993 according to the inside covers (this matches with my memories of Jurassic Park coming out at the time), all of them durable hardbacks with yellow spines and borders around the cover art. The illustrations shaped my mental conceptions of the 5, and since these editions dated from 1974, the artist, Jolyne Knox, had used the cast of the 1970s series as a basis, meaning that my mental default image of the 5 has them wearing jeans and polyester jackets!

After reading Camp cover-to-cover umpteen times, I by a lucky chance stumbled across a VHS of the 1970s episode at a car boot sale (still have that too, completely worn out though), and began reading more of the books and renting VHSs of the series from the local library. This sometimes meant that I saw the episode before I read the book (definately the case with Demons Rocks, because when reading the book I was waiting for the scene where the kids all stood on the trapdoor, and was disapointed in how flat Jacob and Ebby were compared to their TV counterparts), which of course served to completely intertwine the 70s series and the original stories in my mind.

Eventually however the library began withdrawing the VHSs, but then I discovered that another series was coming out, which got me stoked. I enjoyed it, but didn't take it to heart because there was already the 70s series in residence. It's only now when watching the two together that I am buying into the 90s series more because of the superior production standards and locations.

In terms of the core cast, both series were well served, though I do lean towards Marcus, Gary, Michelle and Jenny (though Jemima Rooper is an incredible George, a wonderful actress and its a pleasure to see her career is doing well, I loved her in Lost In Austen!). It has to be said though that the 70s series had an EXQUISITE supporting cast who absolutely inhabited the characters and made them come alive. Its only when we get a performance of sublime beauty (such as Barling) that the 90s series can match the guest stars of the 70s.

On a sadder note, the tragedy of Michelle does leave its mark on the 70s series and gives it a slightly bittersweet vibe when looking at it in retrospect. I shall now be mourning Michael Hinz as well, who was wonderful as a bi-polar Quentin, swinging between extremes of anger and compassion.

(shakes head)

They are both wonderful shows, and I do love them dearly. The 70s version fell flat in terms of locations and production (except in my mind for Camp, which felt very vivid and real) but had so much heart, and the 90s series feels like a timewarp into the life and times of Blytons original stories. As such, I find it hard to compare them too much, and simply must sit back and enjoy them! :)
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Anita Bensoussane
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Re: Famous Five 90s Series

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

TB3 wrote:In terms of the core cast, both series were well served, though I do lean towards Marcus, Gary, Michelle and Jenny (though Jemima Rooper is an incredible George, a wonderful actress and its a pleasure to see her career is doing well, I loved her in Lost In Austen!). It has to be said though that the 70s series had an EXQUISITE supporting cast who absolutely inhabited the characters and made them come alive. Its only when we get a performance of sublime beauty (such as Barling) that the 90s series can match the guest stars of the 70s...The 70s version fell flat in terms of locations and production (except in my mind for Camp, which felt very vivid and real) but had so much heart, and the 90s series feels like a timewarp into the life and times of Blytons original stories. As such, I find it hard to compare them too much, and simply must sit back and enjoy them! :)
Have to agree with a lot of what you said, TB3. I too have an emotional attachment to the 1970s series, with its excellent casting, while at the same time admiring the superior locations and production of the 1990s series. And though on the whole I prefer the main children of the 70s series, Jemima Rooper (90s George) is in a class of her own. I didn't see Lost in Austen when it was televised but have just bought the DVD and watched episode 1 yesterday - very enjoyable, humorous yet moving, and I look forward to watching the rest.

Anita
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TB3
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Re: Famous Five 90s Series

Post by TB3 »

Thankyou Ms Anita, and regarding Lost In Austen, I assure you, you are in for a treat! :D
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Re: Famous Five 90s Series

Post by RagamuffinJo »

WOW i never realised 'Secret Trail' was so rare-I got my copy for..10PENCE!!!...from a friend at a charity bootsale we did!!lol

I have never seen the 70's series so I can't comment but I LOVE the 90's series-in particular, Christopher Godd whom I thought excelled in the part of Quentin. I vaguely remembered watching them as a child but I was into Secret Seven and other Blytons then and it wasn't until later I became a massive Five fan,read the books and pain stakingly collected the 90's series on VHS through ebay, amazon and boot sales etc.

I have chatted with Laura Petela who played Anne a few times on Bebo and Facebook and she seems really nice.

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Re: Famous Five 90s Series

Post by adventuregirl »

I have recently rewatched every episode of this series. I bought the DVD series boxset from a foreign seller and it is perfect. Has every single episode plus a behind the scenes look and I am easily able to turn off the foreign subtitles.

When I watched this growing up I wasn't too keen on it. I think it was probably because I loved the books so much and I thought the series didn't do them justice, though now, having watched them again, I've completely changed my mind. They stayed so true to the books that it is actually quite amazing. I loved the children though Julian does get on my nerves quite a lot, lol. And I absolutely adore the 40s/50s setting. When I was younger I think it went completely over my head but they really did do a remarkable job. And I love Aunt Fanny (Frances) - I always did. When I was little I wanted to grow up to be just like her. I know, it probably sounds strange but I've always wanted to be a housewife and have a family (I bet Famous Five with characters like Anne and Fanny put that in my head, haha). I love the clothing Aunt Fanny wears in the series - so elegant and vintage.

My fiance has even started watching them with me which is crazy because he's always making fun of me for always reading children's books and watching children's films. But he stumbled upon me watching an episode a few nights ago and ever since he has been asking to watch an episode each night. It's great!

So yes, I do love this version of the series.
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