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.
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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!