Television series to show the Famous Five in middle age

[jackmalvern]

Dear Enid Blyton Society Members,

I am writing a story for The Times about a proposal by Chorion, the company that administers the Blyton estate, to make a television drama about the Famous Five when the characters have grown up. It is at an early stage at the moment, but Chorion has roped in an independent television production company to develop the idea. The characters, now in their 40s and 50s, would be reunited by a murder which caused them to band together once again in an attempt to solve it. It has been suggested that some characters would go against type - so George, for example, might have grown up to be a dainty woman fond of kittens and floral dresses. Timmy would have died, of course, but I think his offspring would have to play a part.

I would be very interested to hear society members' reactions to this idea - whether you would want to watch it, whether you have your own ideas about what happened to the characters, and whether you want to know what happens to the characters or if you would prefer that they remained forever young.

Please do let me know your thoughts by replying to the post.

Jack Malvern
Reporter
The Times

[DarrellRivers]

George, for example, might have grown up to be a dainty woman fond of kittens and floral dresses.

I think this idea would be very hard to buy!

[Anita Bensoussane]

I'd be interested to watch the drama mainly out of curiosity really! I could quite enjoy it if it were sensitively done and we could still recognise in the characters the personalities that we came to know so well through reading Enid Blyton's books. A complete character reversal would be too contrived, I think, but a few surprises would be fine as long as they seemed plausible. There would be plenty of opportunity for reminiscences about earlier adventures, and touches of nostalgia, which could be very moving. I'd certainly love to see a grown-up George sitting on a rock on Kirrin Island, emotions playing over her face as she read a letter she'd received from one of her grown-up cousins.

It could be quite hard to do it seriously though, and avoid it turning out as some kind of spoof.

Anita

[Ming]

I quite agree with what Anita said. I'd be very interested if it was like that.

[Kitty]

Only a forum member, but I think it'd be quite entertaining really, especially if the backstory was good. Would be amusing if the murder victim was Edgar Stick or someone like that (sorry, Edgar!) Not so sure about flowery George, though - not because it isn't funny, but because turning her into Dolores Umbridge for the sake of one laugh doesn't really make sense! Could even a parody FF survive without the charisma of an original(ish) George?

[Petermax]

If done properly then the concept of a middle aged Famous Five might just work. I cannot however see any milage to be gained from a radical change to the character of George who as an adult would probably be a bit laddish but not overly so.

The biggest danger would be the whole thing turning into another Five Go Mad in Dorset. The 1982 Comic Strip parody of the Famous Five was hilarious but do we want to see it repeated twenty five years on?

EDIT Anyone who is curious about the Comic Strip version of Five Go Mad in Dorset may view it on Youtube. I will not link directly to the URL as some of the language may not be to everyones taste!

[Julie2owlsdene]

It would be interesting to watch, providing it wasn't turned into a comic strip, as Petermax rightly put forward. Made to be quite realistic also, but I think that if it were to present date, then surely, the Famous Five would be more in their 60's, than 40's and 50's.

Either way I would watch to see if the programme had done them justice.

[Yan]

The characters, now in their 40s and 50s, would be reunited by a murder which caused them to band together once again in an attempt to solve it. It has been suggested that some characters would go against type - so George, for example, might have grown up to be a dainty woman fond of kittens and floral dresses. Timmy would have died, of course, but I think his offspring would have to play a part.

Isn´t there a book series called "Georgina Powers" by Denise Danks with exactly this plot?

[Tony Summerfield]

I should perhaps have warned you that Jack Malvern is a journalist and when he phoned me last week I suggested he posted on the forums as he was looking for quotes for an article he was writing in TheTimes today. I have already had a phone call from the BBC this morning asking about the article and mentioning Anita's quote!

[Anita Bensoussane]

Heh! We're going out shopping later - I'll have to buy a copy of The Times!

Anita

[Kitty]

That's really cool, Anita!

[Julie2owlsdene]

I'll buy a copy too. Will look forward to the read

[Moonraker]

Tony has linked the article in his post - so there is no need to rush out to buy a copy! Anita though, now famous in the world's greatest newspaper, will probably buy a dozen or so!

Well done Anita.

[Ming]

That's really great, Anita!!

[lizarfau]

Nice article! Love the quotes ...

From reading the article, I quite like the idea of this program. If done well and respectfully, it could be really, really good. I wonder who the family friend will be? Sooty? Tinker? Or perhaps fat old Joanna?