The Enid Blyton Society

Posted: **11 Dec 2012, 17:41**

In answer to Dinah, the Adventure series DVD set includes a 45 minute feature about the making of the series. Among other things it shows how the secret passages were created, how Kiki was trained (more than one Kiki!) and footage from the auditions.

Posted: **11 Dec 2012, 17:43**

So I guess it would be worth buying the Series on DVD?

Do you have the Secret Series as well? Is there one you like more than the others or should I say has the same plot as the books?

Posted: **11 Dec 2012, 17:51**

There are quite a lot more changes to the stories in the Secret series, with key characters being virtually unrecognisable, e.g. Mr. Arnold ("Thaddeus") and Dimmy (now a young woman named Ruby who can't cook!) New characters are introduced, Nora is Laura with strange powers, the children have a dog called Prince and the storylines have been altered or had a lot of material added in. I wouldn't be able to comment on individual episodes without watching them again, except to say that The Secret of Moon Castle is very peculiar indeed! The DVD set has no bonus material.

Posted: **11 Dec 2012, 17:58**

Do you know if the first (Secret Island) is good? It's also the book I liked best and thought that the film might be good as well?

Posted: **11 Dec 2012, 18:01**

The Secret Island doesn't stick to the book and there's one new element that I find silly but the story is interesting nevertheless in my opinion, especially the plot parallels that are introduced between what Thaddeus and Charlotte (new character) are going through, and what the children are going through.

Posted: **11 Dec 2012, 20:19**

Some weeks ago I bought the German DVD-set. In this set they kept the correct running order there unlike the English set in which they switched River and circus. Unfortunately there's no bonus material.
I also bought the new German set of the Secret series. They managed to put the five films into four DVDs, but it's extremely irritating that they put the second film (Secret of Spiggy Holes) as the fifth one, completely oblivious to the running order. It's really a pity that producers of the DVDs are so careless.

Posted: **29 Aug 2013, 18:22**

I recently started watching "Hercules - the legendary journeys", and in the first film a boy looked somehow familar. Looking at the credits later I was pleased that I had identified David Taylor (Jack) all right, but I had missed Peter Malloch (Philip) who had a short appearance in this film as well. I wonder if they knew that they had been in one film together before they filmed the adventure series, and if they had met there. As they didn't have scenes together it's quite possible they didn't meet then.

Posted: **29 Aug 2013, 19:06**

Wolfgang wrote: I also bought the new German set of the Secret series. They managed to put the five films into four DVDs, but it's extremely irritating that they put the second film (Secret of Spiggy Holes) as the fifth one, completely oblivious to the running order. It's really a pity that producers of the DVDs are so careless.

Hi Wolfgang,

Do the episodes all have the same length?
I noticed this is done quite often on classical music CD's when they contain 2 or 3 discs. For instance my collection of all 5 Beethoven piano concertos and my 4 Rachmaninoff piano concertos have no order, they put 1 and 3 on one disc and 2 and 4 on the other disc. I think it depends on the length of the piece. But that's o.k. with me.

Posted: **29 Aug 2013, 19:11**

I think the episodes have more less the same length. I haven't watched them yet though.

Posted: **21 Jan 2015, 21:50**

Do we already have a thread topic on this that I have missed??

Yes - I've just done a merge! - Anita

Published on Jan 11, 2015

“Available on DVD through http://www.umbrellaent.com.au" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;”

In the rollicking grand tradition established by her high-spirited ADVENTURE SERIES, THE ENID BLYTON SECRET SERIES amps up the old-fashioned thrills and embarks on an exciting trip into the imagination of one of the most successful and celebrated children's authors of the 20th century.
Lovingly updated for a modern audience - with five action-packed stories set to enthrall a whole new generation – THE ENID BLYTON SECRET SERIES captures the essence of childhood adventure and runs with it!

Team up with eccentric explorer Thaddeus Arnold and his four children - Jack, Peggy, Mike and Laura as they embark on a perilous expedition to discover lost civilizations in Africa, mount a challenge against a villain’s plan to overthrow an esteemed king and pluck up the courage to foil a crazed scientist’s attempt at world domination.

Aided by their trusty pet companion Prince and feisty photo-journalist friend Charlotte, testing themes of courage and heroism along the way, these independent and intrepid children take up many an exciting challenge in the name and true spirit of fun and above all - friendship.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CT9ieGEdkM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Posted: **21 Jan 2015, 22:18**

Well! I hardly think the name of Enid Blyton should be associated with that. It can only be in order to sell a new story by an unknown author. Anyone seeing this and then hunting out the Secret Series as we know and love it, will surely be completely mystified.

Posted: **21 Jan 2015, 23:23**

A few years ago I noticed that our local library had several titles from the Secret series, but some were Enid Blyton's originals while others were novelisations of the New Zealand TV series. It would be very confusing for a reader to read a mixture of originals and TV novelisations because the names, family situation and style are so different.

Posted: **24 Jan 2015, 10:52**

Daisy wrote:Well! I hardly think the name of Enid Blyton should be associated with that. It can only be in order to sell a new story by an unknown author. Anyone seeing this and then hunting out the Secret Series as we know and love it, will surely be completely mystified.

I couldn't agree more!

Posted: **24 Jan 2015, 10:56**

It's just advertising the DVDs of the 1990s New Zealand TV series.

Posted: **03 Jul 2015, 11:13**

Sorting through numerous unlabelled video cassettes, I've just stumbled across The Secret Island which I recorded from TV years ago. I've watched about 10 minutes so far - the jury is still out at the moment, but my initial thoughts are not very complimentary!!!!!!

The Enid Blyton Society

New Zealand Adventure/Secret Series

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ENID BLYTON SECRET SERIES, THE Excerpt

Re: ENID BLYTON SECRET SERIES, THE Excerpt

Re: New Zealand Adventure/Secret Series

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