The Enid Blyton Society

Comedy channel, Gold, are to mark the Comic Strip's 30th anniversary of parodying the Famous Five with Five Go To Rehab. There is no date on the showing yet.

I heard a rumour that this was in the offing. Should be fun.

Just watching Dave and there is an advertisement for this on the gold channel on November 7th, not sure what time.

     I seem to recall there was once "Five Go Mad in Dorset" - and something else about Mescaline, too. Were these T.V. shows or cartoon strips, or what? Are they available to download anywhere? (I've never seen them - just vaguely heard of them here and there.)
     Are things like this genuinely amusing, or do they just poke cheap fun at the Famous Five?

Regards, Michael.

There's a thread about Five Go Mad in Dorset and Five Go Mad on Mescalin here:

http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/foru ... 4295#p4295" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The programmes were made in the early 1980s as part of a series of comedy dramas called "The Comic Strip Presents...":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Go_Mad_in_Dorset" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That looks horrendous, I'd never watch it Look what it says on wikipedia about it, looks really awful

Anita Bensoussane wrote:There's a thread about Five Go Mad in Dorset and Five Go Mad on Mescalin here:

http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/foru ... 4295#p4295" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

     Ah - so *both* are "Go Mad" - I was trying to think of what the Mescalin one was called, but couldn't recall.

Anita Bensoussane wrote:The programmes were made in the early 1980s as part of a series of comedy dramas called "The Comic Strip Presents...":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Go_Mad_in_Dorset" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

     Thanks, Anita - maybe not high on my priority list of things to find. I suppose it might be sort of interesting to see, though, if I happened upon it - maybe funny, too (if it is genuinely funny).
     Is this "Rehab" one related to those, or completely independent? (I hadn't heard of it until reading this topic.)

Regards, Michael.

I'm with Bookworm on this one. I remember seeing some of the original when it was shown and feeling annoyed, uncomfortable and in the end quite angry that the characters should be parodied in such a way - adult humour maybe, but it was awful! Having just refreshed my memory by reading the Wikipedia link, I won't be waiting with bated breath for the latest!

     I've never seen them - but I tend to agree with Daisy in general sentiment. I probably won't be looking out for them - but not so much because I dread seeing the awful parody, but because, to me, Blyton is books - not T.V., not films, not cartoons - not anything else. To me, Enid Blyton is so book-oriented that anything else is merely someone else's interpretation of her work, not her work directly.
     In addition, I tend to think parody is amusingly mainly to those who dislike or despise the person or thing being parodied - and probably not so much to those who like it - although I suppose it is possible to poke gentle and amusing fun at something you do like - which does happen to a degree even in this forum.

Regards, Michael.

Very cleverly written and so funny to watch. Parodies, of course, but so brilliantly parodied!

MJE wrote:   I tend to think parody is amusingly mainly to those who dislike or despise the person or thing being parodied

Satire, certainly, usually has a bit of a bite,but I think in this case it is done with a degree of affection. You have to know the subject you're parodying very well for the parody to be successful, and to have read all those Famous Fives you must have enjoyed them. I remember finding these programmes funny but it didn't stop me loving the books; as an adult reading children's books you cannot fail to see certain things you were unaware of as a child, but you make a mental adjustment when you're reading so it doesn't spoil your enjoyment. In one way it can be seen as something of a compliment - albeit somewhat backhanded - to Enid, in that she is being acknowledged as a writer with whom vast numbers of people are familiar, and familiar on a detailed level; nobody is going to parody an author few people have read. What I do take issue with are the sort of comments made by an acquaintance of mine recently, who said she had read all the Malory Towers books as a child, but of course they were totally forgettable and she hadn't a clue about them now! Hm. I think the characters in Malory Towers are particularly well drawn and, in fact, that this is one of Enid's best series, and this woman's comments were simply made to demonstrate her own "sophistication". I suppose I forgive the makers of the Five Go Mad skits because they made me, personally, laugh, and so it really comes down to one's sense of humour.

Five go mad in Dorset is great fun. It's good to laugh & not take things too seriously! Interestingly, Dawn French, who played George in the episode, was a huge Enid Blyton fan when she was growing up & loved to read the F5 stories!

number 6 wrote:Five go mad in Dorset is great fun. It's good to laugh & not take things too seriously!

I agree with you, number 6. I have a copy that was given away free with The Daily Telegraph in 2005. I think it is great fun!

[quote="number 6" It's good to laugh & not take things too seriously! [/quote]
It is indeed! Glad to hear that Dawn French loved the books.
Hm, now what have I done wrong with the quote thing??? I was sure I'd cracked it.

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