The Enid Blyton Society

Hi everyone
I'm new here... just introduced myself

I was wondering why I can't see Five Go To Smuggler's Top episode in the 90s TV Series?
I heard the episode was missing?
Anyone knows?

thanks

You've got this one then, yes? It's not on there.

If memory seres, it *is* on this one, but that seem like a lot of aggro to get a couple of eps.

Or you could get a VHS for around a tenner

Or you could just look around youtube

Thanks!

I can't afford buying the dvds, and I just watched the episodes on youtube ^_^
why this episode was missing in certain dvd versions?

eunsilver wrote:Thanks!

I can't afford buying the dvds,

They're not as cheap as they couild be, I'll give you that!

eunsilver wrote:and I just watched the episodes on youtube ^_^

I'm sure the '90s Smugglers Top *was* there. Can't find it now meself.

eunsilver wrote:why this episode was missing in certain dvd versions?

Most likely an "oops" - other, wiser, heads may know otherwise tho.

Thanks for sharing.

I also wish there was a 90s version.

Have you seen the 70s version?

There is a 1990s version of Smuggler's Top, but it has been missed off the Dutch boxed set of DVDs for some reason. It is on another set (Danish?) as Zar Quon mentions above, but that set seems to have been discontinued. I've got the video (link below), but it's only available second-hand and I bought it when prices were much cheaper. I like both the 1970s and 1990s adaptations, though in neither of them do we quite get the sense of Smuggler's Top being perched at the top of a town rising up from the marshes, as in the book.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Famous-Five ... B00004CSGC" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The 90s Sumgglers' Top is one of my absolute favourite 90s episodes, coming second to Five Go Down To The Sea.
I agree, there isn't the atmosphere of the book, with the misty mysterious Castaway, but I do like the atmosphere of the sloping village street, and the marshes and quicksand do look quite eerie when they are driving along and get out to have a look.
Mr and Mrs Lenoir were well cast I thought, just as I imagined them (although Mrs Lenoir wasn't as tiny as in the book but she looked right with Mr Lenoir) and even though Mr Barling was nothing like the description in the book, I thought he was fantastic, every inch the (as Dick says) 'Lord of the Manor' and a mysterious smuggler!

Anita Bensoussane wrote:There is a 1990s version of Smuggler's Top, but it has been missed off the Dutch boxed set of DVDs for some reason

Yeah, that will be why as I have the Dutch Version.

Carlotta, Five Go Down To The Sea is amazing in the 90s DVD. For one, it was in two parts and for the other Yan and his granddad make for great humour with their arguments over sherbets and Mr Penruthlan equally so with his Oooh-ah noises! I think Sid and Mr Binks are great as a double-act for the horse and the Guv'nor really is a good one.

I find the manner in which the children act with Yan intriguing as well. They clearly show their disapproval to his greed, his manners, the fact he is dirty, the fact he followed them and tease him for it. At the same time, I think they ended up quite liking him.

You'll find all 26 episodes in this http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Famous-Five ... De+Fem+DVD.
What's nagging me is the fact that it was produced by a public German television enterprise (ZDF), yet the German editions done by the same enterprise don't have the English sound channel and are divided between 14 DVDs

Deej wrote:Carlotta, Five Go Down To The Sea is amazing in the 90s DVD. For one, it was in two parts and for the other Yan and his granddad make for great humour with their arguments over sherbets and Mr Penruthlan equally so with his Oooh-ah noises! I think Sid and Mr Binks are great as a double-act for the horse and the Guv'nor really is a good one.

I find the manner in which the children act with Yan intriguing as well. They clearly show their disapproval to his greed, his manners, the fact he is dirty, the fact he followed them and tease him for it. At the same time, I think they ended up quite liking him.

It's my absolute favourite episode.
I love the scenery, all round the coast and the wreckers' tower in the hills, and the cove below where the ships were wrecked, and the lovely farm, how nice it would have been to come back to that farm in the evening after a day out in the cove!

I thought the boy who played Yan (Richard Allen) did a great job, and the scenes with his grandad and the sweets were lovely!
From reading the book, I always felt that the Five were a bit unnecessarily mean to Yan at times, after all he just wanted to be friends and he was intrigued with them, as I suppose he never saw any children of his own age or got the chance to make friends with any, and they did seem to be a bit rude to him, calling him names and telling him to clear off etc, but as you say they grew to like him eventually, and in the tv episode I thought it was done very nicely, and you never get the feeling they are being truly hostile (as I felt in the book sometimes); when Dick rolls his eyes at having to give Yan more sweets he does it in a humourous way, I feel.

Sid and Binks were great, a really amusing double act; Geoffrey Hutchings (Binks) is very funny anyway and I like him, and they did a really good job! The Guv'nor is just right, a bit menacing and grumpy, and Mr Penruthlan was perfect as the big mysterious farmer!

Wolfgang wrote:You'll find all 26 episodes in this http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Famous-Five ... De+Fem+DVD.

De Fem also includes some Cast and Creative interviews as well, which were nice to watch- but I would have liked more!

Carlotta King wrote:In the tv episode I thought it was done very nicely, and you never get the feeling they are being truly hostile (as I felt in the book sometimes); when Dick rolls his eyes at having to give Yan more sweets he does it in a humourous way, I feel.

I agree. It was just teasing and taunting really. Mainly from Dick over the sweets but he showed his kindness by always offering a sweet regardless of how greedy Yan came across as. I think he gains the respect of the Five Though when he introduces them to the Wreckers' Way with the tale from his granddad and obviously playing a big part in catching the Guv'nor. Yan kind of won the children over in a similar way to Richard, although Yan and Richard were of course very different characters in both the books and films.

Yes, I must say I like Yan a lot more than Richard. I just feel that I warm to him a lot more for some reason.
It's probably because he just seems more likeable and friendly, no airs and graces like Richard, and the way he runs wild round the coast and countryside, and probably also because the story is set in Cornwall, which I love.

Yes, Yan was certainly more likeable. He was genuine, had a good heart, meant well, and like you say, just needed some children to play with and a little looking after at times. Richard was clearly spoilt and lived a live of sheltered luxury, hence his airs and grace, his boastful attitude and his cowardly manner. However, thankfully he does good in the end after learning his lesson for contributing to getting Dick kidnapped. I love the way Blyton identifies wrong in her characters and then makes them do good to get the best out of them and learn from their previous bad ways.